“Everybody lives within the community,” said John Cochran, an Oklahoma native as well as principal and teacher at the school.

Their actual village is small but the area considered to be Mentasta Lake covers about 300 square miles, with 2.1 square miles being water, according to a Web site run by the state of Alaska. Averages snowfall there is 69 inches, the site also reports.

Cochran said snow made its appearance in late September, with an inch coming one recent night.

Though a few students live in subsidized apartments, many live in log cabins, as he does, he said.

With the lack of actual cash in the community, “Just about everything up here has to be subsidized,” Cochran said.

Though their society may be different, the kids are still kids, he said.

Cooper said she sees one big difference, though. Her students appreciate the outdoors, often playing in the snow, riding snowmobiles for fun and making good use of the school’s playground equipment, she said. She compared their view on life to hers when she was a child.

Like her students, Cooper loves the outdoors, saying it was her dream since middle school to venture to Alaska and teach.

“Nobody really believed me,” she said.

Though the young teacher could have worked in or near a large city, such as Fairbanks or Anchorage, she prefers her current station, saying she otherwise would have missed out on the majority of what the state offers.

“This Alaska is completely different,” Cooper said.

Making the move was hard, she said. Her parents made the lengthy drive, her car packed with all her worldly goods, on the one road into Alaska. Still single, Cooper is alone and greatly misses her family.

E-mail seems to be her saving grace, having used it frequently here to keep in touch with Kim Imhoff, a former teacher and senior sponsor for this year’s class and their project. Imhoff was one of few who “believed” she could do it,” Cooper said.

Cooper has great plans for her students’ future. She hopes they will learn to value education and earn a high school diploma, as well as go on to college, an uncommon pursuit by their parents and others before them, she said.

In Alaska, the school dropout rate is high, as students age 16 or older can quit school. Cooper said that idea appeals to kids since that means they can sleep late and do nothing more than their heart desires.