Thank you Mentors.  Thank you University.  My first year of teaching was a challenge.  Right here in Anchorage, AK.  The City.  I had 8 different cultures, in my 3rd grade class of 35 students, and it was one of the best experiences in my life.  I did an okay job.  By my 5th year of teaching I was doing better as a teacher.  Had a mentor been alongside me from Day 1, my practice could have improved more quickly.  The anti-educator, anti-native, anti-University tone of these comments is disheartening.  Teachers are committed professionals doing a job they love; it would be nice now and again to have folks give a positive shout-out to the work of a classroom teacher, instead of the usual ill-informed negative comments by the few.  Thank you Cathe' Rhodes.  Thank you mentors--rural and urban--for the work you do.  Alaska's students will perform better because of your work, and teachers will stay.  Increasing teacher retention by nearly 10 points is a big deal--thank you!