We were lucky enough to find an opportunity to teach exactly where we wanted to live, so now all we had to do was move. Easy enough, right?
Most moves involve renting a moving van or hiring someone to take all your worldly possessions across the country, but when you move 400 miles away from the National road system, it’s not that easy. My first quote involved getting a giant cube that we could load up and have everything shipped ahead of us to Anchorage, still 400 miles from our final destination. A quote of $15,000 made me realize that we were going to need to be very creative with our move. Loana and I realized what this meant. We had to reduce the contents of a 1,800 sq ft house into what would fit into many 18 gallon Rubbermaid totes. Time to get an Amazon Prime membership!
Rubbermaid totes are the favorite method of getting your stuff to the Alaskan bush in one piece. There are videos on Youtube that demonstrate how to drill holes all the way around and secure the lid with zip ties once it is loaded up. We were limited to tote sizes that would be reasonable for Bush pilots to handle in their single engine planes. The post office has a limit of 70 pounds but under 50 is far more encouraged. Every single tote that we mailed up would travel to our new home in the tiny cargo hold of various small planes that visit our new home. I packed up my first tote, 45 pounds. I secured the sides with zip ties and took it to my nearest post office to get an estimate, $94.27!!! Wow was all I could think. Some quick mental calculations made me realize we had to get rid of almost everything we owned to make this move possible. We would also need to do this while still living in our house, down to the last couple of days before we finally left on the adventure of our lifetimes.
I felt overwhelmed with information after the job fair. I wanted to create a giant spreadsheet with all the information I received for each district then do a side by side comparison of the top 10. But, who has time for all that with a full time job? So I did my usual approach which is to go through every open door and trust that the ones that need to be shut will be.
We continued to prepare by learning as much as possible about Alaska. Amazingly enough, we knew people who knew people who were teaching or had taught in Alaska, so we had no shortage of information.
I will confess, I closed one door myself- I realized that Alaska can have extreme weather and temperatures, and I decided that I wanted to choose a region that doesn’t get snow during the months of June, July, and August, which eliminated a couple of regions. So, for review- our collective requirements were: Internet, running water, flush or composting toilets available, we had to both be teaching within the same town or village, and we could expect three snow free months in a year. Those minimum requirements left a lot of districts open!
About January, we started getting follow up calls and emails from people we had spoken with at the job fair. We made sure our application with Alaska Teacher Placement was up to date, and we followed up on every contact. Some doors opened, some closed. Sometimes the person contacting us only had 1 vacancy. One phone conversation, I was very tired, and completely went blank on a couple of questions. It wasn’t pretty. But each open door, and each closed door was part of the learning process. When one considers closed doors part of learning and guidance, one doesn’t get frustrated or disappointed when doors close.
One conversation was a closed door and an open door at the same time. A principal called to invite me to interview, and after talking, realized I was part of a couple. We talked for about 15 minutes, and he got information about both our certification areas, and what kind of setting we would prefer. He told me he didn’t think he would have 2 positions in the same village for us, but that he knew Twin Hills was looking for a teaching couple. We had never heard of Twin Hills, but looked it up. We found lots of information available about the village and the school, and in fact, stayed up way too late reading about it. After sleeping on it, we both felt like we should reach out to them, so we did. When we called, the person who I spoke with said they didn’t know of any openings in Twin Hills, but they would have openings in the district, and they would be sure to keep our information.
In the next few weeks, things happened fast. We had phone calls, emails, and interviews stacking up, something every day. Every day we kept thinking about Twin Hills but not hearing anything, so we kind of figured that it wasn’t meant to be. Then, things got serious! A couple of the districts were ready to move forward with letters of intent. We had serious conversations about if we should accept one of those offers, or wait for things to pan out in a village similar to Twin Hills. We knew in our hearts that Twin Hills was our first choice. We were torn between taking the offer in our hand, or holding out for something that we had no reason to hope for. Before we had a chance to make up our minds, I got an email from the Director of Instruction at the Southwest Region School District. We scheduled an interview, and a follow up meeting with the same team. It felt like a fit! So when the offer came in, we were thrilled. We were so lucky to have several choices, that included the one we liked best!
I went to the Alaska job fair in Houston on a fact finding mission, with a notebook and pen in my hand. I knew we both had interest in Alaska. I didn’t know if it were likely for us to be able to find positions in the same district, or if it was practical, or a good fit. I left completely excited, with a notebook full of notes and questions, a bag full of brochures, business cards, and district information.
I learned that Alaska is BIG! Different regions in Alaska are like different states in the lower 48. This impacts the climate, the amount of daylight, the amount of rain, and the industry and resources available.
I learned that different districts in Alaska can be vastly different. In my home state, the way funding is distributed, the areas with more industry, more tourism, and higher property values have more funding for schools. Generally, the more convenient and prosperous an area, the higher the pay for teachers. From the districts who came to the job fair, I realized that in Alaska, it seems that the more inconvenient the geographic location, the higher the pay and benefit package. Some districts provide teacher housing at a very reasonable rent. Some districts offer signing bonuses. Some districts provide tuition reimbursement
I learned that I needed to research and really know what my desires are. Alaska has cities, and some districts that would be quite similar to where I’ve been teaching. Alaska has very small towns on the road system that are very isolated, and towns that are off the road system, but still have roads and stores. In addition, there are villages that are off the road system, and don’t have roads or stores. We learned that in some of the “bush” areas, we would need to let our district know if we required a home with a flush toilet rather than a “honey pot,” which we would empty outdoors.
At each and every table, I heard over and over that they incorporate the culture of the children in their education, and that they are concerned with the whole child, and their children being happy and healthy. When I looked at the district brochures and videos, they weren’t focused on test scores or building programs. Instead, they were focused on their communities. I was hooked!
