Earlier this month, educators new to Nome Public Schools and the Bering Strait School District got a hands-on introduction to the culture and tradition of the region at Cultural Camp for Educators.
KNOM’s Gabe Colombo joined the teachers during their week-long educational experience, held at a fish camp between Council and White Mountain. 11 teachers from around the region got to try their hand at seining, cutting, and smoking fish, and berry-picking, while engaging in lectures and discussions about Western Alaska’s unique heritage.
Devin DiFranks started her second year of teaching at the middle school in White Mountain this week. She’s from Pennsylvania and has only been in Alaska for a year.
DiFranks says Cultural Camp was both an opportunity to learn and to develop friendships:
“When you move from the Lower 48, you don’t know anyone, and you come into a whole new world, and it’s hard when you have no friends, you don’t know what you’re doing. It really opens you up to the good things to come.”
Listen above to hear more about the experiences of DiFranks and her companions as they begin their life and work in Alaska.
Image at top: Educators new to Alaska try their hand at cutting fish during Cultural Camp for Educators. Photo: Gabe Colombo, KNOM.
