School and Community Summer 2023

animal cams all over the world. (This is for those indoor recess days on your smartboard, too!) I originally got hooked on the Katmai brown bears webcam which is live between mid-June and September. These are the bears of Brooks Falls that you see in calendar pictures catching salmon, and the remote location is only accessible by float plane or boat. To stay in one of only 16 available cabins, visitors must enter a lottery a year and a half ahead of time. That sounded like a challenge to me! I was fortunate to win a cabin spot in 2014 and spent three days in one of the most unique places on earth, walking the same trails as the bears. All visitors must attend bear school for thirty minutes after arrival to learn how to behave around the wildlife! Since then, I have been able to return by sharing costs with other chatters on the bear cam site - I most recently traveled with a former professor from Canada who I first met in the Anchorage airport. If you have the will to do it, you can. Employers in exciting places are always looking to hire educators during the summer. www. coolworks.com serves as a clearing house for jobs around the world, many of which are seasonal. In 2015, I wanted to return to Yellowstone and, through a lead on this website, was hired to work for two retail gift shops in West Yellowstone. The company provided an apartment with one roommate and a salary. I did not want to drive 1,500 miles alone to get there, so I tossed the idea out at school and found someone who wanted to drive out with me. We saw many sights along the way, and they flew home alone after. Just like that, we both had a unique experience with shared expenses and company. The following three summers, I returned to work within Yellowstone arranging reservations for everything from hotel rooms to horseback rides. They provided a dorm room with one roommate, three meals a day in an employee dining hall and a small salary. Employees with an RV can also bring their spouse along. Working in Yellowstone, I met other travelers from around the world and loved doing something low stress while having two days a week to explore the park while others paid thousands of dollars to visit! I never left with much summer earnings, but I did leave with priceless experiences and memories. There is an entire world of folks out there who work seasonally, coming back home in between interesting jobs. Current teachers can find employers who will work around summer schedules. College age kids might also want to spend their summer doing something totally out of their comfort zone! In conclusion, most of my early career was spent keeping up with job duties and my own family, as many teachers are doing now. It took a tragedy to change my focus and help recreate my family goals. Shifting focus has allowed me to finish my goal of exploring all 50 states, and I have currently visited 32 national parks. Take a moment today to think about all the things you want to do “someday” and simply consider starting to do them now instead. Explore resources which will allow you to see the world at next to zero out-of-pocket expense. Investing in yourself will make you a better person and teacher... Think of your own personal development plan with the same effort you put into your lesson plans. You deserve the best life has to offer!

It can be intimidating to embark on new adventures alone. The solution is networking with co-workers! One day, a casual remark at the faculty lunch table about wanting to go skydiving resulted in about ten teachers noting that they had always wanted to do that, too! So, research yielded the name of a highly rated skydiving company four hours away and when it was time to commit, four people were actually “in.” Two of us were over 60, which required a doctor’s permission, but it was a glorious experience we will never forget! Since then, two more staff members have taken that same GIANT step outside of their comfort zone. Every time I am on an airplane now, I look out the window at 10,000 feet and marvel that I DID THAT! Another time, I mentioned that I was going to visit my youngest daughter in Montana, which prompted three fellow staff members to say, “Hey, I would love to go snowshoeing in Yellowstone too!” Plans were made to meet in Livingston and share motel rooms and rental car costs. My coworkers and I snowshoed in -10 degrees for four hours, saw many bison and a wolf on a carcass in the snow, and spent an evening soaking in a commercial hot spring while our hair froze. Sharing costs made these priceless memories possible. I have also traveled with former workshop participants and our school bookkeeper on numerous trips. Think of a place you have always wanted to visit and make it happen. Many resources are available to assist in the planning process - two websites were invaluable in helping me do things I never thought possible. Created by a wealthy nature lover, Charlie Annenberg, www. explore.org allows anyone to view live nature/

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