Fri, Sept 2nd: Akiachak (Kalila)
The day before heading to Akiachak I received an email that there was only going to be J.H. divisions competing because too many schools weren’t coming because it was also the opening weekend of moose season. We decided to go ahead and go to Akiachak so Kalila could have a chance to compete. Akiachak is in the Yupiit School district up river from LKSD.
The only teams competing in the Mud Run (5K) was Akiachak, Bethel, Kwethluk, and Oscarville. Kwethluk flew home after dinner so that left only Bethel and us to overnight in the school. Akiachak always feeds us so well. For dinner they served fresh salmon caught by students and staff. Mmmm good.
Akiachak has two stores and, of course, we had to check them both out. Going "to the store" is a must when we travel. Sometimes I think the students look forward to that more than the event. And it is understandable, since we don't have a store in Oscarville. The one run by natives had lots of empty shelves and little selection. The other store now ran by a Welshman had stocked shelves and boxes of goods to be unpacked on all the isles. I have never seen a village store so full of variety and even fresh fruits like bananas and kiwis.
Usually we have a fun relay race the day after the competition, but since only Bethel and Oscarville stayed the night the relay race was cancelled. Fog delayed our departure several hours; small planes were not flying so we ended up catching a ride to Bethel with the Bethel team in a caravan. We were suppose to fly to Napaskiak and be picked up by a parent in our community, but with the change of plans I called Olga, our school secretary and community nucleus, and she contacted our ride and let him know we were now flying to Bethel instead of Napaskiak, but due to the fog the time of arrival was still unknown. Once in Bethel I borrowed a phone to call our ride to let him know we had made it to Bethel and he came and picked us up and took us home to Oscarville. Another great reason to always carry a book to read; both Kalila and I had plenty of time to read while we waited.
Fri, Sept 9th: Kwethluk (Kalila, Trevor, Bethany, Raeanne)
Kwethluk is the only village we go to that offers an elementary division race this is especially exciting since the majority of my team is in elementary. The elementary race is about a mile and a good distance for them to begin with. This was Bethany and Raeanne’s first time to travel so both girls were so excited yet so very shy at the same time. Trevor and Kalila both are quite social when traveling. Trevor continued to encourage the girls to join in basketball because it was “so fun”, but they weren’t quite ready for that. By the end of the junior high race my students had become more confident (louder) in their cheering. At first they thought it was too embarrassing to yell at the runners, but I told them it was helpful to the runners and a sign of positive sportsmanship. So cute they were cheering and giggling at themselves.
Elementary Girls: 1st place Raeanne
2nd place Bethany
Elementary Boys: 4th place Trevor
Sat, Sept 17th: Bethel (Kalila, Trevor, Colton, Bethany, Raeanne, Irene)
Bethel-the biggest and most challenging race of our cross country season. The course is in a sand pit and there are ups and downs and sand galore-nothing like village courses and definitely nothing like our practices in Oscarville. There is only junior high and high school divisions, but I took my four 5th graders because they had earned the right to run.
Friday when we were picked up our driver joked with the students by telling them that the first 50 runners to dinner were going to be given cheeseburgers. Fast forward to race day… Trevor crossed the finish line 47th and immediately asked where to go to get his cheeseburger. Trevor had misunderstood the joke and thought it was for the first 50 runners across the finish line. Trevor said he had run his hardest thinking about that cheeseburger the whole race. He had placed in the top 50th and was disappointed that there were no cheeseburgers. Olga, Trevor’s mother, and Barbara and Galen, Colton and Bethany’s parents, had come to watch the runners run. Trevor and Colton left after the junior high race and went out to eat at a restaurant; Galen bought Trevor his cheeseburger.
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