wales.bssd.org

Wales had foreign visitors this past week from the United Kingdom, Russia, and China. The two men on the right below are part of an International swimming relay team that want to cross the Bering Strait waters next summer. The two men demonstrated their love of cold water to the middle and high school by pouring water over themselves and laying and washing snow on their bodies.

The group talked to the locals about the plan for next summer and gathered information on the currents, the best route and time to do this fascinating adventure.

Wales also had a lot of visitors from nature. Many seals were out in front of the village and the foreign visitors wanted to get close.

Photos by Judy

Every morning Wales School has a morning meeting in the lobby of the school to sing and dance to different music each week, make announcements, recognize birthdays and say the pledge. The morning music/dance helps students, staff and any visitors wake up and get energized for the day. We have had music ranging from Cotton-eyed Joe and Eye of the Tiger to Chicken Dance and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes. Each of the certified teachers have a week to pick a song using either DVD player, our new NEC flat screen or Ms. Standafer’s Wii.  Here the students are dancing to Who Let the Dogs Out?

Written by Ms Standafer

The following middle school students attended NACTEC during the week of September 27^th through September 30^th: Rebecca Tokeinna, Sherrie Crisci, Evelyn Oxereok, Rueben A. Olanna Jr., Shawna Keyes.  Each student was assigned to a room with a roommate from another village, in order to provide them with the opportunity to get to know the other students, and to make new friends.

While at NACTEC the student’s days were filled with activities to help expose them to possible careers, and prepare them for their future.  They had the opportunity to interview a variety of professionals; some of their favorites were the veterinarian, National Guard Black Hawk pilots, the police officer and his police dog, and the man who has his own tour guide business.  During interviews they asked questions, and took notes, using the interviewing techniques that they had been taught in the NACTEC classroom. In addition to this real world experience, they were given access to simulators, which allowed them to learn how to use heavy machinery, like dump trucks, tractors, loaders, etc.  Also, the NACTEC teachers lead them through a computer survey that analyzed their likes and dislikes, so that they could study about careers that interested them.

During their stay at NACTEC house, they also learned how to prepare meals, do chores, keep their personal areas clean, work independently, and as a team.   The students enjoyed the teamwork, the good food, clean spaces, and fun atmosphere.   In the evenings they were able to do fun activities like, climb Mount Anvil, go thrift store shopping, and go shopping at AC.  Another student favorite was going to the Nome Recreation Center in the mornings to play basketball, volleyball, racket ball, to roller skate, and go bowling.

The students had such an incredible experience at NACTEC, one that they are still talking about.  The opportunity to travel, meet new people, learn how to interact in a professional setting, make new friends, to be exposed to the many opportunities available to them, was invaluable for them as individuals, and for our community.

By Janelle and Ms Standafer

BSSD Board Member, Luther Komonaseak, visited the Kingikmiut School and Ms Standafer’s math class where Janelle worked an activity to learn how to say decimals and learn about probability.  In order to play Dicey Decimals, Janelle’s activity,  you need A’s and 2-9 of a deck of cards where A represents a 1. You also need something to represent a decimal (We used shells from our beach.) and a die.
Deal out five, seven, or nine cards to each player (depending on how many place values you are reviewing).  Lay your cards out in front of you in any order you choose.  Next, place the decimal and say your number using the words “point” and “and.” For example, if a player has 9876.9 they would say nine thousand eight hundred seventy-six point nine and nine thousand eight hundred seventy-six and nine tenths.  Last, the person who didn’t deal the cards rolls the die and if it shows 2, 4, or 6 the player with the highest decimal wins.  If a 1, 3, or 5, is rolled the player with the lowest decimal wins.

Luther tries to remember his decimals.

Katherine

7-page research paper

2008

The Tibetan Mastiff is among the largest breeds. It is a rare, ancient dog. They are found in a heavier mastiff type and a more moderately sized mountain type. Their prime function has been as guard dogs and herding dogs, but they also make an ideal family companion.

