Trip Reflections

First of all I would like to thank Kaveolook School for hosting me and the guidance and generosity provided by the Gadamus family. The rural practicum was definitely one of the best experiences during my yearlong student internships. I appreciate the opportunity to visit rural community in Alaska provided by my multicultural education professor, Uta Kaden.

Within three weeks I traveled from Fairbanks to Houston to San Pedro, Belize back to Fairbanks and up to Kaktovik. I think my wonder at the beauty and hostility of the arctic was even more impressive juxtaposed to life on a tropical island thousands of miles away but with about the same size and population as Barter Island.


I have been interested in working in rural Alaska throughout the process of my State teaching certification and I was excited to spend time in a village to see if I would still feel that way after visiting Kaktovik. I discovered that I don’t think that I would be able to live in an area that was as physically demanding as the arctic and that if I was to live in a rural community, I should choose an area where I felt I could comfortably enjoy the outdoors. From learning about and seeing the extreme turnover rate of teachers and staff and the impact on the students I would also decide to work in a community only if I felt that I could make a serious time commitment, six or more years, to staying in that area.