Newlyweds Benjamin and Amanda Henderson recently moved from Colorado to teach at Klukwan School.
“The cultural perspective has been really big for us,” Amanda said. “We wanted to see the difference in education and challenge ourselves as teachers.”
As of last week, she had five students in her kindergarten through fifth-grade classroom, and husband Benjamin had 10 students in the older grades.
“We were only expecting 11 (total) this year, but we’ve had added enrollment in the first couple weeks,” Benjamin said.
The couple stepped in for teachers Cynthia McFeeters and Carson Buck in Klukwan. The Hendersons learned of the opening at an Anchorage job fair.
“It’s different than anything we were used to or accustomed to,” Benjamin said. “There is also a huge cultural presence here with Native communities. We have future aspirations of teaching overseas, so we thought that it would be a good starting or jumping-off point for maybe going to Europe, Australia or South America.”
Amanda is in her third year of teaching, following stints in Denver and Greeley, Colorado. She studied elementary education and earned an endorsement to teach English as a second language.
“Definitely, just because of the age ranges that we work with, I’m a little more goofy and silly,” Amanda said. “I play more games and things like that, because I work with a younger group that will buy into it.”
Benjamin earned a fine arts degree and went on for a master’s degree in education. He is more of a disciplinarian with the students.
“My emphasis is really structure and discipline,” Benjamin said. “The kids are getting older and they’re going to need to have those skills of punctuality, accountability, responsibility and all those things that are important to function as a young adult and as a growing adult.”
The Hendersons married in July and were in Klukwan by early August.
“The community has been amazing with us,” Amanda said. “They came in and did a lunch with us before school started. They’ve invited us to everything, and we did a salmon camp for a couple days with the community.”