Merry Christmas from Scammon Bay!

Yes, We celebrate Christmas in Scammon Bay!  

Kids write letters to Santa.......

 

and make decorations for the school rooms and hallways.......

 

and prepare for a special Christmas Program.....

Our School Christmas Program had a Hawaiian Theme!

Every elementary class had a presentation and some of the middle school

and high school students performed. It was very festive

and we had a huge crowd come out to see the students perform.

Students made most of the decorations! They did wonderful, creative work.

                                             Finally, Santa!  It was exciting!

 

We had a Holiday Craft Bazaar!

All sorts of cool things were for sale......

Handmade Fur Hats

Fresh Fry Bread

Unique Christmas Ornaments

  

                 Fish

 

          Sweets

 

         Wild Berry Jam

                                                                        

A fish trap was the grand prize raffle!

Gifts are given........

                                   

Yummy goodies from my principal.

  

 Dried fish strips------I've become addicted to these!

And most importantly we celebrate the birth of Jesus.....

Pastor Jason preaches the Word....

And the Word became flesh...

Sunday Services at the Covenant Church

Merry Christmas from Scammon Bay!

Native Youth Olympics for Junior High hosted by Scammon Bay School

The Native Youth Olympics is a series of physical and academic competitions---many of them unique to the Native Alaskan culture. Students representing the "down river" schools flew into Scammon Bay on Thursday and began competitions that lasted until Saturday night. In addition to Scammon Bay, we had Kotlik, Emmonak, Alakanuk, and Hooper Bay.  The kids and their coaches/chaperones stay in the classrooms. They bring their sleeping bags and sleep on the floor. They shower in the gym. Our cafeteria workers prepare 3 meals a day plus late night snacks for all our guests during their stay.  The young people are very well-behaved and enjoy getting to socialize with kids from other villages. It's very exciting!

The Parade of Banners

Seal Hop. A competitor must keep his/her body straight and parallel to the floor while hopping down the court. When their body (other than feet/hands) touches the floor they are out of the competition. They hop until too exhausted to go further. The one who goes the farthest is the winner.

That's Scammon Bay's very own Rita in the photo below. Rita won 1st place in the 7th grade girls by seal hopping a little more than the entire length of the basketball court! Go Rita!

Below are the boys seal hopping.Boys must fold their fingers and hop on their knuckles--a very difficult task!

The 2-foot Alaskan High Kick. Competitors must keep both feet together to kick the suspended ball and they must land with both feet together.

Friends rooting for their team.

Future competitors intently watching the games.

The One-foot High Kick. The competitor must jump with and land on the same foot.

Below is Jackson from Scammon Bay. He took 1st place for 7th grade boys with 76 inches high!

This is Luther from Scammon Bay. He took 2nd place for 7th grade boys with 75 inches. Luther jumps barefoot.

Below is Alma, yes you guessed it, from Scammon Bay! She took 1st place for 8th grade girls with 74 inches.

I think Scammon Bay has a bright future in athletics!

This is our NYO coach, Darlene (better known as Bloopsy).

The coveted NYO awards!

Following the NYO awards ceremony there was a dance for all the competitiors. Then a midnight snack. Everyone heads back home in the morning!

The Native Youth Olympics are a wonderful series of competitive events that encourage academic excellence and sporting competition. It also gives insight into the native culture--- appreciation for coming together as communities in fun and fellowship----supporting the young people and their endeavors.

 (Events not pictured: One-Arm Reach, Wrist Carry, Math test, Science test, Social Studies, Spelling Bee, Scissor Broad Jump, Kneel Jump, All-Star Relay, Yupik test, Live Performance, Creative Writing, Speeches, and Knowledge Bowl.)

As you can tell, it has been a jam-packed weekend of competitions going on all over our school!

Side note:  Full moon over Scammon Bay reflecting off the frozen tundra. 

I'm still waiting to see the Auroras.  They are elusive.