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With enrollment up, Meshik School hires new teacher

Avery Lill/ KDLG

Noah Ream joined the Meshik School staff in Port Heiden this month. His position was added because the school enrolled eight more students this fall.

At the end of last year, the Lake and Peninsula School District cut a position from Meshik School in Port Heiden. With only 15 students enrolled, it could not justify keeping four teaching certified staff members. The teacher whose position was cut was moved to a position within the school district in Kokhanok.

But this fall, eight additional students moved to Port Heiden, bringing the enrollment to 23.

With enrollment up, Noah Ream was hired to teach elementary school reading, writing and math as well as middle school science and social studies.  Ream graduated from Maryland’s Frostburg State University in December with a degree in elementary and middle school education. When he arrived in Bristol Bay on October 16, it was his first time to set foot in Alaska. While the area might be new, working in a rural district is in line with his teaching goals.

“I never wanted to go to a big city and have that giant classroom, where you feel like a college professor, talking to 100 kids. I always wanted to be at smaller schools where you have more interaction with the kids,” said Ream.

Ream’s hire brings the number of certified staff at Meshik School back to four.

Contact the author at avery@kdlg.org or 907-842-5281.