by Mary Fogarty George
The Superintendent and Regional School Board of the Yupiit School District hosted a five-day district-wide in-service in the downtown Marriott Hotel August 29-September 2. Guest speaker Panigkaq Agatha John Shields, led the district employees in a morning talk emphasizing the Yup’ik term, “Maantua, I am present.”
When speaking she reached back to remember time before contact to explain life in the qasgiq and lifestyle practices of small groups of families who moved with the seasons in search of food.
“They were always getting ready,” she said. “And they worked together.” She also spoke about ellangeqarraarutput, “when you first become aware.”
Important within the culture is the relevance of language, names, subsistence, dance, sharing and survival. She led the in-service with a dance ceremony, “Yurarnaurtukut, Dance With Me” and the board members, teachers, paraprofessionals, cooks, and maintenance staff danced together to strengthen their bonds and free their spirits in the joy of being together.
The in-service lasted for five days. An emphasis this year is for teachers to create thematic units integrating culture to inspire the children to want to come to school and to be supportive of Yup’ik culture and values.
The district has implemented Yup’ik Immersion in all schools K-1 and encourages families to speak to their children and grandchildren in Yugcetun. As well, students, community members, and teachers will have opportunities to participate in subsistence activities that reflect the seasonal calendar of the Yupiit.
Since the Yupiit School District has adopted a Subsistence Calendar, where the children will attend school from September to the first week of May, teachers are encouraged to begin the school year actively engaging in seasonal awareness of hunting and gathering from the land, and coming back to the classroom and connecting cultural content across the curriculum.
The goals this year for each school come from Yuuyaraq. They encompass the words: Love, Hard Work, Cooperation, and Respect.
