Tuesday, December 1, 2009 was the day I, Angel D. Alvarez, was scheduled to be leaving on a bush plane to attend Phase 2 at the Anchorage House for a full ten days. As much as I may have hoped the plane picking me up would not arrive until after school was out, I was summoned from class at the beginning of taking science notes. Not an omen…just a major bummer. Unlike boarding the plane headed off to Phase 1 back in August, I was not as nervous. In fact, I was rather excited! I had no idea what to expect, but let me assure you, I was far from disappointed.
I must admit, I was expecting (as well as looking forward to) Ms. Lester to be the main person in charge, but she was in Florida until the upcoming Friday! Christa, Lenard (pronounced LEN-ARE-DDDDD…not LE-NERD), and Zac filled in nicely though; they were tons of fun.
The night our group of Phase 2ers got in (with the exception of the two coming from the Chugach School District who had not yet arrived) we went out to see a movie called the Blind Side. It was a great movie, each character gave you something to think about.
Once everyone arrived, there was a total of twelve students, six boys and six girls. Sadly, our ever famous Jonah (I say ‘famous’ because every other time the phone rang you could bet it was for Jonah) left us, so we were down to five boys and six girls. Matthew, Chad and Demetri were the boys from our district (LPSD), and Steven and Kenneth attended schools in the Chugach School District. Sharolyn, Kelsey and I were the girls from our district, and Joleen, Glenda and Eva were all apart of the Kuspuk School District. It was nice to have a variety.
Anyway, back to the best ten days of Christa, Lenard, and Zac’s lives. Day two we were assigned jobs chosen by Christa and Lenard due to the information they gathered in our individual job interviews. I was super nervous during my individual interview, but Christa, Lenard and Zac gave some great feedback that helped me gain confidence that I will be able to use when it comes time to apply for a real job.
By taking on our assigned roles, we were each able to participate in our House Corporation Meetings. Each morning, or whenever a meeting was called, we would give individual reports and discuss what was good and what needed to be done. It was not as formal as an actual business meeting, but it was practice, so in my opinion we did great! (Well, after we got into it that is.)
Two of the ten days we experienced a complete different setting with corporation meetings. One meeting was at the South Central Foundation, and the other was at the Chugach Corporation. We went to the Chugach Corporation first and learned the hardships and successes of the business, the roles and persons occupying those roles. Towards the end we each were assigned to someone in the corporation to job shadow for a couple hours. I was placed with an intern named Barbara Olsen, who was very upbeat and friendly, and it was obvious that she loved the position she was in. She provided some great information for applying to a job, and if she did not know how to answer one of my questions she was quick to find the answer.
The South Central Foundation was a little more formal, there we traveled in a group. We learned that the South Central Foundation is a customer owned business and got a tour of the ANMC hospital. We were given tours of dental, optometry, training areas, conference rooms, and the different levels inside of the hospital. There were some really neat pieces of art all throughout the hospital, even some parts of the building happened to be special works of art. I think my three favorite would have to be the meditation room, the woven grass baskets, and the summer/winter solstice wall. It was a wall with certain angles cut into it with an unseen skylight that would show the peaks of summer and winter.
Not everyone got to go on an individual job shadow, but I was one of the lucky few. On Monday, December 7, Steven and I were dropped off at Sand Lake Elementary to shadow a man named Ken at a construction site. We started off in his office where he explained the planning that goes into the building before it can be approved and be built. I was amazed at how much work went into it! After I thought about it and let it set in, it made sense for the need for every little bit of it for it all to come together. During our tour we got to see the painters at work, lights being hung at just the right height, the heating system, and so much more. After our tour around the entire school building we went back to Ken’s office and learned what other sorts of things he does throughout the day. He was one of the main men in charge, so it was often answering phones and questions people had on what to do if something was not working out as planned. The man is pure genius.
Throughout the week we also learned different life skills. On Saturday we got dropped off at a bus stop, and were supposed to find our way over to meet the leaders at Diamond Mall. We got on the first bus just fine, but missed the next two buses and ended up being late. That same day, after we ate lunch, we went over to Value Village to find a decent job shadow outfit for under $20.
Sunday night we had an open house night where family and friends got to come in to visit, have desserts, and watch a fashion show we put on using the clothing we got the day before. It was a blast! There was another day we had an unexpected visitor, Bill Hill! It was wonderful to see him.
Throughout the week during our free time we did a variety of different activities. We went bowling a few of the nights, ice skating once, watched The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe at the Alaska Performing Arts Center, and went out to see a couple of movies. We stayed home at least two of the nights, once for the Sunday night visitation, and once for not completing our housework on time.
Phase 2 was a great experience, and I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to go to the different phases that are offered in our school district.
by Angel Alvarez - 12th Grade
