What a fantastic experience this was! People thought we were crazy for spending spring break in Alaska and not Hawaii or Mexico, but what a great time! The trip offered a variety of cultural and educational experiences that would not have been available if not for the hard work of our instructors. We packed our days as full as possible to get the most we could from every location. Early mornings and late nights paid off with many new and wonderful memories. The flight was long and late and we didn't do much except for find our pillows the first evening in Anchorage. The morning, however, began with beautiful sunshine and breakfast in the hotel while listening to Cheri Hample, the Director of Health Services, speak to us about the Native Alsakan People and the health care programs they utilize. Later that day we took a ride in a snowcat and hiked to Exit Glacier. We were also able to experience fishing for king salmon and our boat actually caught two! Monday was our first clinical experience and I was able to visit Kachemak Selo, an Old Russian Believer community. After a "short" drive down a winding road we came to the point where our vehicle was no longer able to continue and our group walked down the very steep switch-back that led to the town. Our school nurse was very informative and though new to the school system was able to answer all our questions. One very interesting thing we were told is that there was a sink that only the community members could use and if a nonbeliever even bumped against it, it would be torn out and replaced. While there we were able to teach some of the student about germs and the importance of hand washing. It was really interesting that in such rural settings the technology that is available to them. All of the rooms were equipped with smart boards. The next day a small group headed to the airport and took a bush plane to Port Graham and then Seldovia. Port Graham was a very small school and the only way on or off is by plane or boat. The same is true of Seldovia but the school was much larger even though it home to only 45 student, it had a large gym and a pool that was available to the community. While at both schools we taught some of the younger students about healthy choices in breakfast cereal and how to read the labels to make good choices. Day three was with a public health nurse in Soldotna and learned about her part in emergency planning. She said that it only makes up about 10% of what she does, but in the event of an emergency it will become 100% of what she is doing. We were able to visit the cities EOC ( emergency operations center) they went over what events they plan for, tsunami, earthquake, blizzard, and just about anything else you could think of. We were able to tour the 911 dispatch center and also their mobile emergency response center. My last day was at Redoubt Elementary School and we leaned the challenges of school nursing for a rural community. There are many of her student living without running water and lacking appropriate clothing for the conditions. She had a shower in her office and also access to extra clothing to provide for those in need. She said that the job is different every day and that there is no one else to depend on, its just you.