Working with the Elders, making doughnuts and processing caribou and ptarmigan meat, all the while speaking Inupiaq: this is how Shungnak School students spend a few January days.
“It’s something that we constantly do in Shungnak as a ‘we,’” Shungnak School Principal Roger Franklin said.
Northwest Arctic Borough School District Superintendent Terri Walker and Assistant Superintendent Scott Lefebvre traveled to Ambler, Kobuk and Shungnak this month to hold cultural activities and share curriculum updates.
The visit to Shungnak on Jan. 9 and 10 was well attended, Franklin said. The students enjoyed their time doing traditional activities and meeting the superintendent, he said.
“They got to sing the song, and she was on their level of discussing things,” he said. “They were excited more than anyone.”