Teaching At The Top Of The World

Marilyn Forrester arrived in Alaska in 1977 with a goal of striking it rich by being a welder on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. With her traumatic divorce behind her, a new English degree, return airline ticket, and $200 in her pocket, she was ready for adventure. However, she didn’t do welding, but had unique and exciting adventures as she worked for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company in Anchorage, at Pump Station Five, and later at Prudhoe Bay. While working at Prudhoe Bay, she applied for a teaching position at Alaska Business College, and was immediately hired. Marilyn discovered she loved teaching and learning! After many humorous predicaments, she was hired at the Bush village of Napaskiak. As a teacher, Marilyn has a deep love for children that shines through in Teaching at the Top of the World. Sometimes Marilyn reflected, “And they are even paying me to do this job.” She became an advocate for her Special Education students. Her many adventures include being lost in a whiteout while walking home from school, showering without soap and drying with Kleenex, and golfing in the Nome Bering Sea Tournament. Teaching at the Top of the World chronicles the joys and hardships of living and teaching in remote Alaska. Perhaps she really did strike it rich—she affected the lives of hundreds of children.Marilyn was one of the writers featured in Alaska Women Write, a collection of stories about adventurous Alaska women.

The incredible bestselling book from the author of No Barriers and The Adversity Advantage Erik Weihenmayer was born with retinoscheses, a degenerative eye disorder that would leave him blind by the age of thirteen. But Erik was determined to rise above this devastating disability and lead a fulfilling and exciting life. In this poignant and inspiring memoir, he shares his struggle to push past the limits imposed on him by his visual impairment-and by a seeing world. He speaks movingly of the role his family played in his battle to break through the barriers of blindness: the mother who prayed for the miracle that would restore her son's sight and the father who encouraged him to strive for that distant mountaintop. And he tells the story of his dream to climb the world's Seven Summits, and how he is turning that dream into astonishing reality (something fewer than a hundred mountaineers have done). From the snow-capped summit of McKinley to the towering peaks of Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro to the ultimate challenge, Mount Everest, this is a story about daring to dream in the face of impossible odds. It is about finding the courage to reach for that ultimate summit, and transforming your life into something truly miraculous. "An inspiration to other blind people and plenty of us folks who can see just fine."—Jon Krakauer, New York Times bestselling author of Into Thin Air

An examination of the political and social characteristics particular to Scandinavia which have made women's rise to power more rapid than in other regions of the world, this study also explores how the resulting election of women has provided valuable evidence of the impact of women leaders and their leadership style. Solheim begins with a critical survey of feminist scholarship regarding the equality-difference debate and the application of such research on the position of women in international politics. He concludes, in this respect, that leadership style may have less to do with gender than one might initially suspect. Archival research and interviews with women in leadership roles provide the reader with a closer look at the Scandinavian system, a view that will challenge gender stereotypes around the world. On Top of the World explores the Nordic political systems in great detail and analyzes systemic factors, such as multi-party electoral systems and consensus-seeking cultural institutions, which contribute to the rise of so many women leaders. Solheim compares and contrasts the political rise of two Nordic women leaders to power and influence and, for the purpose of cross-cultural comparison, one woman leader from the developing world. A final chapter ties together the theoretical framework and the case studies to suggest a direction for future research.

The journey up Mount Everest is never easy. Climbers risk their lives as they struggle around jagged towers of ice, over snow-covered boulders, and across gaping crevasses. Pete Athans knows these dangers well. He has climbed Mount Everest fourteen times and reached the summit seven times. What is it like to climb the highest mountain on Earth? In this book, you'll follow Pete to the top—and learn about his adventures along the way.

"Pete Takeda's true-life thriller injects us into the heart of the Himalayas, where a forgotten CIA operation lost almost four pounds of plutonium at the source of the Ganges River. With millions of lives possibly at stake, high adventure doesn't come any more gripping than this"--Jeff Long, P. [4] of cover.

We Keep America on Top of the World is a lucid exploration of contemporary American journalism, with particular emphasis on its influential and controversial conponent - television news. Daniel Hallin's discussion encompasses the central and most controversial issues in the study of journalism: the wars in Vietnam and Central America; US-Soviet summits; the origin of the ten-second soundbite; the differences between print and television journalism; and the tension between professionalism and populism. We Keep America on Top of the World offers a distinctive approach to understanding an institution torn between the imperatives of the market, political ideology and popular fashion, and journalistic professionalism. It will be essential reading for students of media, communication and journalism.

"Odette Barr and her partner, YoAnne Beauchamp, spent nearly ten years completely immersed in Inuit culture in the decade prior to the official birth of Nunavut Territory in 1999. This is the account of their experiences as teachers and community members in Pangnirtung, Hall Beach, and Grise Fiord. It centres on Grise Fiord, Canada's most northern permanently inhabited community, nestled on the south shore of Ellesmere Island. It is a stunningly beautiful hamlet of about 150 people (at that time). It is also one of the High Arctic Exile communities--the history of which very few Canadians are aware. This memoir is a love story of sorts that expresses great respect for Inuit people, their culture, and the magnificent Arctic landscape. Odette and YoAnne learned quickly that to be successful northern teachers, you must enter into the lives of your students and their rich culture in meaningful and significant ways. They enthusiastically participated in community activities; they ate Northern foods; they snowmobiled out onto the land to take part in camping, fishing, and hunting activities; and they learned as much Inuktitut language as they could. In turn, Odette and YoAnne were warmly welcomed and they were deeply touched by their complete acceptance as a lesbian couple in these remote places. Odette Barr is a writer, an artist, a naturalist, and an educator. She now works for the Department of Education, developing and facilitating online courses, mostly science, for senior high school students throughout New Brunswick. Odette and YoAnne live on the Northumberland Strait shore in the southeastern part of the province."--

On May 16, 2002, Phil and Susan Ershler reached the top of Mt. Everest and became the first couple in history to scale the fabled Seven Summits. What made their achievement all the more remarkable was that Susan was not a mountain climber, but a high-powered Fortune 500 executive who had never hiked or climbed until she met Phil at the age of 36. Phil, a professional mountain guide who was the first American to summit Everest from its treacherous north face, had climbed his whole life with Crohn's disease, a chronic, debilitating illness. Adding to these challenges, just before their final summit, Phil was diagnosed with colon cancer, and the resulting surgeries and complications were expected to end his career. This is Susan and Phil's story: a tale of love set in the mountains, a story of triumphal highs and devastating lows in quest of a seemingly impossible dream.