We run an afterschool program in Anchorage and the first year I was there I never met one single parent because we just engaged with the kids. I was like, we need to make sure we've got the whole family together.

I have a nine year old son who is very light complexion like me and he just, he made a statement to somebody that he wishes that he was darker. That breaks my heart now. So now I've gotta make sure that he's getting those lessons about, it doesn't matter how dark you are, Native people, we come in all shades today…I certainly hope like he didn't hear anything from a classmate that made him feel less than, I'm not sure how that thought process crept into his mind. Yeah, I feel like especially for younger kids, like middle school-aged children, like school can be like a really, really tough place because I was in the village when I was in middle school and like, I'm obviously lighter-skinned. I have experienced bullying in that realm. And so like it's, it's totally understandable that kids who look different would be treated differently at school.

It takes time to learn, I guess, how to slow down, how to appreciate the opportunity to sit at a table with other people, even in silence. And a lot of, I think Our cultures, a lot of Our communities are okay with silence…but still for, you know, some of us we're uncomfortable with that silence.

Our dancing would be welcome. I don't know what it's like for communities who have dancing as part of their, that's like rich in their culture. And I don't know what it's like in the community or how it works, when and where they dance. But I feel like if they were to feel safe, then dance would be more accepted.

My suggestions to people for this region is that trust is not a default, and that's okay. And there's a lot of spaces that you are going to feel vulnerable in, and that has to be okay. And that it's okay to be vulnerable in those spaces and be in spaces of learning and be uncomfortable because there's been precedent set that you don't have any control over. And so you are kind of picking that up. And is that fair? It depends on how you look at it.

One of the things that we talk about as a staff always is diversifying their support network. So making sure that we as a group can say that youth can identify that we are part of their support network and not a part of their structure of barriers. That it's like, I want to create a safe space for you to take that breath and then grow from there…I just think kids can learn better in, in periods of peace. You can have that kind of quiet mind to then add to your information. If kids are not having their security needs met, they really can't quiet their mind enough to absorb their kind of full ability.

I'll be part of the team here in Fairbanks that makes Fairbanks schools a more welcoming place for families where they feel good coming in and participating and not like outsiders when they walk into schools.

We really bridge the gap between those kind of home supports and the academic supports. And so we wrap students in a blanket basically, and we use an intrusive model of advising. So each week our staff and our faculty get together and talk about which students are doing really well and which students could use a little extra help. And we identify them. And then, I mean, that same day we're like, “Hey man, do you need help with your homework?” You know, “are you learning what you need to be learning? Do you need knowledge from a tutor or help from a tutor?” And then we also have our - our professors are at those study halls too, at least once a week to give extra help. So I think it's a mixture of that level of support. And then also just giving students an opportunity to showcase what they can do. We expect really high things from our students.

So I have this vision that - for the region - that we can create a space for youth where whatever their interest is: music, dance, singing…rapping, maybe making beats, um, maybe choreographed dance, and then maybe acting, like dance-theater, um, skits…It’s just a place where youth can, can be, you know, get their feet wet and then figure out where their interest is. And what I see is - youth love to do one of those things, some or all of them and, and just be given a space where they can be free to be them. And, um, and just have people that are there that are able to foster or, you know, guide them in that. And then also…the youth are involved in a clothing line, like several clothing lines…Because the other thing I noticed is that youth and all of us, we love to wear hoodies that are, that have representation of us. You know, like, and a lot of times we wear Say Our Name hoodies, you know, that's how much we love to, to represent who we are. So I just think that there's a creative way to start bringing cultural pride back to the youth. And, so you create clothing lines that can compete with what's out there, like what's out there… This is just kind of their future, right? Like, this stuff is just happening all the time. Like the cultural pride is infused and more mainstream and the things that we have, it’s just - we don’t think, oh, that's regalia. It’s just - that's your expression of who you are.

