tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907681785991644452.post2878565856383011429..comments2022-11-17T06:18:24.108-08:00Comments on Rural Alaskan: By Kendra KrenzKendraKrenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02861656908333223687noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907681785991644452.post-88660018297989936232007-09-07T12:34:00.000-07:002007-09-07T12:34:00.000-07:00With regard to Joanna's comment--it's not that muc...With regard to Joanna's comment--it's not that much of a joke. Subsistence DOES clash with school, and teenagers (rural and urban) DO keep later hours. We know all these things, and yet we seem to design school to ignore the realities of life. Why is this? There are some historical reasons. For example, we have summers off because schooling used to be based on an agrarian calendar and the students needed to help on the farm in the summer months. There are some practical reasons. In high school, we start students early so that they can go to afternoon jobs or participate in sports practices. <BR/><BR/>But these issues impact learning in significant ways and make schooling more of a chore for a lot of people. I think we can agree that many rural schools underserve their students. So why do we continue to insist that they come to school when they need to gather food for the winter? (Isn't that an important activity?) Why do we make high schoolers try and learn when biology tells us that they are not fully capable of doing so early in the morning?<BR/><BR/>I'd like to see a rural school rearrange their schedule to accommodate the needs of their students and their families. Maybe they'd be more relevant and more successful.skipviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13793471413099259568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907681785991644452.post-51197617738700951272007-09-05T16:07:00.000-07:002007-09-05T16:07:00.000-07:00It's sad that rural schools seem to have so much t...It's sad that rural schools seem to have so much trouble with issues like parental supervision of the students. I was speaking to a group of teachers awhile back and one of them said that if they had it their way, the school year would be broken up to accommodate subsistance. They would also change the hours of attendance to reflect the "late" hours the typical rural student keeps. It was a joke, but I could see that all the others involved in the conversation actually considered it in their minds. Maybe it's not such a bad idea.Joanna Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15768142889843651162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907681785991644452.post-66677945857010561632007-08-31T22:29:00.000-07:002007-08-31T22:29:00.000-07:00Kendra, this is a very thought-provoking post, and...Kendra, this is a very thought-provoking post, and is a great example of why we need to be telling the stories of the communities we live in. You provide a very cogent description of some of the conflicts that occur between old ways and new ways, among broken or separated families, and among the struggle to maintain one culture while living in another--here I'm referring to the subsistence issue. It's important to realize that even small communities like Kongiganak can have problems that urban communities face, but that they also have problems that are unique to rural Alaska. It's so important that we tell these stories and make them known to people all over Alaska. It's so often the case that education fails rural Alaskans. I don't have any answers, but I'm convinced that you and your colleagues will find some.<BR/><BR/>Excellent post! Keep up the good work.skipviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13793471413099259568noreply@blogger.com