Feature News:
Feature
News
School Begins With A
Bang
It has begun!! Not another fire, not
bingo...SCHOOL! Once again, on August 18 at 8:50 Monday morning,
school started. Every student from age 5 to 18 was out of bed, wide
awake and ready to learn.
Before school could begin, though,
some school projects had to be done. They were completed during the 2
1\2 month summer vacation. Our new maintenance man, Nick Duny, and
his two helpers, custodians Paul Boots and Katemal Shorty, and a
couple of SYETP workers "straightened-up" the school over that short
period of time.
Some of the things that were done
were: painting the hallway and the classrooms, making an arctic entry
in the northwest side of the school building, shampooing and
repairing the carpets in the classrooms and switching the lockers so
that the high school and elementary students will have an easier time
getting to their lockers then to their classes.
Some of our little playground
"buildings" and "bus" were also painted. Traci Fitka, SYETP
coordinator, had two of her workers, Walter Tikiun and Lois Moore,
painted the two "buildings" light blue and the "bus" an almost bright
yellow.
Some of the projects that still need
to be done are: fixing up the teachers workroom, fixing up the
basketball court outside, and installing heaters in the gym. Some of
these projects will be done this year and some next summer. The
school will also be receiving a new bike rack so, if kids come to
school with their bikes, they won't be scattered all over the school
property.
Max Lunt, the principal, thinks that
the students of Marshall School will do well in their classes and
that we will have a good year. In the 1995-96 school year, the
students ranked 7th in the District in attendance. Last year we
ranked 4th. Max hopes that this year we will lead the district. So,
Marshall students, let's try not to let him down. Let's take care of
our school and try to be here every weekday.
Rose Lynn
Fitka
Student Teacher Flora
Evan
"It's the beginning of the end for my
college years and my student career in the field of Secondary
Education. By this, I mean, I have completed all my course
requirements with the exception of Student Teaching. My Bachelors
degree is concentrated on Language Arts.
I attended Sheldon Jackson College in
Sitka for four years. For my final semester, I am student teaching at
the Marshall School. To broaden my range and variety of teaching
methods, I am working with Richard Olsen and Frank Keim, my host
teachers. I am working with Richard Olsen's ninth and tenth grade
English class where we started the year with a novel. I am also
working with his Junior High English class in which we are working on
reading and writing. Frank Keim's Journalism and Russian classes are
the other classes which I am working in.
My requirements during student
teaching are to construct lesson plans and present them to the
students. My host teachers also have to complete a Teaching Skills
Analysis Form (TSAF) while I am doing my lesson. The TSAF is used for
feedback on how I presented the lesson and my strengths and
weaknesses.
The semester started off well, and I
thank Richard Olsen, Frank Keim, and the Marshall School for allowing
me to student teach in Marshall."
Marshall's New
Airport
Pilots will soon have a new airport
to land on.The people of Marshall had complaints about the old
airport being in a place with bad crosswinds. So they votedon a new
site for the airport. There were four different sites where the
airport could be located. The choices were on top of the hill to the
northeast or across from Wilson Creek. Since people chose the one
across from Wilson, the engineers from the Department of
Transportation took test samples of the soil from there. If the tests
are good, then the new airport will be made there.
The new airport will be approximately
4400 ft. long, and the layout will be according to the prevailing
winds. Some people asked why it would
not be closer to the present airport
or why the one we have now couldn't be extended. The answer was that
the land wasn't available because it was privately owned.
With the airport being 4400 ft. long,
it will probably take two years to be built and ready for use. The
airport will also be big enough for large cargo planes to land on and
bring heavy equipment in for the people in our community. Jets won't
be able to land here, though. Sometimes in other villages the airport
is open to the community only at certain hours of the day, but there
will be no such restrictions to the new airport here. It will be open
all hours of the day and night.
Tassie
Fitka
Jason Isaac, New
V.P.O.
Jason Isaac Is our new Village Police
Officer (V.P.O.). Four months ago, Jason finally realized his dream
when he was hired by the City of Marshall as our
V.P.O.
