When is a Circle Not a Circle?

When its a deadend! I drove with a friend to Circle City yesterday on the Steese Highway and came home today. It takes about 4 hours of reasonable speed driving and the scenery is most excellent. We stopped at "comfort stations" at a campground and at Eagle Summit where there is a casual nature trail loop above treeline. Oddly enough, there was no one hiking the Pinnell Mountain trail (see link on the right sidebar) as the weather was beautiful- blue sky low wind. The two trailheads are about 20 road miles apart- all in alpine tundra and make for a breathtaking, treeless 3 day hike.

Then, we stopped in Central to make spaghetti on the Coleman stove after looking at the hot spring pool at Circle Hot Springs. The place looks abandoned. There is a great ghost story about the place that is fun to read....google "Circle Hot Springs ghost" for the pdf. The sign on the door of the store admonishes not to bring in shotguns or big knives and warns that only $100 of credit is allowed before you have to pay your bill. The restaurant there serves a hearty breakfast and customers are mostly locals. The big season is when the Yukon Quest International Dog Sled Race comes through and everyone uses that location as a headquarters.

Not to our surprise, a lonely old-timer came over and made small talk. Was he trying to pick us up? Lordy, I hope not. He was 72! He insisted on carrying our food box back to the car and was huffin' and puffin'. More likely he was jonesin' for leftovers when he smelled our homemade spaghetti. Too late. Only dirty dishes left. When a few of us ladies went hiking together about 11 years ago, we traded some hungry gentlemen for some toilet paper and we both parted company happy. They didn't bring enough food and we didn't bring enough toilet paper (is there ever really enough?). Is this another gender difference?

In Circle, Brian and Stephanie found us a place to stay (Thanks!) and in the morning, we walked about 1/4 mile down a muddy road to the old cemetary. There are gravestones from 1903- Rasmussen and O'Brien being the easiest to read (and their names are famous in the histories of the area). The little fences around the graves are going back to the forest which really adds a mystical feel to the place.

Apparently, Jack McQueston (McQuesten) found gold and founded Circle City in 1893, but the population of 1200 shrunk to 400 within a year as people stampeded to Dawson City. Circle City became a supply hub for the gold fields as a great source of firewood and good hunting. Now the population is less than 100, but the road is kept open (sorta) all year round and Warbelow's provides air service.

I visited there in the 70s and it looks about the same. The road ends at the mighty Yukon River (currently with ice blocks stacked 10-15 feet along both shores from early spring flooding). There is the hulk of an unfinished hotel guarding the boat launch there and a permanently closed restaurant and liquor store. Erla runs the well stocked store and gas station and is open whenever she wants. The town is comprised of 86% Gwich'in Athabaskans and the rest non-Natives. It's pretty picturesque with log cabins, smoke houses and dirt roads nestled in amongst the birch trees. The school has about 20 kids for 2 teachers and was just finished about 2 1/2 years ago.

So, how do you teach in a 2 teacher school? Well, it's all about making sure that you design a schedule that provides you actual time with every student. So, while you are working with one small group, the others are doing the work in small groups and partners that allow them to apply and practice with each other. It's also about making sure that everyone knows their choices (behaviorally and academically) that will result in consequences both positive and negative. A wise old administrator told me once to prioritize this way: 1) teach the first graders to read, 2) make sure the high school kids get access to courses they need to graduate and 3) group as often as you can to maximize teacher time for every student. It makes sense.

Pros to a small school: sense of learning community, ability to flex the schedule to capitalize on the teachable moments, student collaboration, multi-grade/differentiated possibilities for all students, in-depth teacher knowledge of students and families and freedom to teach thematically, imbedded community collaboration, limited staff conflict, potential for tailoring schedule and content to specific student needs.

Cons: conflicting curriculum mandates, lack of planning time, multiple planning/preps necessary, time necessary to teach kids self-management, not very many electives, teacher may not have content knowledge in all subjects taught, familiarity breeds contempt, need for "time outs" from each other, lack of colleagial discourse.

I'm doing the lazy man gardening- watching it rain. I received the "stimulus package" check today. It seems ironic that I am receiving a check from the government when the job market seems so dismal that young people are under-employed and can't buy homes. It's rather like pouring a cup of water into the desert. But, after paying MUCHO taxes, I'm not sending it back.