Robert had three requirements- good internet service, shower, and a flush or composting toilet. I had one more requirement- I wanted to be in an educational setting that is significantly different from my previous experiences.
The one thing I knew for sure after the job fair was I wanted to teach in Alaska, and that I didn’t want to go without being fully prepared.
When Loana and I looked into how teachers were hired in Alaska, we found that one of the avenues was the Alaska Teacher’s Job Fair. What is unusual is that it is held in 3 states outside of Alaska. We decided to attend the Job Fair in Houston, Texas, since it was the closest location to us in South Carolina. This was strictly a fact-finding mission for us, it would be close to impossible to even consider a move for the 2019-20 school year. http://www.alaskateacher.org/alaska_job_fairs.php
We attended the job fair with the expectation that some school districts would want to interview us while we were there, even if we let everyone know we were looking at the 2020-21 school year. We talked to at least 10-12 different school districts, spending 5-10 minutes with each one. We met some awesome people at each district and learned something fascinating about each individual region. We were asked to interview by three districts. Loana and I each did separate interviews. We were offered positions by two districts on the spot, and had to turn down substantial incentives to make sure that we did this on our time-frame. It was an insightful experience, and it helped to get our name out to the different districts. For us it was acknowledgement that we were needed and valued in Alaska, even though we wouldn’t be applying for jobs until 6-7 months later. At least we knew our plan was possible!! It was also great to check out the Gulf coast beaches and enjoy the salt water, if even for a short time.
Hi I’m Robert and I’m moving to Alaska. Easy enough. I decided 15 years ago to go back to school part-time to work towards becoming a teacher. I always told anyone who said I was crazy to go back to school at 40, that I would be teaching students in Alaska someday. When I brought the subject of moving to Alaska up with my partner Loana, a couple of years ago, I imagined that she would laugh it off as everyone else had. She didn’t. Instead she smiled and said “let’s go”!! That left me to with a problem. I had no reason not to go. My 3 sons were out on their own or in college, I love the outdoors and winter camping and fishing, and had always dreamed and talked about moving to Alaska.
So, what do two teachers who want to teach in Alaska do to make that a reality? Hours of research, reading articles about life in Alaska, reading up about the challenges of teaching in an area with extreme climate. We spent hours watching videos of residents in Barrow(now Utqiagvik), driving around in snow in May, or residents of Fairbanks describing Ice Fog(a type of fog that consists of tiny ice crystals suspended in the air. It only occurs in the coldest areas of the world). We watched videos of teachers who worked in remote villages, hundreds of miles from the road system. We talked about what creature comforts we would be willing to “give up”. I narrowed it down to my 3 “must haves”. I required:
1) A flush or composting toilet
2) A shower
3) Reasonably high speed internet
LoAna here- I’ve been a teacher since 1992, and I’m beyond excited about my latest adventure to Alaska.
Since Robert and I announced our plans to move to Alaska, the most often asked question is “Why?”
Sometimes that means “Why move?”
Sometimes that means, “I know you love adventure, but why Alaska?”
Sometimes that means, “Why the bush? Why not stay on the road system?”
For me, it all started when I learned to read. Reading was a magic portal for me that took me anywhere I wanted to go. During my elementary years, I traveled all over the world and through space and time, all from the safety of the St. George Public Library. I knew from a young age that I wanted to see & experience as much of the world as possible. I especially loved the Little House on the Prairie books. I also read books set in Alaska, and had a good bit of curiosity toward Alaska. My senior year of college, I had an opportunity to go teach in Alaska, but my life wasn’t moving that direction at the time. Mostly, I didn’t think I could handle such a different place by myself, and I didn’t have anyone in my life who wanted to go with me.
Life moved on, and I had some wonderful adventures, including spending a summer in Australia, and living in Japan for 4 years. I lived in many different places, and intentionally sought out friends whose experiences and culture were different from mine. Of course, some people I knew went to Alaska. A childhood friend moved there soon after college and is still there. Several others were in Alaska for a few months to a few years, and all of them shared wonderful experiences and pictures. I added a trip to Alaska to my bucket list.
Meanwhile, over the years, I had mentally latched on to the concept of creating a life that we don’t need a vacation from, and Robert and I were trying to figure out how to do that. That could be a whole separate post, but the idea is building a life that we enjoy every day, so that our vacations away from home are wonderful adventures just because we choose, rather than a necessary escape from a life that is unbalanced due to excess stress. We started considering relocating to somewhere with nicer weather in the summers when we have time off. In one of these conversations, Robert jokingly mentioned Alaska.
Robert had always wanted to teach in Alaska, or if not always, for many years. I think he was surprised when I said, “OK. Let’s go!” That was a couple of years ago, and we took some time to plan and prepare, but that is a different story.
For me, moving to Bush Alaska feels like it’s as close as I can get to Little House on the Prairie in my lifetime. This choice is bringing some simplicity of lifestyle, and adventure. The idea of teaching in a small, multi-age setting brings visions of creativity and flexibility in the classroom that I find very appealing. I’m going on a grand unknown adventure with my best friend- How could it be any better?
So what was our next logical step? It is not easy to apply for jobs that are 5,000 miles away. We found out that Alaska had a teacher job fair every year in 3 different cities in the Contiguous U.S. and in Anchorage Alaska. We picked the job fair in Houston, Texas because it was the closest to us and was held when we were out of school. We knew that we wanted to teach in Alaska, but would Alaska want us?? We weren’t just looking for one job, we were looking for the best fit for both of us. Many of the smaller communities might not have openings that fit our certifications. It could be a year that did not have many openings for teachers. Only one way to find out. Off to Houston we went….
Southern Belle On Ice 