Michelle Gaspar invited me into her 7th grade class at Eben Hobson Middle School in Barrow, Alaska. There are 185 students total in grades 6-8 at Hobson. We were joined in Michelle's classroom by her teammate's class of 7th graders. They are organized like our 6th grade team at home. Michelle teaches science and math and her partner teaches language arts and social studies. She was amazed that Wilson K-8 has 240 seventh grade students, because there were only about 30 students between Michelle and her partner teacher.
Hopson Middle School in Barrow, AK.
The students and I shared stories about life in Tucson, Arizona and life in Barrow, Alaska. We watched a video that my students created describing life in Tucson. It made it much more real to them when my students explained things. They laughed along with the students in the video.
Once we put the weather differences aside, we found a lot in common between the students. Students in Barrow get a snow day when the thermometer reaches -45°F (-43°C). This doesn't take into account the wind chill which can be more than brutal here. They had lost count of the number of snow days they received this year. They were amazed that we never got "hot" days in Tucson, and even more surprised to realize that many of our school buses are not even air-conditioned.
Seventh grade students at Hopson Middle School in Barrow, AK reading postcards from Wilson students.
Students get to school by walking, riding the bus, parents driving them, and driving a snow machine. It sounds like Wilson students if you replace bicycle with snow machine. The school offers the opportunity to do lots of sports like our school. Basketball and wrestling are two sports they mentioned doing. None of the students thought it would be fun to run cross country in Tucson when it is over 100°F (38°C) in August and September. Their school year starts the 3rd week in August and finishes before Memorial Day like ours. They do not get as many breaks throughout the year. Recently they received 2 days off for spring break and the temperature in Barrow was -33°F (-36°C).
Students like living in Barrow, Alaska because they like the cold and the openness around them. It is similar to my students who said they like living in Arizona because of the warmth and the beauty of the desert and mountains. My daughter and my students made Arizona postcards for the students with photographs of our state along with words from the students. The Barrow students enjoyed the postcards and one girl remarked that she has been to the Grand Canyon. They will be creating postcards for my students and mailing them later.
Seventh grade students at Hopson Middle School in Barrow, AK.
Animals around Barrow include the snowy owl, arctic fox, caribou, seals, walrus, polar bear, whales and lots of birds that will soon return. (I've only seen 4 ravens so far.) They giggled when I told them that my students don't realize that polar bears and penguins live on opposite poles. It was even funnier to them that many of my students think that polar bears are cuddly! There is a great respect for polar bears around here. We agreed that we would much rather take on a rattlesnake than a polar bear any day.
Some of the students had recently participated in a 2-day Eskimo dance festival with Native dances. A few students are helping their families prepare for the upcoming whale hunt. They enjoy events when they get to do the blanket toss. There is an upcoming Spring Festival in Barrow April 3-5th. I will miss it unless the volcano has other plans in store for my return to Tucson. It was a great day to share and enjoy the energy of the students, then it was back to a late night in the lab analyzing snow.
Betsy Wilkening working in lab in BARC.
Sunset from my laboratory window in BARC at 8:00 PM ADT.