Teaching on the Edge of the World

Dean Bostian (BA ’01) went to Alaska looking for an adventure and to learn about a different culture.

“I made the decision that life’s pretty short and you have to just get out there sometimes,” he said.

Bostian learned about teaching opportunities in Alaska at a College job fair shortly after he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history, a certificate in post-secondary education, and an endorsement in anthropology. After speaking with a representative from the Bering Strait School District, Bostian was soon on his way to Gambell, a tiny village on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, just 35 miles east of the Russian border.

The view flying onto the island from the mainland was breathtaking, especially in the winter.

“When flying in, it was not uncommon to see polar bears and walruses. And when the snow came in, it put a layer across the entire island. It was just beautiful, especially because there was a mountain behind the school,” he said.

Bostian was one of only 18 teachers in the village, which meant he had to step outside of his comfort areas in teaching and spend mornings instructing junior high students in math, reading, and science. He taught American history, world cultures, economics, and geography to high school students in the afternoons.

“It was interesting. I never thought I’d be teaching math and reading,” he said.

The village of about 750 people, mostly Siberian Yupik Eskimos, was also more isolated than the Iowa native was used to. “The village is located on a gravel spit on the northern side of the island. It’s as if the ocean receded and that’s where they decided to put the village,” he said. “There isn’t anything there—a grocery store, post office, and the church. No place to rent a movie or go out to eat.”

Bria Chimenti, who taught with Bostian in Alaska, said despite the culture shock, Bostian did a great job of relating to the locals. “Sometimes it takes a complete re-evaluation of one’s priorities to make it in such a culture-rich community,” she said. “Dean approached this, not trying to change the world and thinking he would turn everyone into a historian of ‘American’ culture, but by embracing the culture, community, and students for who they were.”

Bostian said he and the other teachers made efforts to engage their students’ parents in the school by hosting potluck dinners. And he tried to connect with the locals by attending church with them and even helping bring a whale ashore in December 2002.

“They were very much a subsistence culture, still whale hunting to get the food they needed for the year,” he said. “They brought the whale on shore and when they tried to roll it over, I could see they needed help. As a teacher, I saw it as a great learning opportunity. I jumped right in. We were waist deep in the water helping to get this 40-ton whale in.”

The villagers were impressed with Bostian’s efforts to participate in their culture and presented him with a whale-shaped Christmas tree ornament to say thanks.

Another of Bostian’s most memorable experiences during his time in Alaska was taking four students to Los Angeles for their senior trip. They toured the UCLA campus and Bostian said he thinks the trip inspired his students to venture out of the village. “I hope they learned that you can always go back, but until you go out into the world and see what’s out there, you can’t appreciate what you have,” he said.

Bostian said his two years teaching in Alaska helped him learn the same lesson. “The opportunities I wanted were actually in my own backyard,” he said.

Bostian returned to Iowa last year and now teaches at Twin River Valley High School in Bode, just north of Humboldt. He is in charge of the speech and theater departments, is a student council advisor, and teaches government, economics, geography, American and world history.

Although he didn’t stay long, Bostian said he treasures his Alaskan experiences. “Although at times it was very trying, I wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” he said. “It took me to the edge of the world to a place where I learned patience and saw how another culture views the ‘westernized’ United States.” –by Heather McElvain