The Box Arrives in Alaska!

The Daily Home recently covered a story of R. L. Young students who gathered items that represented Talladega. You can read that post here. This week Mrs. Winn received a letter from a teacher in Alaska saying the box had arrived. Enjoy the letter below written to the children:

From: GG Goss, Teacher

            Denali Montessori Elementary School,

            Anchorage, Alaska

 Feb. 22, 2011

Hello,

The students at Denali were so excited today opening the box from you.  We found all kinds of things we didn’t expect.  We loved every item. 

Let me tell you a little about our students and about Alaska.......The students are enrolled at Denali Montessori Elementary which is an 'optional school' they are selected by a lottery system to enroll.  They do not ride a school bus but their parents have to take them to and from school.  The class of your pen pals is an after school computer / reading class. They attend this class two afternoons a week for 45 minutes each time.

We not only read, but have had special visitors come to our class such as a  local author visit and telling us how to become authors of letters or books.   We will also have someone come in and talk about the Iditarod.....  What is the Iditarod?

The Iditarod is a 1049 mile race from Anchorage to Nome.......it starts the first weekend in March.  Have your teacher research about the why we celebrate each year by having this great dog sled race.  Read how brave men rode the trail in order to save people from a major sickness many years ago by delivering needed medicine.  Their bravery saved most the people of Nome.  There are still no roads to between Anchorage and Nome even today.  The only way to get to there is by sled, plane, or boat. 

We have lots of different types of animals here in Alaska.  We have beautiful eagles, bears, and moose.  If you drive away from Anchorage you can usually see these animals without having to look very hard.  Two of the major fish we eat are salmon and halibut.  You might want to find out how these creatures manage to find their way back to the same spot year after year to have their babies.   Now we don’t have to worry about snakes and alligators up here!

Yes, it is very cold here in the winter.  The temperature is 17 degrees in the day time and about zero at night.  There is lots of snow and ice on the ground right now.  We only had five hours of sunlight in the middle of December – After that we start gaining about 5 minutes per day after the winter solstice (Dec. 21^st).  Right now we have about 10 hours of sunlight a day.  How many hours of sunlight do you have in Talladega?  Remember the further north one travels, the more darkness in the winter and more daylight in the summer..........

Here in Alaska we have to be careful not to get frostbite.  We dress in layers and layers of clothing. On the outside we wear snowpants,  snowjackets, boots, hats, and gloves to stay warm outside.  When it's below zero during the daytime, we don't even get to have outdoor recess.!.

 In the winter, our car tires have to be changed out to become studded.  These tires have little hard spikes on them to help with traction or driving on the road.  By May, when the snow has melted, we have to have to take the tires off.  These heavy winter tires will ruin the roads without snow and ice on them.  So in my garage, I have to have two sets of four tires.  One set for the winter and one set for the summer.

I used to live in the south on Pensacola Beach in Florida. Do you know you know where that is?  I moved to Alaska to be near by Grandchildren.  We get to go play in the snow.  We go bobsledding, snow skiing, and building lots of snowmen.

Since we only have 16 students, some of the students have written more than one letter back to all of you.  Tomorrow, they will try to finish answering ALL the letters so I can get YOUR box mailed to you.  We are going to get more children to be pen pals, but we wanted to answer all your letters quickly.  

Thanks again for all the goodies...........Tell Ms. Odom-Winn thanks for sending the fun box from all of you.  Keep up your good writing skills and we hope you enjoy the box that will be in the mail in a few days from us.......

  

Enjoy school -  Ms. GG Goss