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Hello Bowman Open Optional 3rd and 4th graders and parents!
I'm so glad to be teaching the language arts and social studies blocks for the 3rd and 4th graders this year. To be a part of the wonderful Open Optional team is not only a great honor, but also a career highlight for me.
This year we will be doing the Alaska Studies for our social study unit, and this just happens to be my favorite social studies unit to teach. As a lifelong, 3rd generation Alaskan the study of Alaska's history has been a personal area of interest for me, and I can' wait to pass on my love of Alaska to our students. One of our big projects this year will be to combine some of what we've learned in Alaska Studies with our creative writing skills to write, illustrate and publish a book on Alaskan Myth Stories. These will be stories written by the students which focus on a particular Native Group (Inupiaq, Yupik, Athatbascan, Tlingit / Haida, or Aleut), and they will come up with an original myth story to try and explain something unique to that culture.
A little about myself:
I was born and raised here in Anchorage, and attended Turnagain Elementary School, Romig Junior High (now Romig Middle School), and West High School. After graduating I attended the University of Alaska Anchorage, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English with a minor in Education. I then attended Alaska Pacific University and earned my Masters of Education. Prior to coming to the Bowman Open Optional Program I taught 6th grade at Lake Hood Elementary School.
When I'm not teaching, I enjoying spending time with my wife, Julie, and son, Hayden. We often fly our plane out to our cabin where we enjoying fishing in the summer (and swatting mosquitos) and snowmachining in the winter.
If you're ever in the building, please feel free to stop by and say hello.
