Monthly Archives: December 2017

C.E.L.E.B.R.A.T.E. Christmas

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blog Celebrate Tyus

Are you dreading the holiday season this year? Too many parties to attend? Bad weather keeping your family from making it home? Not enough in your bank account to buy gifts? No one to celebrate with? Unexpected health issues?

Those are all difficult situations. Try hard to not let those stresses and worries steal your joy during this beautiful time of the year. Let’s remember the reason for the season. Christmas time is a time to celebrate. A time to celebrate family, friends, and most importantly, a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

We would like to share with you a few ways to CELEBRATE Christmas and every single day.

C = Connect with your family, your friends, your church. Invite others over for a cup of hot chocolate and conversation. Or, gather together to play a few games. Ones like Guess Who or Sorry.

E = Enjoy some YOU time. Light a scented Christmas candle and take a leisurely bath. Pop some corn and watch your favorite Hallmark Christmas movie(s). Turn up the music on the Pandora Rockin’ Holidays Radio station and dance away while you bake some Christmas goodies.

L = Laugh together. Find humor in every moment. Children laugh over 400 times a day. Adults? Maybe 15 times a day. Let’s change that!

E = Extend an invitation to others to come over for a Christmas pot luck. Have them bring their favorite Christmas foods and beverages. Keep it casual then give it a KISS—Keep It Simple Silly.

B = Bake a few goodies and deliver to your neighbors, the church shut ins, and the older adults at your local nursing home. Buy small devotional books and share with friends and family. One favorite devotional is Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado.

R = Read the Christmas story together while sitting around the Christmas tree or the fireplace. It’s a beautiful story that can be found in the chapter of Luke in the bible.

A = Accentuate the positive. Be one of the good people still in this world by blessing others with unexpected kindness. One person, one place, one act at a time can change the world. Check out the book A Case For Kindness by Lisa Barrickman for many kindness ideas.

T = Thank others and thank them often. Thank you to all of you for being our faithful readers. We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

E = Eat as healthy as you can during this season of delightful eats, however, do not deprive yourself of that delicious frosted Christmas tree sugar cookie. Exercise too. Maybe walk on a treadmill or ride a stationary bike. Stay healthy!

May you be blessed indeed in 2018. Merry Christmas from us to you!

Stay Calm & Celebrate the Season!
Profs Dr. C. & Dr. V.

Cancer Sent Her to Alaska & Cancer Brought Her Back Home

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Blog Alaska Students

An SMSU ELED alumna recently returned to Minnesota from Alaska where she taught for a year. I wanted to hear all about her adventure so we sat down with a cup of coffee and this is what I learned. Cancer sent her to Alaska. Cancer brought her back home.

Emily hopped on an airplane with her husband to move to Alaska because her friend Sarah (also an SMSU alumna), who is battling a genetic skin cancer, asked her to come. Sarah invited Emily to travel to Alaska because she wanted her son to be around strong women. Emily, being that strong woman who has survived cancer herself, was concerned about her friend’s health, so off she flew…to help care for her friend and her friend’s son.

Blog Alaska Sarah (2)

Sarah and her son…

While there, Miss Emily taught in the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) in Bethel, Alaska. She shared why she believed this school was a great district. She also shared a little advice on preparing yourself for their tribe world if you would choose to teach there.

BONUSES of Teaching at Bethel

DOWNFALLS of Teaching at Bethel
Respectable salary (She started at $59,900) Extremely high cost of living. $60,000 in Alaska would be like $30,000 in Minnesota.
Decent insurance through Integrity Insurance with a $100 deductible. Medical facilities aren’t the best and she got sick right away with Bethel Crud because of different air quality, water, etc. Medications had to be flown in from Omaha, NE.
Housing available. High rent. Spent $250 a month for 900 gallons of water, which is supposed to last a month for everything…showers, washing dishes, flushing, etc. Yikes… 😮
Back-to-school professional development conferences offered with dynamic speakers and breakout sessions and the district covers the cost. Professional Development Conferences are held in Anchorage, Alaska, which is an hour away—by plane only.
Learned and taught specialty classes such as berry picking, fishing, mouse food hunting (yes, you read that correctly 😮 ), and more. No prep times in Bethel. You teach all day long.
Hot lunch for the students is guaranteed each day. Some of the food served is old, expired.
Students work hard and give their best. 7% of students pass state tests in math.

5% of students pass state tests in English.

50% of students graduate from High School.

Kids are failing.
Some students have IEP’s. A three-year IEP, and no SPED teachers so paraprofessionals become the SPED teacher.
The people are kind, humble, and truly care.

 

 Many broken homes, addictions, violence. and suicides. Many children have some kind of trauma going on in their lives.
Cooler temperatures. Common to have fifty below zero temps.
Wealthy because of the oil. Extreme poverty because of the oil. The government gives the people a SMALL amount of this wealth each year. She believed it to be $1000 a year.
School is the safe place for the students. Harassment and bullying happens in school. 😦

One other experience that Emily shared made me wrinkle my nose, which would be offensive in Bethel. Sorry Bethel, Alaskans.

Are you a fish eater? I LOVE fish, especially salmon. However, NOT to the extent that Emily learned to eat it while in Alaska. The people of Bethel believe in subsistence…nothing is wasted. It is a matter of survival.  For example…Emily ate every part of the salmon. She said the eye socket was her favorite. It tasted like prime rib. Eeew…I’m sorry, I couldn’t do it.

Blog Alaska Salmon

Emily’s dad is now wrestling with cancer. Because of the uncertainty of this, Emily hopped back on a plane and came home to be with her family. Welcome home, Emily.

Sarah, who still lives in Alaska, is doing better and taking a chemo pill. Emily’s dad is also doing well for now because his cancer is in remission. That is wonderful news! Thank you, Jesus, and please continue to bless both of them, Lord.

Teacher candidates, if you would like to teach in Alaska, Emily highly recommends considering the LKSD in Bethel. She would love to visit with you anytime about the opportunities there.

 

Mouse Food Hunting

Blog Alaska Fishing

Bethel Student Fishing

 

Miss Emily and her kids and Emily gets all photo credit

Stay Calm & Go On A Teaching Adventure!
Profs Dr. Wendy & Dr. V. 

Give Thanks

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As we think about the holidays and the recent celebration of Thanksgiving, we give thanks.  We give thanks for so very much… and even more than we really thought about before… We are thankful for the relationships that we have with the people we hold dear.  We are thankful for family and friends – new and old – and those yet to be made.  We give thanks.

JR thankful

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Here are just a few of my thousand words possible as I remember and give thanks…

Thankful. Home. Son. Prayers. …Rewind several days – Basketball. Fastbreak. Dunking? Maybe, Maybe Not. Bleacher Steps. Base of Head or Neck. Frozen. Shock. Caring Coaches and Volunteers. Ambulance. Scared. Prayers. Emergency Room. Disbelief. Possible Paralysis. Helpful and Kind Medical Team. Prayers. CT scan. Helicopter. Prayers. Hurry. Pack. Family. Prayers. Drive. MRI. Involuntary Movements. Prayers. Wait. Swelling. Spinal Concussion. Spinal Contusion. Prayers. Wait. Texts. Calls. Questions. Concerns. Community. Prayers. Voluntary Movements. Prayers. Family. Smiles. Relief. Future Surgery. Anxious. Prayers. Wait. Smiles. Family. Amazing. … Thankful.

This wild roller coaster ride reminds us to give thanks for family, friends, and community.  Without each other what a lonely world this would be. Thank you.

Stay Calm & Give Thanks!
Profs Dr. Wendy & Dr. V.