6th Grade Guest Speaker Series 2: Mr. Balazs Describes A Community Service Project In A Remote Southeast Alaska Native Village

There are places on this planet that we all must try and visit in our lifetime. I'd place Alaska at the top of my list, to experience the scale of wilderness that is accessible there.

In the second of our Guest Speaker Series, 1st grade ISD teacher Noah Balazs joined us to share his experience of working for a summer in the remote village Klakwan, Alaska.

Klakwan is located on the banks of the Chilkat River some 20 miles north of Haines along the Haines Highway. The village is home to about 140 residents traditionally of Tlingit ancestry.

Many thanks to Noah for sharing his rich experience.

Five Dives, Three Days 10.29-10.31

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Photo comments (top to bottom): photo1: a camouflaged stone fish, or stone fish-like fish; photo3: I ran into two groups of lobster yesterday, small ones; photo4: red sea anemone are common; photo5: a fish I know as a blenny; photos 6&9: dense schools of fish, different species; photo8: a pair of immature thiof (grouper), commonly seen in cracks and crevices; photo10: dive site off the Mamelles bluffs, immediately south of Plage Mamelles.

I'm currently brushing up on my dive skills by taking several classes through the Nautilus Dive Center on Plage N'Gor. Co-owners Philipe and Hilda are warm and gracious, and linking with them is a nice opportunity to stay involved in things marine throughout the year.

My current class requires five dives, each focusing on a different set of skills/elements: the fine points of buoyancy control (remarkably, I've reduced my weight load to only 5 kilos, even with my 5mm winter wetsuit); multi-level diving (diving deep, then shallower, to allow for greater bottom time while remaining within no decompression limits); deep dive (we dove to a whopping 38m yesterday, moving outside the no decompression limits, requiring a much longer stop at 5m); night dive (scheduled for Tuesday night); and underwater navigation.

Given my level of expertise, the class has been exceptionally valuable. The deep dive yesterday was breathtaking, on the order of diving on Mars, given the enormous feeling of depth, the dramatic changes in aquatic life, and the possibility of seeing something LARGE swim by, whether a group of mantas, a pod of porpoises, large pelagic species otherwise unseen in shallower water.

This class qualifies me to dive to these depths. I expect a return visit to Mars.

I've twice snorkeled the Mamelles this past weekend with Sam S., on Saturday joined by Peter and Marje. The conditions were quite nice on Saturday, less so yesterday. Both dives were delightful. The pics above were taken yesterday.

The season has now officially shifted to a winter pattern: the humidity has lifted, the air is dusty, and there is a prevailing breeze out of the east. The great Dakar upwelling machine has now been switched on, and it is only a matter of time before sea temperatures begin to drop significantly. Still, the coldest water we've encountered (68 degrees F at about 120 feet) is over 10 degrees warmer than anything you'd find in northern California, and well-within the limits of my wetsuit.

6th Grade Fall Splash-a-thon & Splash-a-licious BBQ Chicken Lunch

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Photos (top to bottom): photo1: Rosa, Adama, Emilie & Alice; photo2: one bad-ass southern momma who advertises the wisdom of regular flossing; photo3: Ethan-the-tiger-shark; photo4: Mrs. Keck and daughter in a rare bit of quiet water; photo5: Lucie and little bro; photo6: Ibrahima & poppa; photo7: a rare Caribbean yellow-nosed Charne; photos 8&9: Ibrahima; photo10: Rozita and Sheila have obviously been working out; photo11: Mansur backs away from the teacher-photographer-shark; photos 12-15: general frivolity in the deep end (no bomber casualties thankfully); photo16: Mourtada; photo17: CJ; photo 18: Tom, Alphadi & CJ in line for Shady's splash-a-licious chicken lunch; photo 19: parents socialize over lunch; photo20: Rosa, Adama, Emilie, Alice and Margret.

A memory is a thing: it possesses substance (or the lack thereof). A memory may be coded in multiple forms and in multiple locations, whether in an isolated intellectual-verbal center, as might a vocabulary definition, or a combination of centers, as occurs in the case of context-rich, emotion-laden experiences.

Groups vary in the degree to which the members of those groups share a common vision, or believe-in and commit-to the vision of its leader/s. The implications are very important: performance of a group is directly proportional to the strength of their shared vision, without limit. It is true at all levels of community, whether a couple, family, classroom, or within the psychological landscape of an individual.

So what's the connection with a 6th grade pool party?

The 6th grade community -- kids and families -- met on Saturday for a couple hours of play at the Club Atlantique. It was good fun for all: plenty of splashing, pleasant conversation, and good food -- all the components of a memorable day. And that's really what it's about: building memory of what is a very important point-in-time for us all, being posted here in Dakar, at ISD.

A felt identity with class and school has important payoffs both for the school year and the memory of the school year. The shared sense of fun and relationship coats and protects memory. The increased sense of community and belonging also results in a greater willingness/desire to invest oneself academically. It is very important and very powerful, thus the reason why so many schools begin the year with grade level retreats.

Here's to the 6th grade!

Celebrating United Nations Day 10.22

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Posted without comment.

In the Pool With Kids 10.20

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Photos of students from Stephanie's homeroom in their final swim class.