School News:
School
News
THREE INTERESTING
WOMEN
The High School Qualifying Exam has
brought three academics to Marshall from the Berkeley campus
of the U. of California. Professor Lily Wong-Fillmore and
two of her graduate students, Mary Eunice Romero and Sharon
Besser, are here to study the language patterns of the
students at our school.
Lily
Wong-Filimore
Lily Wong-Fillmore is a professor at the
University of California in Berkeley. She is married and her
husband is also a professor. They have three children. She
was here in Marshall with two of her graduate students
Sharon and Mary Eunice for two days studying the language
patterns of kids in school. They were trying to find out
what level the children were at in their speaking, reading
and writing skills so they can help prepare them for the
Alaska High School Qualifying Exam.
When they go back to Berkeley they are
going to transcribe all the taped material they have
gathered to try to find out what the students here need to
learn to pass their High School Qualifying Exam.
She says it's really been a great
experience to meet young people here in Marshall and to talk
to them. It's also been nice to meet their
families.
She also says Marshall is a neat
community, the kids are together, they are quick to learn,
but that things are very expensive here.
Nastasia
Sergie
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Mary Eunice
Romero
Mary Eunice Romero is a Pueblo Indian who
has two kids. They live in Cochiti, New Mexico, a Pueblo
village of 600 people. Mary Eunice is a full time graduate
student at the University of California in Berkeley, and is
a second year student there. She's also the Director of the
Cochiti Language Program at Cochiti Pueblo. Since her Keres
language has become "endangered," she and other members of
her community started an immersion program four and a half
years ago to try to save it. In the program the children go
to classes where the people who know the language speak only
in Keres. No English is allowed during these
classes.
She was recently here in Marshall for 10
days to learn more about the language strengths and
weaknesses of the schools in the Yupik area. She hopes her
study will help students pass the High School Graduation
Qualifying Exams. She has concluded that 99% percent of the
children here are highly intelligent, speak English well,
know their culture and are individually capable of
learning.
When she leaves Marshall she plans to
finish her doctoral degree. Then she wants to work for
Native people somewhere, although she doesn't know where
yet. She says that Marshall is a very interesting and
vibrant community, rich in Yupik culture, full of some of
the nicest people she's ever met, but also with an
endangered language. She would like to come back some other
time to swim at the sandbar.
She would like to add this message:
"Always think positive, think of Others, and believe in
yourself. My favorite saying is, "Where there is a will
there is a way!" My will was to learn my language, and I've
found a way to do so, not only for myself, but for everyone
else in my community
also."
Rose Fitka
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![](http://ankn.uaf.edu/NPE/CulturalAtlases/Yupiaq/Marshall/Easter2000/images/2easter10.jpg)
Sharon Besser
Sharon is originally from Connecticut and
has three brothers and sisters. She attended high school
there at Sims Berry High School, which is a very big school.
Her senior class had 400 people, and the total high school
had 1600 students. She is now doing her PH.D degree at
Berkeley, and has two years left of a six year
program.
She came to Marshall because her
professor Lily Wong Fillmore needed help doing her study of
Marshall students. After they have completed their studies
they will write up their report and send it to the Central
Office.
Some of her findings, she said, were that
the students here are very talkative and already informed
about their culture, things they like to do, and about the
world outside. "They also explain things well, and I think
they'll do a great job on their tests in March," she
said.
Sharon said she liked it here because the
people are very cooperative, the school is a very good
school, and the teachers are great.
Mildred Fitka
![](http://ankn.uaf.edu/NPE/CulturalAtlases/Yupiaq/Marshall/Easter2000/images/2easter11.jpg)
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In Juneau with
Close-Up
What we did in Juneau was learn the
basics about how the Legislature runs. We met with some
state officials who talked to us about the executive and
judicial branches of State government and explained how they
are similar and different from each other.
We went to visit the Lemon Creek Prison,
which is under the executive branch. A guy named Kevin Frank
talked to us about changing our life around. He talked about
why he was in there and how he had been sentenced to 21
years for murder. He told us about life in the can and said
that if he ever gets out, everything would be new to him. He
didn't even know what a microwave was. That sort of freaked
me out.
One day we visited the fish hatchery,
called DIPAC (Douglas Island Pink and Chum), and ate lunch
there. They gave us a little tour downstairs where they had
a lot of chum and pink salmon fry that they had hatched and
would soon let go. There were approximately 25,000 fish in
one tank, and about 30,000 fish in eight other
tanks.
We also got to visit the court house, and
observed while the magistrate sentenced three people for
theft. That was very interesting.
The instructors helped us set up a mock
legislative session where we had to elect a clerk, majority
leader, speaker of the house, the Chaplin and two
Sergeant-at-arms. That was a lot of fun.
During the mock session we also had
committee hearings where we had pro and con groups who
testified before legislative committees. The committees had
to decide if a bill went to the full legislature to be voted
on, both with or without changes.
We talked to a guy about the so-called
Mackie Plan, then did a survey on who was for or against it.
It seemed like most of the people who were for it were
people who said they would take the money and leave the
state!
Before we went to Juneau, we had to
prepare local projects that had something to do with our
village. Mine was the need for a teen center in Marshall
because it's so boring here and we need something to do. I
wasn't successful, but I know if people would help me we
could get one built out here.
Kimberly Fitka
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Straight from
Max
Max Lunt, the principal of Marshall
School reported there are a lot of activities that are
planned for the fourth quarter. There is an elementary
basketball tournament in St. Mary's between March 17-18. The
C.A.T. tests are planned for the end of March.
In April, we will have our last Saturday
School day and that will be in connection with the
Youth-Elders Conference. We have invited the Chevak Eskimo
Dance group to perform here. They are headed by John
Pingayak. Also, on the third week in April we are hosting
the high school Native Youth Olympics.
The high school graduation will be on the
first weekend in May for our only graduate, Rose Fitka.
During the last week of school in May there will be hat
making, a parade, an elementary activity day, the annual Mt.
Pilcher hike, a tundra walk, and to finish off the school
year we will have a BBQ.
Max is looking forward to our next school
year. "I just hope everyone takes their studies seriously
and are eligible to participate in sports and other district
activities," he said. "We have the reputation of being one
of the top sites in the LYSD. We want to continue to show
people we deserve that reputation."
Nastasia
Sergie
Happy
Easter!
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Remember Earth
Day?
I wonder if people remember Earth Day
anymore? It seems, with all the hustle and bustle and
dissension over academic standards, high school qualifying
tests, school budget formulas, and the usual student
boyfriend-girlfriend problems, we've forgotten about the
most important thing of all and the one that sustains all
the others, the environment. All around us the environment
continues to degrade while we focus on what amount to
trivialities.
So let's try to put things back into
perspective again. Let's remember our Mother Earth for what
she gives us every day, especially here in Alaska. And let's
celebrate her during Earth Day on April 22, and
during the whole of the week, April 22-24, with activities
especially devoted to this purpose.
There are many things we can do to
accomplish this. Try the three R's, for one. Reduce
your consumption of goods from the store. Then reuse
what you do consume as many times as you can. Also,
recycle as much as possible, and use products that
are made from recycled post consumer materials.
Something students could do is a personal research project
on an environmental issue or problem in their community, and
then report the results back to their class and their
family.
And, remember, in our daily lives let's
try to make every day Earth Day.
Frank Keim
![](http://ankn.uaf.edu/NPE/CulturalAtlases/Yupiaq/Marshall/Easter2000/images/2easter12.jpg)
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