North, to Alaska!

Jordan Addison
May 9, 2016
3 min read

2016 has been a wonderfully intense year full of so much excitement! Graduating from college has to be the biggest accomplishment of my life so far. It feels incredible to be a college grad (the first in my family)! I've wanted to teach for most of my life, and having the opportunity to impart some sort of enrichment into the lives of others gives me such a good feeling!

On to the even more exciting stuff...I have accepted a position as an English Language Arts teacher for the Lower Kuskokwim School District in Alaska! I will be teaching in a small Yupik village called Eek.

I have had tons of questions about my decision to teach in Alaska! The first question is usually "Why???"

I chose this career so that I could enrich the lives of students and help them to discover all that the world they live has to offer. I can't think of a more appropriate place to do this than Eek! My classroom will be composed of an incredibly small amount of students. When I spoke to a district employee last, he said that I would have 8 students! The curriculum is much more open than the Virginia curriculum. An open curriculum, small village, and 8 students sounds like the perfect formula for enrichment. The school is also very technologically advanced, which is very helpful with my teaching style. I love collaborative projects, and having access to technology helps with that. We can take our virtual field trips and collaboratively create with ease!

On the same token, I would like my life to be enriched as well. While this happens in virtually any classroom, Eek is so different than my Virginia upbringing. The district (and Eek) are accessible only by airplane (and sometimes snow machine). There are no roads, and no cars. Being a Yupik village, there are really no grocery stores. The Yupik people live a subsistence lifestyle, relying on hunting and gathering. The Yupik have an incredible culture. Learning about their culture will no doubt enrich my life, and my school wants to preserve the Yupik culture and heritage while imparting the skills necessary to allow the youth to pursue any path they might like. We even have a robotics class! Sharing parts of Appalachian heritage will be fun for me and the students (I hope). The community is very close knit, and the entire community is very sharing. I am totally down for that! I think my health will also improve with this move.

Financially, this move makes sense for me. The salary is great and the benefits are even better. The district will pay for me to pursue higher education, and I want to one day earn my Doctorate.

Now...moving 3,700 some odd miles...it's definitely going to be a challenge. But, I'm 24 (until next month) and up for an adventure! I will, of course, miss my family and friends. Having to plan way ahead for all trips, getting supplies, and the intense winters will be difficult to acclimate to. However, I have come so far in my life though so many things, I know it will all be a-okay! I plan on blogging frequently. I will hopefully be purchasing a Go-Pro camera this summer, and I will keep you all updated with blog posts, pictures, and videos. I would love to have other teachers keep in touch with both me and my students. We can skype or be pen pals!

To end this blog post, I want to thank everyone that has supported me along my journey. My Mom, Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ronnie, y'all have supported me physically, financially, and emotionally through so much these last few years. I would not have attained the success I have today without you. All my Radford University faculty and staff (Tracey Mattson, Michele Ren, Carolyn Mathews, Kathy Kelly, Dan Woods, Anne Mary Roberts, Paul Thomas, John Leonard, Bobby Bell, Fran Steigerwald, Gabriella Smith, Rachel Hall, and probably a hundred more) Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me so much! My RRHS teachers, Hilary Newby, Debbie Wilkerson, Angela Johnson, Deanna Bradberry, thank you all for helping me discover myself and sharing some knowledge that helped propel me into my future. All my friends that have supported me, the awesome Governor's School staff, and random people who have been there, thank you. Richard Henegar Jr, THANK YOU FOREVER AND EVER! Oh, and Cubs and Diesel!