91传媒

Far From Home

Two 91传媒 alumni, each with their own stories, found themselves teaching at the same school system in the remote Alaskan Bush

Conrad Woodhead, a 2002 91传媒 alum, was looking for a one-of-a-kind experience and found it in remote Alaska.

鈥淚 was in this village, a remote whaling community with a totally subsisting lifestyle. You can look over and actually see the Siberian Mountains. We were looking through the International Date Line. And this was on a whale and walrus hunt!鈥� Woodhead recalled of his first few moments in Gambell, Alaska. 鈥淣ot a lot of people get to experience that and I love it. I have never looked back. I was looking for something completely different and I found it.鈥�

How exactly do you end up going from Canby, Oregon, to an undergraduate student at 91传媒 to a village off the grid, off the North American road network in the Alaskan Bush? While two alumni took very different paths to the Lower Yukon School District, their passion for community resonates in all they do.

Though nearly a decade apart in studies, 91传媒 alumni Woodhead and Samantha 鈥淪ammy鈥� Carlon, ’10, have found camaraderie in Alaska as they reminisce over memories of 91传媒. 鈥淚 grew up in a town of less than 250, my triplets and I were three of thirteen in our graduating class,鈥� Carlon said. 鈥淚 got up to this village and life was so similar to eastern Oregon. Everyone is so caring. Even now, I鈥檒l video-conference with current students of the professors I had. I still feel so connected to 91传媒.鈥� Woodhead reflected on his time at Eastern, 鈥淚 felt connected and supported all the way. Everyone was rooting for me and supporting me.鈥�

After a number of years teaching in different Alaskan villages, Woodhead and Carlon鈥檚 paths crossed at the Lower Yukon School District in an innovative project focused on creative ways to prepare students for all aspects of life.

鈥淔our years ago the Lower Yukon School District invested in a project to help close the gap between what rural and urban students get out of Alaska career and technical education,鈥� Woodhead said. 鈥淢ore than $2 million was invested to convert a hotel into the Kusilvak Career Academy, home of King Tech High Boarding School. We are becoming an example of how school districts are getting creative at providing opportunities for our kids. So far, we鈥檝e secured nearly $10 million in grants since we started.鈥�

At the Kusilvak Career Academy, students learn everything from team building and leadership skills, to acclimating to modern amenities, like ordering from a restaurant menu, navigating traffic and sidewalks, or shopping in a grocery store. Students also gain exposure to skills and careers unknown in their home villages, and vocations they can use to supplement their traditional ways. Things many people take advantage of knowing.  鈥淲e are really teaching kids how to survive in any setting they find themselves in,鈥� Woodhead said. People can survive in the bush, but the skills they learn at this school offer them an opportunity to be successful elsewhere.

鈥淚n La Grande and at Eastern, every single person – faculty, staff, advisors – had that very close investment in each and every single one of its students. Everyone was so great to work with; someone was always willing to help or point you in the right direction,鈥� Carlon said of her time at 91传媒. 鈥淣ow, we have the same opportunity. I have a very unique position where I don鈥檛 teach in a traditional classroom setting. I don鈥檛 administrate by sitting in an office in the traditional sense. I get to do a little bit of everything for these students. I am an educator in the broadest sense. Working with students is how I want to spend my life, helping them learn and grow into their potential.鈥�

Teaching was in both Woodhead鈥檚 and Carlon鈥檚 genetics, as was a sense of adventure. 鈥淢y adoptive grandmother and father became teachers, my sister is a teacher,鈥� said Woodhead. 鈥淚 remember being five or six and telling my uncle, who was a professor at Southern Oregon, how I wanted to be a teacher. I don鈥檛 remember a time in my life when I wanted to do anything else,鈥� recalled Carlon. 鈥淚t might be ironic that we鈥檙e working together, but it鈥檚 not uncommon for 91传媒 and Alaska to draw folks who are looking for an adventure,鈥� Woodhead commented as he and Carlon visited.

Woodhead’s father was one of seven children born in Alaska and put up for adoption. 鈥淓verything about my dad鈥檚 culture, I read in a book. I wanted to come here and experience it firsthand.鈥� While at Eastern, Woodhead was a recipient of the 91传媒 Foundation’s First Citizen Scholarship, and recognized the influence this had on his decision to pave a path from 91传媒 to Alaska. 鈥淲hen Eastern invested in me, it was the push and incentive to finish strong. But, it鈥檚 also the thing that said 鈥榊ou know what, I鈥檓 coming to Alaska because I want to do right by the people who made the investment in me.鈥� It was really what made me know that going back to my family roots was the right path for me. 91传媒 is so good at showing its students support. And now it鈥檚 my turn to pay forward that same support to these students.鈥