In Nome, one educator is doing more than teaching – she’s keeping Native traditions alive.
At Nome-Beltz Middle/High School, most classrooms look alike. But one stands out. It’s open and spacious, more workshop than lecture hall. This is Phyllis Walluk’s room; a place where culture lives and breathes.
Phyllis has taught in Nome for more than 30 years. Before that, she was a preschool teacher, meaning she’s taught generations of students. A fluent St. Lawrence Island Yupik speaker from Gambell, she now teaches both Yupik and Inupiaq, helping her students connect with their roots.
Her classroom hums with activity. A large refrigerator along one wall is stocked with fish for smoking lessons. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is even donating musk ox meat for her students to learn how to prepare though Phyllis laughs that she’ll need some help with the butchering. She once brought seals hunted by her son to class, teaching students how to butcher and prepare them with care and respect. Everything she knows, she says, comes from her family – especially her mother.
After decades of teaching, Phyllis could retire, but she can’t imagine stepping away. It’s her students who keep her going, and the joy she finds in them shines through every time she smiles. For her, this work isn’t just a job. It’s a way to make sure the traditions of her people continue – one student at a time.
