Camaraderie and Culture
![Side-by-side pictures of an NYO competitor preparing for, then executing, a one-foot high kick inside the St. Michael school gym.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2018-SMK-NYO-Games-2-Up-2432px-1200x800.jpg)
If you ask a Western Alaska school-aged child to name their favorite sport, the most common response will likely be “Native Youth Olympics,” or NYO. The games aren’t just a way for students to compete and develop athletic skills; they’re also a means for youth to connect to subsistence culture and learn to support each other.
What Makes Native Olympics Special? ‘Camaraderie’ and a Helping Hand, Athletes Say
![NYO competitors from Unalakleet lend each other a helping hand at the 33rd annual BSSD NYO Tournament.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-04-20-2432px-001-10-1200x900.jpg)
Last weekend’s NYO tournament in St. Michael for the Bering Strait School District showed a strong display of sportsmanship and support. But for those familiar to the games, it’s just business as usual.
In Unalakleet, BSSD Students Learn to Lead
![Students at the 2017 BSSD Youth Leaders retreat sit in a circle on the floor of the Unalakleet school gym to tell stories.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IMG_1086-2-1200x900.jpg)
Students from around the Bering Strait School District gathered in Unalakleet for a weekend of workshops, games, storytelling and dancing.
Nick Hanson Returns to ‘American Ninja Warrior’ This Summer
![Nick Hanson scales a “salmon ladder” in his hometown of Unalakleet.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2015-09-12-nick-hanson-001-2-1200x800.jpg)
Unalakleet’s Nick Hanson — “The Eskimo Ninja” — returns for a third season this summer on “American Ninja Warrior.”
A Youth Summit in Kiana
![Nick Hanson, from the very top of a large, wooden structure, looks down on children sitting on the floor of the Kiana school gymnasium.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Nick-Hanson-in-Kiana-2x3-ratio-2736px-1200x800.jpg)
KNOM endeavors to connect with listeners, on the air and face to face. Recently, volunteer producer Lauren Frost had the chance to do both during a special youth summit in rural Kiana, Alaska.
An “Eskimo Ninja” Inspires
![Nick Hanson scales a “salmon ladder” in his hometown of Unalakleet.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2015-09-12-nick-hanson-001-2-1200x800.jpg)
Through your support, a recent episode of KNOM’s Story49 featured a young man from Unalakleet, Alaska, whose training in Alaska Native Youth Olympic games helped turn him into a competitor on the nationally-televised show “American Ninja Warrior.”
Unalakleet “Fab Lab” the Only One of Its Kind across the School District
![Taught by Reid Tulloch, the Fab Lab class has resources like vinyl cutters, 3D printers and laser engravers available for students to use. Photo: Davis Hovey, KNOM (2016)](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/FabLab-1-1200x900.jpg)
The Unalakleet Fab Lab allows students to work with vinyl cutters, laser engravers, and 3D printers. In Reid Tulloch’s second Fab Lab class of the day, one of the senior students, Genesis Blatchford is working on creating a 3D box using an instructional packet and a computer program.