Description

Its sturdy bone structure and large wide head makes it appear considerably more massive than other dogs of a similar height. He has a very powerful and heavy built body. They have a thick, medium length, double coat. Its double coat is long and usually all black, although it can also have areas of tan or gold, and coat colors of Gray, gold, and brown are also possible. The Tibetan Mastiff has incorporated many attributes: impressive stature, formidable appearance, and great strength. (Dog Breed Info Center, (2008)

The standard size for a male Tibetan Mastiff requires a minimum of 66 cm (25.9in.), and the females; 61 cm (23.9in.). The weight is not given in the standard, but for the larger Mastiff type of TM the male should weigh over 132 lbs. The female, who is always considerably smaller, should be a minimum of 110 lbs. (Puppy Dog Web, (2008)

Social Behavior

This rustic, even-tempered dog is affectionate, but not demonstrative, and can have a stubborn streak. He is very distant with strangers and can even become aggressive. That is why owners need to socialize their TM’s when they are still young. Their natural instinct is to be a guard dog to the core. The Tibetan Mastiff does not reach full maturity until the age of three or four. His expression is alert, and noble. Tibetan mastiffs are good with older, considerate children due to their size. They are good with toddlers but can sometimes be too rough. (Bryntel Technologies, 2001-2008)

Characteristics

There are energetic Tibetan Mastiffs, and placid Tibetan mastiffs, Good-natured goof balls, or serious and introverted Tibetan Mastiffs. They love the great outdoors, especially in cold climates, and need some room to romp. The Tibetan Mastiff possesses an excellent memory and a lot of courage. They have solemn expressions, and carry themselves with a dignified presence. They have protective instincts that are firmly ingrained, and when they are young, they tend to be rowdy and exuberant. Tibetan Mastiffs have a really independent mind. Sometimes they have aggression toward other animals, but most often if they grew up with the other animal, they’ll usually be nice. Some Tibetan Mastiffs are willful, obstinate, and dominant (they want to be the boss) and will make you prove that you can make them do things. You must show them, through absolute consistency, that you mean what you say. (Welton, 2006)

Habitat

The Tibetan Mastiff’s habitat was throughout the Himalayan region. The area gets cold most of the time, and in winter, it’s the harshest. Tibetan Mastiffs have excellent adaptability. The breed combines majestic strength, robustness and endurance; it is fit to work in all climate conditions. They can adapt to extreme climatic conditions hot or cold. However, these dogs love the cold climate, and are suitable most for cold climates. (Bhawan, 2005)

History/Origin

The Tibetan mastiff is considered to be one of the oldest breeds in existence today. However as accurate written records were not kept much of the earlier history is unknown. This is a breed that has remained unchanged for thousands of years as proven by bones unearthed from different eras. It is generally believed that the original Tibetan Mastiff is the ancestor of many of the large breeds of today as well as the European mastiffs; it is definitely the only existing group of the old moloss breeds. Marco Polo described the dog was “a dog the size of a donkey with a powerful voice. Tibetan mastiffs were used for guarding monasteries, or whatever the owner wanted it to guard. They were even used for hunting yak, bear, and deer.

There were mainly two different kinds of TM to protect the cattle and to help the village people: “bhotia”/”do-khyi”, a lighter herding dog, and “tsang-khyi”, watchdog in the yards. Bhotia wasn’t a herding dog, as we know sheepdogs today: it defended shepherds and cattle against wild

animals and robbers. Tsang-khyi has been the guardian of monasteries and villages over the centuries. Herodotos tells in early scripts of a large amount of Indian dogs kept in Babylon. The Romans and even the Greek used the TM on their military expeditions reaching as far west as Europe. These dogs “took part” even in the battle, and fought on the Roman arenas against bears, lions and gladiators. Lord Hardinge sent 1847 a big dog “Siring” to Queen Victoria by Lord Hardinge (then Viceroy of India). An early-recorded litter of Tibetan Mastiffs was born in 1898 in the Berlin Zoo. The first dog shows in England were given 1859 and 1873.

“The Kennel Club” was established, and a pedigree register was created with 4027 dogs in it. The big Tibetan dog was now officially given the name “Tibetan Mastiff” for the first time, and England “happened” to be registered as the land of origin. There are no known imports of TM to England between the 2nd World War and the 1970′s. The American president Eisenhower got a TM in 1950 as a gift from the Dalai Lama. Import increased from Nepal and India to USA in the beginning of the 1970s.