Jason's salary is paid by the
city through the three year $150,000.00 Federal Cops Grant which also
pays our other V.P.O. Walter Pitka.
Jason wanted to become a V.P.O. for
some of the same reasons that little kids want to become troopers,
fire fighters, or V.P.O.'s. In elementary school he watched these
people and thought they looked cool. He admired them and wanted to be
just like them.
The responsibilities of a V.P.O. may
be hard or easy, according to V.P.O. Isaac. For him, though, being a
V.P.O. is not too hard. He has to enforce all of Marshall's
ordinances and the Alaska State laws. He makes sure everyone is home
at their curfew time, and he makes arrests when it is
necessary.
V.P.O.'s generally receive training
but Jason says he hasn't gotten any training yet. He and other
V.P.O.'s will be going to St. Mary's, though, for their annual
training in October. As a V.P.O. Jason has to know a little first aid
and about gun safety which he will learn then.
Maurice
Turet
Two New Teachers for
Marshall
Guy and Barb Sandlin are new teachers
here are Marshall School. They were
last teaching down at Alakanuk School. Guy is teaching 7th, 8th, and
H.S. grades, and Barb is teaching
1st and 2nd grades. Both Guy and Barb responded that Alakanuk was a
good school, but a lot bigger than Marshall. They both have been
teaching for 30 years. The places they taught were Arizona, Hawaii,
Montana, and here in the L.Y.S.D.
Guy went to several Colleges. He got
his teaching degree at Arizona College. His majors are Math and
Genetics. Barb also went to Arizona College and her major is
Elementary Education. Both of them stayed in school for 4 1/2 to 5
years. Guy always wanted to be a teacher. He thinks being a teacher
is a rewarding and fun way of helping students. Barb wanted to be a
teacher because when she was young she had a horrible teacher, and
she felt she could be a good teacher. Guy's favorite subject is math,
and Barb's favorite subject is reading.
Both of them think that Marshall High
School is just right and a wonderful place to be. They are planning
on teaching for another 4-5 years. "I'll teach as long as I love it,"
says Barb.
Lois Moore
![](http://ankn.uaf.edu/NPE/CulturalAtlases/Yupiaq/Marshall/MooseHunting/images/mms974.jpg)
Fishing The
Yukon
Fishing in Bristol Bay and on the
Kuskokwim River was a bust, but some Lower Yukon fishermen told a
different story. Many Lower Yukon commercial fishermen said this has
been a good season for Kings.
One of the fishermen who had a
profitable season is Garrett (Loots) Evan. He has had a very pleasing
fishing season. At only 19, Loots is one of the youngest permit
holders on the Yukon. He has been fishing as a helper since he was
ten years old. Loots just got his permit last year and he is already
a good fisherman.
Most fishermen didn't have the luck
that Garrett had. One fisherman says that he had a devastating
season. It just goes to show you that fishing on the Yukon differs
from spot to spot.
Joe Fitka
Marshall Gets New Clinic
Addition
The Marshall Health Clinic has a new
addition. It is named after one of the past
health aides, Theresa Elia.
The clinic was moved from its old
location in 1985 taking the trained health aides with it. It was
moved from beside the old Catholic Church to its present location
beside the school building. The City of Marshall decided to build a
new clinic because the old one was a very small building.
Carpenters recently built an addition
to the present clinic so more patients can be seen if the other rooms
are filled. The two exam rooms they had were not enough. There are
many other new rooms that were added to the
clinic. There is enough room now to make
a kitchen and a storage room, and it even has space for any big
emergency that may occur. There are also bedrooms for the doctors and
nurses who come to Marshall to check patients.
In plain words, the health aides here
in Marshall say it takes dedication and devotion to be a health aide.
To become a health aide you have to take a lot of training in many
different areas. There are certain steps you have to follow and four
sessions that are required. During classes instructors teach you
about human anatomy, different
diseases and how to treat them, pregnancy and child birth, and how to
deal with death and dying. You have to know what to order, such as
prescription drugs and supplies you need. A health aide works six
hours a day and thirty hours a week.
The Yukon Kuskokwim Health
Corporation (YKHC) is the parent organization of the clinic. That is
where all the records of past medical histories are kept. YKHC is
where Oxie, Liz, and Augusta report the patients they have seen.
