John in Second Year of Teaching at University of Alaska

December 1988 - Kotzebue, AK

John entered his second year of teaching this fall at Kotzebue-based Chukchi College, a branch campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“I love it,” said John. “There’s nothing like life as an academic egghead.”

After three years as a reporter for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, John “retired” for about six months in 1987.

“I definitely needed a break,” he said. “After I left the paper, I realized why reporters have such short life expectancy; however, I believe more than ever the essential role of vigorous press in a free society.”

A few months later, John returned to full-time employment and teaching in the fall of 1987.

Chukchi College, where John teaches English and journalism, is part of a statewide network of the University of Alaska campuses that deliver “distance education” through the vast expanse of rural Alaska.

“That means I teach courses over a statewide audio conference network,” said John. “I have taught students in isolated settlements across the state, including St. Lawrence Island next to the Soviet Union and fishing villages on the Aleutian Chain. This semester, I also have students in Tok, a town near the Yukon Territory, in easter Alaska. It’s all done over satellite telephones.”

So far, John’s time has been divided between English and journalism writing classes.

“Many of my English and journalism students have published their essays and news stories in newspapers and magazines across the state, including the Tundra Times and Anchorage Daily News,” he said. “It helps having media contacts and also knowing what kind of writings publications will print.”

John especially looks forward to teaching Magazine Article Writing during Spring Semester 1989