A Busy Birthday

Where to start? Testing, I suppose...yes, more testing. We get some sort of funding for arts and literacy projects, which apparently comes with testing strings of its own. I have already administered a reading section of one standardized test, and another multi-part test was given when I was in Anchorage. These dollars apparently feel that those are inadequate (and don't forget the SBA's), and demand another test that is more to their liking.

So, there we were. I volunteered to give the test, because I was gone for the last. I needed to get the 8th grade done, because their test booklets must be shared with the 9th grade (?). I got the morning done, and picked up the two stragglers in the afternoon. Now I have to see if the 6th grade teacher finished hers so that I can test the 7th grade today. Interesting split. Oh, yes, and the materials got here this week and must all be done by the end of this short week. Gotta love it.

The word that it was my birthday got out sometime during 1st hour, and resulted in the kids singing "Happy Birthday" to me in Yup'ik. Or, at least I believe that is what it was. It did have the familiar tune. It could have been "Die, You Evil Schmuck" for all that I am able to tell, for my Yup'ik vocabulary is extremely limited. (The kids don't seem to know much Yiddish, however...) It was nice, anyway.

We got some kids to pass some indicators (what I need to work on) in math, and they were ok in health. On the other hand, when I came back from testing in the afternoon, they were crazy and busy fighting with each other. I don't know when I have seen such a group prone to sniping at each other. Enough already. They did it again during science class. Time for a reteach, I think.

I had planned to leave at contracted quitting time (4:15) because it was my birthday, and because I am not committed to the afterschool program on Wednesdays, but one girl wanted to stay after unannounced, so stay I did. We got part of a test completed before she quit in frustration. Math thing. We will keep at it.

Then it was off to church, where we had been invited by Father Vasily and one of the teachers. We got there late, because the service did not start at the usual evening time. Not to worry. After the service, Father happened to mention that it was my birthday. This resulted in many congratulations from members of the congregation, some of whom I did not know. Very nice. We had been talking about Bethel and pizza for dinner, but we were invited to a memorial feast by a couple of relatives of the deceased, as they passed in a pickup truck. We tend to believe that community invitations are more important than pizza in Bethel, which is there every night. So off we went in search of a place, the location of which was not entirely clear. Fortunately, Napaskiak is a small place, and we found the house in question.

We got there in time for the blessing and prayers, which included another mention of my birthday, and more wishes from very nice people. The moose soup was delicious, and we returned home for some cleanup and cake with some friends and co-workers. School and village gossip was had by all, and the evening ended late. It is nearly 8:00 a.m. as I write this, and it is time to get it into gear again for another day.

I had a nice birthday, and I want to thank all the people that made it that way with their greetings and gracious invitations and hospitality.