Prom Part 1

Prom was held in the Lake & Peninsula School District last week and I was one of the chaperones for the event. To understand this, think of schools from Vancouver WA, Chelen, Bellingham, Aberdeen & Walla Walla sending kids - via plane - to Mount Vernon for a week.

Obviously you're going to have to make use of the time because of the expense and one of the activities is the NYO games. NYO is short for Native Youth Olympics. Those participants making 70% or higher of the record may then continue on to the state games in Anchorage. Two of my students will be attending.

The other thing of the "prom" is the social aspect. If you were a student you suddenly find yourself among 100 more kids your age from all over the region and, yes, you're now looking for a date for the dance on the last night. Students I have who I never seen smile for more than five minutes suddenly wouldn't stop, attention spans I thought didn't exist bounced out like a jack n' the box and buried horomones where all over the place.

The boys had to sleep in the gym where most of the events were. To say it was loud, sticky, smelly and oddly arid would be an understatement. What I've never been able to understand is how no matter how late they go to sleep - they're still up at 4:30.

The reality is, in many ways, it doubles as a glimpse of what could be if we had these kids in a school down south without taking away anything that is unique up here ( I found myself cutting off the fat on moose for the banquet dinner ).