This dog was an ancient working breed of the nomad herders of the Himalaya and a traditional guard dog of the Tibetan monasteries. People of the village used them to guard their livestock and homes too. (World Dog, 2008)

The long and close relation between TM and man has left traces in the breed. It is known to be extremely skillful at “reading” and understanding man, as well as dealing with different situations. Generations after generations of TMs have worked as guards of yak- and sheep- flocks, and this has created a skillful, brave watchdog instead of a “killer”. TM has learned to judge, to control its temperament and strength, to be brave and resistant, and to show great loyalty and kindness to its own. (Sinegraf, 2007)

Family Life

Tibetan Mastiffs only have one estrus cycle per year. When they have puppies, the litter size is usually 3 to 12 puppies. Breeders mostly breed these dogs, because this breed almost became extinct. When a family owns this breed, it’s best to give it a lot of attention.

Difference of Do’khyi and Tsang Khyi

Nowadays this breed is classified in the two distinct types of dogs historically known as the Tibetan Mastiff, the mastiff-like Tsang-Khyi and the shepherd like Do-Khyi. Although the gap between the two types is bridged through the blending of contemporary bloodlines, a wide range of differences can still be seen in size, breed type, and at times, temperament. The Tsang khyi was usually a more defensive, bigger mastiff. Although this ties in with the history, the largest Tsang khyi type dogs were usually given to monks at the monasteries to serve as stationary guardians. The Do khyi remained in the villages guarding, just livestock and trails. (Lee, 2005)

Genetic Health

There are only a few health problems associated with the Tibetan Mastiff. Otitus, Hypothyroidism, Entropia and Hip dysplasia include these relatively rare health problems. Rarest of all, have been a few unknown seizure reports within the breed. Canine Inherited Demyelinative Neuropathy (CIDN) was a nerve disorder that came from one particular line in the early 1980s. Fifteen dogs from the Ausable line were test-bred carriers of CIDN—which always developed before 12 weeks of age and was most evident between 7 to 10 weeks of age. CIDN affected the nerve fibers that run between the spinal cord and the muscles, causing a degeneration of the protective nerve covering (myelin). This loss of insulation caused impulses from the brain to be lost and caused failure in the hind limbs or forelimbs and was similar to muscular dystrophy in humans. (Bombliss, 2008)

Care and Training

TM’s require an average amount of exercise, which can be best realized in a large yard, with a canine companion. As a flock guardian breed prepared to overseeing their family and home, they should not be regularly confined to a small area or dog run. Boredom from this can lead to destructive and disruptive behavior resulting in personality problems. Frequent interaction with adults and children is recommended, along with long walks and/or romps in spacious areas.

This breed requires daily grooming with a “slicker” type wire brush, with special attention to the longer hairs found in the ruff, tail, and leg feathering. The Tibetan Mastiff’s coat has been described as weather-resistant, shedding only once a year in early summer. Females may blow their coat an additional time after whelping a litter. Since this breed has no doggy odor, bathing more than once a month is neither recommended nor required. (Sekhon,2005)

This dog was an ancient working breed of the nomad herders of the Himalaya and a traditional guard dog of the Tibetan monasteries. People of the village used them to guard their livestock and homes too. (World Dog, 2008)

Why you might like this dog breed

I think you might like this dog because they are really beautiful, well-natured dogs. They can adapt to warm or cold climates, and they don’t have dog odors. What everybody says about this breed, will fascinate you, even if you don’t like dogs, they are so beautiful, and cute. The use of this fascinating breed today is just mainly for dog shows, and human companions. People still use them to guard places today.

References

Sekhon, Himmat Singh. (2005). Sara’s Tibetan mastiffs. Retrieved October 7, 2008 from: http://www.sarastmdokhyi.org/breed.shtml

Welton, Michelle. (2000-2006). Tibetan Mastiffs. What’s good about ‘em. What’s bad about‘em. Retrieved October 13, 2008 from: http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/tibetanmastiffs.html

Lee, Audrey. Ed. (2005). Frequently asked questions about Tibetan Mastiffs. Retrieved October 14, 2008 from: http://www.tmcamerica.org/faqs.html

Bombliss, Ron. (2008). Tibetan Mastiffs Genetic Health and CIDN Reports. Retrieved October 7, 2008 from: http://www.kesangcamp.com/index_files/page0006.htm

Sinegraf, Herman. (2007). The Ancient Moloss Breed. Tibetansk Mastiff (TM). Retrieved October 8, 2008 from:

http://herman.sinegraf.se/eng/rashis/index.html

Puppy Dog Web. (1997-2008). Tibetan Mastiff. Retrieved October 14, 2008 from:

http://puppydogweb.com/caninebreeds/tibetanmastiff.htm

Dog Breed Info Center. (1998-2008). Dog Breed Info Center, Tibetan Mastiff. Retrieved October 6, 2008 from:

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/tibetanmastiff.htm

Bryntel Technologies. (2001-2008). Tibetan Mastiff. Retrieved October 8, 2008 from:

http://www.furrycritter.com/resources/dogs/Tibetan_Mastiff.htm

Happiness

“Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.”- Dan Millman.

