Retired teacher and District Superintendent Carol Comeau of Alaska was once a noon supervisor at her school. Photo credit: University of Oregon Alumni Association.
Ever since Alaska became part of the United States, so many outstanding teachers have gravitated to the vast territory. One of these amazing educators is Carol Comeau, who once worked as a noon duty supervisor in an Anchorage school, became a teacher there, and eventually retired as the District Superintendent 38 years later.
Carol was born in Berkeley, California, in 1941, although she was raised in Iowa. When she was young, she wanted to be an investigative reporter, so after her high school graduation she enrolled at the University of Oregon to persue a Bachelor’s degree in journalism. In her sophomore year, however, she discovered her passion for teaching and changed her major to elementary education.
In 1960, Carol met her future husband, Denny Comeau. The pair married in 1962. His father owned a grocery store in Anchorage, so the couple decided to spend the summer following their marriage in Alaska. Although they returned to Oregon in the Fall so her husband could complete his degree, a love for the state sprang from her summer experience there. For the first year the couple spent in Oregon, Carol taught elementray school in Spokane. In 1974, the Comeaus returned to Alaska permanently. By then, Carol and Denny had three children, and Carol had been a stay-at-home-mom for ten years. Once her children were all of school age, and enrolled at Ocean View Elementary School in Anchorage, Carol took a job at their school as a part-time noon duty supervisor.
Carol earned her Master’s degree in Public Administration and Education from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. She resumed her teaching career in 1975 when she was hired to teach second grade at the Ocean View School. In 1984, she was named president of the Anchorage Education Association, and by 1993, she was promoted to Superintendent for the Anchorage School District. She became Head Superintendent in 2000. “I laugh because I think if my sixth grade teacher could know that I was a Superintendent, she would turn over in her grave,” Carol once said of her favorite teacher. She recalled the sixth-grade teacher was always telling her to work harder and stop being so chatty.
As an administrator, Carol worked to get Jewish and Islamic holidays added to the school calendar, and to include sexual orientation as part of her district’s anti-harassment policy. At 48,200 students, Anchorage is the state’s largest and most diverse district.
Carol was named Alaska Superintendent of the Year in 2004. In 2007, she was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. In 2012, she was named an Alumnus of Distinction and given the Alumni of Achievement Award by the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Also, an endowment specifially for education at the Alaska Community Foundation is named after this remarkable educator. Carol was inaugurated to the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame in 2009. She retired on June 30, 2012, and today makes her home in Bellingham, Washington.
