Of all of the new educators in the Haines Borough School District, Rina Gopez probably traveled the farthest. And, it may have taken her the longest to make her way to Haines.
Gopez, her husband Francis, and 2-year-old daughter Francesca made their way to Haines from the Philippines. She was hired in May, but didn’t arrive and start physically teaching in the school until Sept. 19, although she did teach remotely from afar for a period of time.
It has been a year of firsts for the family: the first time they’ve ever left the Philippines; they’ve lived in Tarlac City their entire lives. The first time Gopez ever interviewed for a job was in Haines because she graduated in 2018 and went directly to work as a teacher as part of her scholarship. And, it’s her first time teaching primarily in English.
Her undergraduate degree is in physical science: physics and chemistry. In Haines, she is teaching high school science, which also means she is teaching biology. And it has been a learning experience.
Gopez said the previous school she worked at didn’t have a lot of science resources.
“You have all of the resources that we don’t have in the Philippines. So when I got here, I was really overwhelmed with all of the things,” she said. “It’s my first time seeing most of the equipment here in person.”
In the Philippines, students get used to doing all of their activities and learning in the same classroom but Haines is different. She said the kids are used to going outside and exploring things.
“That is extraordinary for me,” she said.
It’s a lot of pressure and Gopez said she is often wiped out at the end of the day. But she also said she is enjoying settling into Haines in no small part because of how warm and welcoming the community has been.
Gopez said people have donated everything from winter clothing, rides, and game meat to space heaters, kitchen items, a television and groceries.
They have an apartment about a 10-15 minute walk from the school, which works well for Gopez, but she said the family will have to get a car eventually. That means she has to get her license, a task she left to her husband back home in the Philippines.
She laughed when asked how they are adjusting to the cuisine in Haines.
“No,” she said. “We’re still cooking Filipino food here and trying to improvise the ingredients.” That is sometimes working and other times producing inconsistent results.
“For example, there’s this chili. This green chili? We have a different chili in the Philippines and when we bought the chili here it was so spicy,” she said.
But there are also meals that are very similar to ones she had in the Philippines, like beef stew or moose stew.
“It tastes exactly like kaldereta,” she said, referring to a type of meat stew. Or when Lilly Boron gave them shredded pork, which reminded them of Lechon, though it was spiced differently.”
Gopez said she’s most excited to pick up some Jollibee – a fast food restaurant known for chicken, spaghetti and burgers – when she goes back to the Philippines for a visit. But for now, she is reveling in Haines culture.
When she first applied for the job, Gopez said she was thinking of the community as a stepping stone toward teaching abroad in other places. But now, she and her husband love the idea of raising their daughter here. When pressed on her reasons why, Gopez comes back to the idea of community.
She said Haines has what might be called the spirit of “Bayanihan.” That means people come together to help one another.
Gopez said she is looking forward to getting a car and her license soon so that her family can explore more of the Chilkat Valley.
“I asked the students to write a self-introduction and they listed all of the things they do like camping, fishing, crabbing. I’d like to try all of those things,” she said.