I kind of see this place where kids can come and find their interest in the arts - like an afterschool program or something like a weekend thing. Cause I noticed that they, the kids are really - especially the Ahtna kids - are really taking interest in theater. And my son is one of them. And I mean, there's a lot of them. And typically, what I've seen is - we're shy. You know, like Ahtna people like, we are shy to do that, but what I'm seeing is that they're giving us space to do so, and they're supportive and the community comes to watch them and they're just blossoming in that.

We've talked about that a little bit on an administrative level, about reinstating in-school suspension, because a lot of times school is like a safe place for kids. You know, suspending kids and sending them back to the place that's unsafe for them is not, you know, productive…So reinstating in-school suspension, but doing it in a culturally relevant way, where, you know, traditionally - if you were in trouble, you were oftentimes with your auntie or your uncle or you know, somebody that's not your parent doing something hands-on or helping, you know, tie a sled or…Your aaka told me one time she got in trouble and her dad was making her split baleen for a baleen basket, you know, and doing that for hours, and then finally was talking about what she did and what happened and, you know, just processing it that way. But doing something that is more impactful of their time and their thought process and something that's way more engaging. And rather than sending them away from the problem, really bringing them in and holding them in that space and talking them through it would be a more productive way of learning what is going on with the student.

When we were growing up, we don't look at an Elder when you're getting scolded. You look down. But…when teachers come in, they're like, "Look at me when I'm talking to you." But, you know, a form of respect is you don't look at them, but that would be disrespectful on their end…

One of my favorite memories is watching, you know, anytime we were in large gatherings with my grandma was always, um, that's what I thought of, about the moon with her hands folded together and her thumb going around.

Anybody that works at the school, they don't know our value of acknowledging, which is just a raise of the eyebrow or making a nod. They don't have to say anything. So we're acknowledged in that building that we feel welcomed, but none of that is practiced cause they don't know. So that's why we don't feel like we belong in that building even cause they don't know our customs of greetings and making you feel welcomed. Cause we have a lot of non-verbal communication.

Kids can handle stuff. If it's taught in a developmentally appropriate way. What they can't handle is people talking in secrets around them where they have to fill in the circles themselves.

Our people are very, very brilliant people before we were forced to be educated by subjects, by age - the Western system. When I was small growing up at East End, I walked to school. As I walked to school, I'm leaving my Inupiaq language behind from East End into town of Nome. Somewhere in there, there is a change of language from Inupiaq community to English, where it was all in English. I had absolutely no idea at first what's going on. I had to learn to from my cousin, how do I say “I have a toothache? How do I tell my teacher I have a toothache?” I remember at recess: “I. I. Have a. A toothache.” So I learned how to say that during recess, we have 15, 20 minutes at recess. So we go in and I tell my teacher finally - “I have a toothache.” So I was sent to the office. I still couldn't understand what the principal or the nurse was saying.

I worked as a NYO coach for a few years in Fairbanks. And one thing that was really frustrating for me was that you have to have a certain GPA to even be able to attend practices. And so…in the current school system, we isolate all of these students that we identify as problems or as slow learners or just with these really negative things. And I think there's also this passing of responsibility, right? My great grandparents never gave up on anyone in my family, no matter how many mistakes they made or what those mistakes were. They always had this responsibility for us, this belief in us that we will always do well. And I feel like the current school system is like, "eh, win some, lose some.” And that's not the ideology that I was raised around...there's this thing where it's like, “can't save them all,” but we can try it hard. Right? Like, if you had that responsibility for every student in your school, the way that...my great grandparents had a responsibility for us…we wouldn't have suspensions or detention or stuff like that, right? There would be really positive and encouraging interactions with these students who we were worried about. And it wouldn't be this thing where you had to have a certain GPA to be able to attend stuff like Native Olympics, which is one of the only Native things offered in certain school districts. You know? So when you're isolating all these students, that student who's not doing well in school needs to be around peers who are doing well in school and needs to be around peers who are doing some, something healthy and connecting. Being able to be athletic or do well in something like that is what helps build their self confidence. And so when they're confident in the school or, you know, with their classmates. And so I just think that that is something that would look really different.