by Mary George
The Akiachak school doors opened Monday August 28, 2023 with an enrollment of 233 students. The theme of the Cultural activities, “The Village Is Our Classroom” created a foundation for all cultural supervisors.
Ickeley Charles and Marissa Schneider led the high school students in Yuraryaraq with an emphasis on drumming and learning a new dance, while Zachary Schneider taught the wood art students how to make male dance fans.
Nhung Dinh and Marie Fredericks picked berries and brought the students back to the kitchen for baking blueberry cobblers, cookies, donuts, and akutaq. Mary George brought students out to pick berries and plants to add to the dessert menu and to dry medicinal plants for herbal oils.
Students chose their activities, although Mary brought four Nose children from the fourth grade to accompany them to the tundra. Fortunately, all was within walking distance.
Throughout the week the students who chose outdoor activities averaged four and a half miles of walking. Henry Kanulie brought students fishing on the river close by and the fish were cut and cleaned for hanging, smoking and jarring with the help of Evelyn Esmailka.
In the language arts class, the students were encouraged to go into the village and conduct interviews and upon return, share their knowledge with an elementary class.
The second week of September no school is scheduled for students. The district has chosen a calendar that doesn’t compete with moose hunting season, so the students and their families are free to hunt and take care of catch without feeling the stress of “having to go to school”. Instead, Inservice and workdays are scheduled for the staff of all three schools, Akiachak, Akiak, and Tuluksak.
