Small Town Stuff

Although I was not born in Kodiak, I was raised there. My first memories are waking up in the Shelikof Lodge, going to the (now gone) Dairy Queen with my sister and my parents. I went to East school, where I remember that me, Mollie and Gabby all knew that our 3rd grade teacher was cheating on her husband with the 5th Grade teacher. We would make grass forts on the playground in the fall. Our playground was rough gravel, but the developers had left a little forest in the back just for us (or so it seemed).

We thought that the 1st graders were such young babies, we laughed so hard at a blonde little girl who always used to say, "Back in the olden days, people didn't work.". We had reading groups, the Pink Group for just me and Mollie. Guest artists came to our school and taught us how to paint in water color earnest pictures of puffins and gray whales. Michael Longrich came from an artist family, while he would make disfigured sculptures his mother would be a special guest and teach us how to draw our hands realisitically. Fridays were movie days, and we would sit on the floor in the darkened classrooms watch old fashioned slide show cartoons on "Good Oral Hygiene" and get in trouble for braiding each other's hair. The end of the year meant summer, field trips and Crab Festival.

When we were all in 6th grade we were already in the Junior High, there were lockers to slam, notes about important events to slip into lockers, less equipment on the playground. It was cool to stand around in circles with your friends, cussing, swearing, looking furtively at the "duty teacher" (which I now think must be the most grossly underpaid job ever). At one point, the entire recess became a huge game of "Mother May I", I don't know how that happened. We had recess 99.99% of the time, rain, snow and sleet. At some point, they opened the library up for sign up- that was the best place to be. Some of us had ELP (Extended Learning Program). It was like a super-class that got you out of what everyone else was doing. We had our own internet connection ("What's FAQ mean?" "I don't know, hmmm Faaaaaaaa Q" "Is it a dirty word?") we made movies, competed in nation wide trivia events, and just basically goofed off. Mr. Adams, a mild mannered Science Teacher was our leader, although it was not always clear who was leading who (and where?). Examples of what we did in ELP: The military base on Adak closes, they donate their old BETA vcrs to the Junior High Science program. "Why don't you guys take it apart to see how it works?", Mr. Adams suggests. Come recess, the sound of Mike Longrich (Yes-the clay sculpture kid) with a sledge hammer (where do kids get sledge hammers in schools???) is out in the back throwing himself mightily, hell bend on demolishing the poor beta, Gallagher style.

8th grade graduation was like the culmination of the awkwardness of the past 3 years. It's a night of man boys in stiff starched shirts, walking down aisles with 13 and 14 year old girls in what (for most) are their first formals. The girls are still trying to decide if dresses are cool or not. The boys are also trying to decide if they even like girls.