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-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

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

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

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

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!

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