Teaching Profession Video

Teaching ‘My Friends’ Kids': An Alaska Educator With Deep Community Ties

By Catriona Ni Aolain — March 06, 2024 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

As part of Education Week’s new project, The State of Teaching, educators from around the country share the most rewarding and challenging parts of their lives as teachers.

Kiminaq Maddy Alvanna-Stimpfle is in her ninth year of teaching, and works as the kindergarten immersion teacher at Nome Elementary School in Nome, Alaska, where she is teaching students Inupiaq, an Alaska Native language. Alvanna-Stimpfle attended the school where she now teaches—a deep community connection that brings big rewards, but also some challenges. Here, she shares her experiences.

sot visual stamp words only words only for inline promo

New national data on the teaching profession, vivid reporting from classrooms, and resources to help support this essential profession. Explore the Project

Events

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession Q&A 'Organize, Organize, Organize': New NEA President Sees the Value in Everyday Engagement
The incoming leader of the nation's largest teachers' union focuses on engagement.
4 min read
NEAConvention 7.6.2026 MarkMakela35
Newly elected NEA President Princess Moss, photographed during the union's convention in Denver on July 6, 2026. Moss said she wants the union to improve its organizing capabilities.
Mark Makela for Education Week
Teaching Profession Teachers' Union Approves New Fund to Help Immigrant Teachers
It's aimed at teachers who came to the country before 2007 under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
4 min read
NEAConvention 7.6.2026 MarkMakela1
NEA staff and members are pictured on on stage during the union's Representative Assembly in Denver on July 6, 2026. Delegates have approved several new items related to AI and immigration.
Mark Makela for Education Week
Teaching Profession Q&A NEA's Outgoing President Reflects on a Turbulent Tenure—And the Need for 'Continuous Organizing'
The outgoing head of nation's largest teachers' union discusses how she's helped reposition it to respond to new challenges.
5 min read
NEAConvention 7.5.2026 MarkMakela18
NEA President Becky Pringle is photographed backstage during the NEA Representative Assembly in Denver on July 5, 2026. 5,800 delegates from all over the country are participating in the four-day-long union convention.
Mark Makela for Education Week<br/>
Teaching Profession Music Teacher Princess Moss Will Lead the Nation's Largest Teachers' Union
Moss will steer the powerful National Education Association. She won just over 50 percent share of the vote.
2 min read
NEAConvention 7.5.2026 MarkMakela77
Princess Moss reacts after being announced as the new NEA President during the NEA Representative Assembly in Denver on July 5, 2026. The union's current vice president and a former elementary school music teacher, Moss will take the reins beginning in August. <br/>
Mark Makela for Education Week