April 28, 2013

Our three days of field trips went really well last week. We left the school early on Tuesday, April 23, for the US/Canadian border. It turned out to be a lot longer drive than I realized, though worth it once we got there! The students got to tour the border station and learn what people need to do to enter or leave the state for Canada. We also got to see the underground tunnels and plant operations that service all the people living in the remote location.

 We had a picnic bag lunch and returned to school in the afternoon. On the trip home, we even saw two groups of caribou. It was a long day in the van and a number of the students got a nap along the way.

 On Wednesday April 24, we left from Tetlin School for tour of the Post Office and got to see how mail is processed. The students even got to post mark some letters they wrote.

The next stop was the US Fish and Wildlife office of the Tetlin Refuge. The staff explained what they do to help wildlife and shared information about different types of animals in the area. 

 Each student got a badge and was sworn in as a "Junior Refuge Manager" at the end of the presentation.

After a bag lunch, the final stop was the Magistrates office to understand how the court system works. We were not able to participate in a mock trial of the Big Bad Wolf vs. the Three Little Pigs, due to such a small group in attendance that day. Instead the class was shown a mock trial about Jack and the Beanstalk that had been videotaped by one of the Tok School class groups.

The final day of outings was on Thursday, April 25. We traveled from Tetlin to the Tok clinic for a tour of the emergency services provided to the community. The class got to see the ambulance and the emergency truck that is used when there is a car accident.

 The group was also shown the emergency and x-ray rooms that are used when people are injured.To tie into the emergency services, we then went to 40 Mile Air to see the air ambulance used for medivacs.

 My husband gave the tour and is getting a big "Thank You" in the picture below.

After two days of bag lunches, the students were treated to a pizza lunch at Fast Eddy's before going to the Tok School for music class.

 There was time after lunch to play at the Tok School playground and was a good time for all.

At 1:00pm, it was time for music which allowed the students to explore musical instruments that are too large to transport to Tetlin.

I believe that all the students in attendance had a fun and full week. The field trips exposed them to a few of the many community services provided in this area.

This week we will be back to our normal schedule and the other Tetlin students will be back from their trip outside of Alaska. Please continue to look for homework nightly, and remember that there will be a Spelling test on Friday.