Wow, the time really flies up here when you are having fun (if you call working 7am-6pm fun!). On the XC front, the numbers are dwindling, this could be for a few reasons. I could be running the little ones too hard, but also it could be because it is flu season (yes in August) up here, and when there is a bug going around in a village of less than 500, the kids are bound to get sick. The third reason kids haven't been showing up to practice is because of the dreaded "gym list." The "gym list" applies mainly to high school and middle school kids, and it is the collection of names each day of students who are unable to attend that night's open gym. One gets on the "gym list" for a number of reasons (didn't do homework, chewing gum, tardiness, or just plain behavior problems), and when your name is on the list, you are banned for all extra curricular activities for that day (If it is a Wednesday, you're out for that night and Thursday because the gym is closed on Wednesdays due to a weekly church service). So as coach, it is my responsibility to check the gym list every day to see if my runners have behaved themselves in class that day, and most days I feel I'm fighting an uphill battle. Still I carry on.
This week I realized two things about Sundays. First is that the village is dead, well at least the schoolyard. This is because Sunday is reserved for the church (Officially Quaker aka Friend's Church, but really Non-Denominational) and your family. This is understandable, however, it leaves the area surrounding the school with an eerie feeling. The other thing I noticed about Sunday was that pretty much every teacher in the school was in the building trying to figure out how to use the lesson plan format that is required by our district to submit to our Principals every Monday morning ( I guess every teacher here is a procrastinator, so I fit right in!). After figuring out my lesson plans, I barely had time to get some rest before school Monday.
Monday is the "early out" for the kids, while we have a staff meeting at 2:40. I found this to hurt XC attendance. I had 5 or 6 kids come to me at about 5:30 (45 minutes after practice started) and tell me that they had just gotten up from a nap! I considered scrapping Monday practices, but then I realized the ones who are truly dedicated will show up for Mondays regardless.
About the only other event of significance that happened this week was the monthly visit of my mentor teacher from the Alaska State Teacher Mentoring Program. He's a 20 year vet of schools on the east side of the state. In a normal situation, my mentor teacher would be at my school, or within my district, but as they say here, "Welcome to the village!" Reed is great, he sat in during Language Arts (or as I like to call it, "Pulling teeth" or perhaps "trying to push a parked car" is a better way to put it) and offered me a lot of great advice about my group. Unfortunately he's only here once a month, but I'm glad to have a good advisor in my corner.
I have been getting packages or some form of mail every day this week, and up here that's like Christmas morning! I just can't wait for my TV, I'm lost without it, no Columbus Crew or Manchester United games! Also, I think I'll finally get to walk around town and take pictures Saturday. It will finally be nice to get pictures up here, because words can not describe the beauty of Buckland. I never imagined that I would be sitting in a valley, surrounded by large hills in every direction, nestled along the Buckland River. This town is truly an amazing site to see. Hopefully I will make a post before Saturday, if I've got the time that is!
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