My buddy Jenny MacDougall emailed me up and was asking about my Wales trip. Luckily she told me to come hang out at Effie with her on Friday. It was really nice to get a chance to spend some time at this school. It is very different than what I have found at Hutchison. It's much smaller, there is a high percentage of Alaska Native population, and programs and curriculum take a slightly different approach it seems. Also, high school starts at 10 am! After getting a few introductions to some teachers to inquire to what they are doing, I ended up spending the morning with a freshmen class, which was beginning on an oral history project. They would end up picking a topic and collaborating with the teacher to find a first-hand source of information for interviewing. Some topics students considered were village schools in the "old days," and constructing the pipeline.
After lunch we I spent the afternoon in a class of about 10 students working on various individual hands on projects. A few used sewing machines to make a shoulder bag, some planted seeds for the school garden, or others knitted or made their own clothing designs. All of the students were very easy to talk to, polite and seemingly very happy with their school situation. I asked quite a few students and a common reply was "it's so much better than the big schools."
Even though Effie isn't a rural school, it has a similar feel to one. Rural schools have more opportunity for varied curricula, placed-based learning and high collaboration between teachers. These schools seem to have a more relaxed environment. They can seem a bit more chaotic and disorganized than a large school. In so many ways I appreciate more the environment of these small schools. It is definitely more intimate and the teacher/student relationship at Effie extends beyond the school day and school year for many different programs.
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