Social Studies: Greeting Paragraph to Kwethluk

In class on Friday we watched a Keynote presentation about the differences between Juneau and Kwethluk and took notes.  So far we have learned that Kwethluk is land locked, Juneau is mostly surrounded by water.  The geography of Juneau includes mountains, an ice field with glaciers and near to many islands in the Inside Passage.  Kwethluk is located near the Kwethluk River and has wetlands in the summer and frozen tundra in the fall and winter. There are no roads in and out of Kwethluk.  People travel to Bethel in the summer by boat and by snow machine in the winter on the frozen river.  We also learned that the state of Alaska considers any town that has a population less than 5,500 is rural if it is not on the road system and but if it is on the road system the population must be 1,500 or less.  A rural designation is important because it allows community members more hunting and subsistence rights.

The homework assignment that we started in class on Friday and is due today, Monday(11/21), is to write a 1-3 paragraph greeting to our sister school in Kwethluk.  Five of the greetings from each class will be posted on the RURE Destination Log.  This is a great way for us to get to know our new friends in Kwethluk better.

Here is a great example from a student.
        My name is Damen and I would love to visit your home and community.  I would also love your students to enjoy our beautiful home and learn the way we eat, cook, play, speak, write and how we do our art and carvings.  I am so excited to enjoy the beauty of your home and learn about the legacy of your people(Yupik) from past times.  I would also like to see how you get around, trade, make art, and learn from your knowledge and culture.  I hope that you can teach us and we can learn about the differences and similarities between our two communities.  It would be awesome to do so because I don't travel much and I wish I could see your beautiful town.