For all those teachers out there that are wanting an adventure and a cultural experience, but aren’t quite ready to leave America and brave another system of government, then perhaps teaching in Alaska is the break from routine that you are seeking. Teaching in Alaska provides a teacher the opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives while also allowing you to experience the rugged beauty of our most northern American state and to find remoteness if being around too many people is starting to irk you or you are tired of the chaos happening in the lower 48.

If the idea of teaching in Alaska sounds appealing, there are a few steps you can take to secure a job there. First, you need to apply. I actually encountered the Alaskan job openings for the Lower Yukon School District while searching for international jobs on International School Services. I thought I wanted to return to teaching abroad, but after months of applying and interviewing, I realized that I wanted to try something entirely new. Though I attempted to indicate my initial interest in Alaskan schools using the International School Services portal, it wasn’t until I went to the official Alaskan Teaching Job Portal and filled out the online application that I began to receive requests for interviews. 

After completing that online application, I was able to tick various checkboxes at once to indicate my interest in a multitude of schools and their various vacancies, K-12. This was a far more effective way to apply for jobs without having to spend hours applying to each school district individually. The online portal also allows people to download the application and mail it in should that be their preference as well, but I stuck with the online application option and it paid off.  Due to the teacher shortage occurring throughout the United States, Alaska is also struggling to recruit enough teachers so there were numerous vacancies in all subject areas and grade levels, even in late spring when I applied.

The second step is to connect with the schools that interest you. There are a few ways Alaskan schools might approach hiring teachers from out of state (70% of their staff is hired from outside of Alaska, in fact). One school district emailed me immediately and pitched their school district by stating the high salary (historically Alaska offered some of the highest teacher salaries out of all the states), their town highlights (the main one being that their town is connected to the road system), and a way to contact them if I was interested further. Another school district gave me a multi-step procedure of how the hiring process goes – namely an initial interview, a follow up interview, a background check, and a principal interview. Yet another school district immediately set up a principal’s interview and then a second interview with the superintendent. The hiring process was pretty standard after that with a contract being offered once the school board approved the hire.

One issue that affected the Alaskan school districts’ ability to hire the staff they needed for this fall was a recent rejection of a Senate proposal that would have helped fund the schools’ staffing. So final decisions about hiring were put on a temporary hold while I was interviewing in the spring. Some schools were eventually able to make budget cuts to still hire teachers, while other schools had to postpone hiring additional staff until funding elsewhere could be located.

The third step is determining which Alaskan school community to join. There are several things to consider about working in Alaska. Deciding just how remote one wants to work is an issue. Some of the bush schools only have a few hundred villagers and some of the villages don’t have dependable access to running water and have been struggling with climate change issues. Some towns are connected to the road system, while others are only accessible by boat or plane. Some school districts are made up almost entirely of an indigenous population providing a unique and rewarding cultural experience and an opportunity to be part of a close community, while other school districts might have a more diverse demographic made up of white, African American, Asian, and indigenous populations. Town location determines what the communities are like – some might be heavily reliant on tourism, fishing, canning, subsistence living, etc.  Other significant factors to consider were what types of geography and weather would suit my personality.  During my research, I soon discovered that the arctic tundra outside of Bethel is quite different from the temperate rainforest of Cordova, where I ended up working.

Many of us have probably seen the photos of Alaska covered in snow, but I hadn’t realized that some parts of Alaska have been known to get -80 degrees Fahrenheit in winter while others might be 33 degrees Fahrenheit; thus, being from California had me choosing the less extreme weather scenario to get accustomed to life in Alaska before I threw myself into a more extreme location to seek out my new adventures.  

The final step is to actually sign the contract and make the move. Be sure that your contract includes all of the benefits and details that you need to ensure your happiness. Many placements in bush schools come with roundtrip airfare, shipping, new-teacher onboarding, and other perks such as free housing as part of their package to teachers; these are very similar to the benefits offered at international jobs. However, other parts of Alaska might offer you only the standard salary, medical benefits, and retirement, which are offered to most teachers in the lower 48 (states). Therefore, be sure you know which suits your needs.

I have only been at my new job in Cordova, Alaska for less than two months now, but already I have been able to identify similarities between working in Alaska and working internationally. That being said, there are also many of the same perks and bumps in the road facing all educators trying to mold minds in this post-pandemic world. I plan to continue to share my adventures and my lessons-learned in the coming months, so I hope you will continue to follow my education journey and I would like to thank you for following it thus far.