The Year of Miss Agnes

By sharing knowledge of the larger world with her students, Miss Agnes expands their worldviews and fosters their ambition. This has a positive effect on them, as Jimmy Sam considers strong microscopes at the university in Fairbanks, and Fred dreams of visiting the places on the maps she's seen. The students' appreciation of texts like Robin Hood and A Christmas Carol illustrate how elements of the culture in which Miss Agnes grew up (England) can enrich the lives of students in this remote Alaskan village. The benefits aren't limited to the students, either; they appear equally when Grandpa shares his timeline with his friends, or when Miss Agnes brings her concertina to the village hall so that the musicians can dance.

However, the benefits of this kind of learning are not one-sided. Hill also emphasizes how the outer world can learn from the culture of the village. This becomes apparent as Miss Agnes asks the children to write their own stories and tell fables from their culture. It also develops through Grandpa's stories about how Indians helped miners with things like navigation, while the miners helped Indians with medicine.

The story further emphasizes the importance of not forcing elements of one culture upon another.