Whenever the clinic is short of supplies like medication they get it
from the YKHC. Doctors, nurses, and dentists visit the village once a
year to make sure everything is okay.
The health aides like the jobs they
have. Although they have to learn lots of
different things and know how to handle
the large amount of responsibility, they say it gives them a lot of
self-satisfaction.
Cheryl Hunter
![](http://ankn.uaf.edu/NPE/CulturalAtlases/Yupiaq/Marshall/MooseHunting/images/mms977.jpg)
A New Land Fill for
Marshall
Hey, all you Marshall dumpers!
There's going to be a new landfill on the tundra. The people chose
the new dump site to be built out there on the tundra. The new dump
is built 300 ft. x 300 ft. and is designed to last for about 14.6
years. If the paper trash is burned it should last even longer. They
built it this way to conform with rules and regulations made in
Juneau and Washington, D.C.!
They started construction in August,
1995, and they plan to finish the dump by September, 1997. It is now
actually pretty much finished. They just need to install a fence and
put down a lining so it won't leak. When it is all filled up with
trash they will cover it up with gravel. They are going to buy a
garbage truck so they can start a garbage pickup service. They are
also going to build an incinerator so they can burn the paper trash.
They will recycle some materials like batteries, pop cans, etc, and
they will have a salvage yard where people can get old parts from
three wheelers, four wheelers, snow machines, etc.
For the city to pay for all this
there will be an extra charge on everybody's water bills or they
could pay for it with a city sales tax. When people come from other
places for races, 4th of July or other big events they would help pay
for the costs of water and sewer service and garbage collection
through a sales tax.
Marshall has a New Catholic
Church
Six or seven years ago the Parish
Council of Marshall, Agnes Owletuck, Alvin Owletuck Sr., Lorraine
Fitka, Angeline Coffee, and a couple of others decided to build a new
Catholic Church. They had problems deciding on the location of the
new church because of land claims. But finally last year they got the
materials for the new church.
Paul Perreault, an architept, drew
the design for the church. It has two bathrooms, a bedroom, storage
room, and two kitchens. The upstairs is the living quarters for the
priest.
Last year when they first started
construction they had five volunteer workers: Paul Coffee, Andy
Boots, Shawn Thompson, Fred Fitka and Alvin Owletuck Sr. Shawn was
the supervisor who helped work on the building with the four other
men. Alvin, Fred, Paul and Andy worked on and off for three months.
It took all five of them three months to put the building
up.
The total amount of cash that was put
into the church was $40,000.00. A rich old lady from the Lower 48
donated the money to the Marshall Catholic Church. The Catholic
Extension Society used the money to get the materials needed to build
the church.
This year a few volunteers worked on
it too. It's almost done but still needs some work done on the
inside. The people working on the church need to wait for some papers
so they can finish their work.
The new church is a lot better than
the old church because it is bigger and has more room inside. After
the workers are done building the new church they are going to knock
down the old church and use the materials for other
projects.
Kathy Duny
![](http://ankn.uaf.edu/NPE/CulturalAtlases/Yupiaq/Marshall/MooseHunting/images/mms979.jpg)
Fires Rage on the
Yukon!
Fires raged near Russian Mission this
summer. According to Tom Soolook, these fires were located ten miles
northeast of Russian Mission. Altogether ten crews from Alaska fought
fires which burned 3,300 acres just outside of Russian
Mission.
The first week the firefighters had
to walk toward the fires, but they had one problem. Most of the crew
members were getting blisters on their feet. Then the next week they
were transported by a helicopter to the fire. They used pulaskies,
shovels, chainsaws and water to burn out the fires. The hotshot
crews, also called "The North Stars," mopped up the fires after the
other crews left.
While fire fighting two people got
injured. One man from Stebbins got stung on his lips twice by bumble
bees. Another person cut his leg with a pulaski.
Tom Soolook has been fighting fires
ever since 1988. This year he fought fires for 18 days, from July 19
to August 5. This was the longest time he ever spent fighting
fires.
Jon Boots
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