---

KENAI, Alaska— In January, this windy corner of the world seemed more like Oregon than Alaska. It was wet and mild. People were remarking on the oddity of wading through mud puddles when they normally would be negotiating snow and ice. One woman complained of having to put on knee-high rubber boots just to pick up the mail.

"Last year at this time, it was 23 below," says lifelong Alaska resident Anita LeDoux. Monitoring the weather is part of LeDoux's job as secretary for Aurora Borealis Charter School. Right before morning recess, she gets on the Internet and checks the windchill factor. If it's 10 below or colder, recess is cancelled.

It was a bit accidental that LeDoux, a single mom, landed in this position. When the school was just getting off the ground four years ago, she was one of 40 or 50 home schooling parents who joined the start-up effort. She found lots of ways to make herself useful — running errands for the principal, setting up meetings, keeping minutes, typing letters. So when the charter was approved, she slid right into the job.

Being at the school every day with her two daughters, Allison and Cadee, has made it easier for LeDoux to turn over her teaching duties to the staff at Aurora Borealis. But she was ready to make the transition. When Allison, the older of the two girls, was nearing fourth grade, LeDoux was feeling less confident about her own ability to thoroughly cover the curriculum. "I wanted to make sure there weren't any gaps in her education," she says. "The charter school really fit the bill for us. It was like getting the option of a private school without the expense."

LeDoux's daughters are thriving at their new school — although Allison, now a seventh-grader, regrets being unable to attend school in her pajamas. A true child of the 21st century, she talks about chatting with her best friend over the Internet and playing virtual-reality games as casually as girls from earlier generations talked about hopscotch and jump rope.

But some things never change. Like kids throughout time, Allison thinks dissecting animal parts is icky. Her mom, who's responsible for placing teachers' supply orders, enjoys getting a preview of the "fun experiments" in store for the science students.

"I didn't like the cow eyeballs," Allison admits. "I wasn't going to touch it. I could feel it through the rubber gloves and I was like, bleahhh!"

She wasn't crazy, either, about the lamb's heart and lungs. But in general, she's very happy at the charter school. Pronouncing words that are music to the ears of teachers and parents everywhere, Allison says: "I like learning. It's fun."

LeDoux is having fun, too. The school's tight-knit, family feeling seems to seep into every relationship and interaction — even students' requests to use the phone in the office.

"I go to the secretarial inservice trainings and listen to the horror stories," she says. "I think, I am so blessed that I don't have those kinds of problems. I never have students who come into the office who are mouthy or demanding. They're polite and helpful."

Respond to this article