There are a lot of reasons to be happy, but sometimes you can be happy for no reason at all. Happiness is when someone is feeling or showing pleasure, contentment or joy. To me, there are different types of happiness: the hyper/energetic kind, the “in love” kind, the revengeful kind, the excited kind, the weird kind and the kind that is just happy for no reason whatsoever. Here are a couple of examples for showing these types of happiness. The hyper/energetic would be me warming up, before a basketball game, and the revengeful would be me pulling a prank on a friend who’s pulled one on me.
The things that make me really happy are probably when I listen to my music or am just with the people I care about. Music would make me happy because it sort of expresses my feelings for certain people and certain things. “Seize the Day” by Avenged Sevenfold would be one of the songs that expresses my feelings towards a certain man because it’s like a sad love song. Music really calms me down when I’m mad or sad. Some of the songs that calm me down from being mad are “Seize the Day” by A7X and “But Tonight We Dance” by Rise Against.
There are different words to explain happiness. Some of the words are joyful, delight, lightheartedness, enjoyment, blissfulness, or merriment. These words have different definitions, but they mean the same thing.
Some of my happiest moments are winning the Sportsmanship award for Girls HS basketball, getting new music that I don’t have on my iPod, spending time with him and friends, and traveling for school. Winning the Sportsmanship Award would be my happiest moment because our team never gave up and encouraged the other teams to stay in the game. Getting new music is fun because I haven’t heard some songs and I just plain love music. Traveling for school is fun because I get to meet new people, explore new things and have fun.
Be happy if you want to love and do what you want. I guess Dan’s trying to say that you should be, act, and feel happy for whatever reason and then you could do the things you love. The word-happy is showing joy, cheer, ecstasy and more. I’m happy when I listen to music or am with the ones I love.

Wales had a great beginning of the school year with not only academics but with getting ready for the Wales Dance Festival.  We integrated our studies with dance festival work: Acrostic poems, masks and posters.

Lloyd O. and the mask he made.

The seniors, Carrie, Lisa and Marissa, along with chaperone Ms Standafer, took a trip to Hawaii after school and had a blast.  They were lucky that teacher Vicki Lash and her friend Ben also joined them.  I hope the girls will write about their adventure or maybe one of the students can interview them and write about the trip and plans for the future. Just to name a few things we did: parasail, swim, dine, shop, visit two high schools, snorkel, see native shows, visit Dole Plantation and the USS Arizona and the Hawaii State Fair.  We were busy meeting a tour bus almost every day.

We had a great graduation.  Carrie, Lisa, and Marissa were escorted by their parents into the gym.  After leaving their daughters at the end of the red carpet for the audience to take pictures, the parents were seated in their own seating section on the floor so they had a perfect view of process.  Vanessa T had put together a slide show of the girls as they were growing up.  Ms Standafer was the guest speacker. Other guests were Heidi Graber from NACTEC and Jim Hickerson, superintendent of BSSD.  Speeches were made, gifts given out from the IRA, city, and Native Corporation, and then the girls filed out to receive family and friends.  The gym was nicely decorated with balloons, signs, streamers, flowers and cake and juice were served to all. 

Yes, that’s right. Here it is my 10th year in Wales and I have never seen tracks of a polar bear until this past Saturday. I have seen a polar bear out on the ice about 1/4 mile away using binoculars and I have been told of bears being close to the village and around the honey bucket bins, but never—I say never have I seen up close and personal the tracks of one until now. I’ve been old that this bear was easily a nine footer. One of the men of the village helped me to find the tracks out on the ice and we followed them up to about 8 feet away from his own door. You could tell where he turned around and was then chased back onto the ice. I tried different ways to show how big the paw prints were. I used my keys, my gloves, and even myself. Now I want to see one in action, but only while I am inside looking out through a window.