This is what it's like to teach. Kind of.

Teachers. (and non-teachers). must. watch. this.

ENI Contest Announcement

I hope you all had a chance to watch the video that my students created. 

The winners were announced yesterday on ENI's School Net Web site. The international prize, a two-week trip to Italy, for best work was awarded to a school in Tataouine, Tunisia. Their video, I must admit, is very good! You can watch it here. Scroll to the bottom and click the filmstrip. I know that those Tunisian kids must be ecstatic about their upcoming trip to Italy!

Although my students are disappointed that they didn't win the grand prize for best work, they automatically won the national prize, since the middle school in Barrow is the only school that represents the U.S. in the contest. The middle school received several mini iPads as well as a new video camera for the computer technology department.

They are also excited about having won the award for best video. That's exciting considering the fact that seven countries participated in the contest -- approximately 1,000 students. I'm pretty proud of my kids! They worked very hard on this project.

The Festivities of the Iñupiat

For the past four months, my co-worker Nancy and I have been sponsoring a student-led video project that will be submitted to an international contest hosted by ENI, an Italian energy company that operates throughout the world. 

Twelve students from my school participated in the contest. They spent their afternoons and Saturdays at school researching history, writing essays, interviewing people, and documenting two main festivities of the Iñupiat people -- Nalukataq and Kivgiq.  Needless to say, it was a ton of work, but the final product turned out wonderful.

The video is almost 19 minutes long, and I hope you get a chance to watch it. My students did such a great job, and I'm so proud of them.

May 27th is the day ENI reveals the grand prize winner. The students who win will receive a free two-week trip to Italy in the fall.

I'll keep you posted!

And here's a funny blooper from my students...

back to verk

Yesterday was so much fun, but now...back to verk, verk, verk.

Thanksgiving Festivities

 

Thanksgiving Dinner for the entire community.

 Sistuq tried to teach me how to eskimo dance!

Grandma Alice, one of the beloved elders in the community.

 One of the sweet 1st-graders. Every time she sees me, she says, "I love you, Miss Beck!"

 The drums are made with walrus skin and ivory handles. The men have to spray water on the drums in between songs to keep them from getting too dry. The mittens and gloves on the floor are used for the dances.

 Relaxing on the gym floor, listening to eskimo music.

 One of the 10th-grade girls. She aspires to see the world, specifically Fiji. She is a smart cookie too!

 The Diomede Eskimo drummers and dancers. They are amazing!

 Teaching one of the teachers how to eskimo dance.

 One of the students. His love for eskimo dancing and singing is evident.

 Sweet smiles. Our principal made these kuspuqs for the all the girls kindergarten through 7th grade.

 This man works at the post office and is the father of one of our seniors. He went to Moscow in '84, so we compare our Moscow stories. He also was a part of the Bering Sea Friend Expedition in the '80s. He knows a lot about the history of Diomede and is a great resource whenever we have questions about the island.

Teaching the younger girls.