Tag Archives: Alaskan Teachers

Alaskan teacher Dan Seavey was instrumental in organizing the Iditarod Race

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Alaskan Social Studies teacher Dan Seavey was instrumental in organizing the modern-day Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Photo credit: Seward Community Foundation

Many outstanding educators have the most unusual personal projects. One of these is Dan Seavey, a high school teacher who is a self-described “hard-core Iditarod junkie.” In fact, he was instrumental in reviving the sport of dog mushing and establishing the modern-day Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Dan Seavey was born and raised in Hamlet Lake, Minnesota. But even as a young boy in his one-room rural school, he read Jack London’s stories which triggered a fascination for the far-off Alaskan Territory.

When he grew to become a young man, Dan enrolled in St. Cloud Teacher’s College (now St. Cloud State University). Once he earned his Bachelor’s degree, he accepted his first position as a social studies teacher and volunteer wrestling coach at the Red Wing Reformatory for Boys in Red Wing, Minnesota. That was in 1962. “I soon came to consider one-on-one rapport with students to be of greater importance than assigned academic duties,” recalled Dan. But even though he enjoyed his job in Red Wing, he never let go of his fascination for The Last Frontier.

Dan’s stint in Red Wing lasted about a year and half. Then he got the news that he’d been offered a teaching job in the newly-formed 49th state. With great excitement, he accepted the position. In 1963, Dan and he wife, Shirley, traveled with their three young children north on the 3,500-mile Alaska Highway—and some of that highway was nothing more than dirt road! They landed in Seward, where the couple established a homestead. There he continued his career in education as a social studies teacher at Seward High School. Dan spent the next 20 years there before he retired. During those years, he established the first outdoor education program on the Kenai Peninsula. He developed the program for his high school students to teach them the skills they needed to survive in the wilderness without the conveniences of home. His program was so successful that one year the senior trip was camping in Denali for a week.

But Dan is probably best known for his involvement with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. “My interest in the historic trail began in 1963 when I was assigned to teach Alaska History.” explained Dan. “I was taken with the trail’s importance to Alaska’s early development and Seward’s vital role in that development,” he continued. As a result, he launched himself into an active role in all aspects of the Itidarod Trail, including helping to inaugurate the first modern-day Itidarod Race in 1973. The tradition continues to this day. He details his experience in his book The First Great Race: Alaska’s 1973 Iditarod available on amazon. With his sons and grandsons, Dan also leads Alaska dogsled tours for tourists, which you can explore on his website at Ididaride Dogsled Tours.

In 2016, Dan was inducted into the Iditarod Hall of Fame for his tireless work as a pioneer and a preservationist for the Iditarod. In addition, he is one of the founders of the Iditarod Trail Blazers, a local nonprofit dedicated to establishing a physical trail from Seward into the Interior.

Ben Grussendorf: Accomplished Social Studies teacher and politician

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Government and social studies teacher Ben Grussendorf served ten terms in the Alaska State House of Representatives. Photo Credit: Anchorage Daily News

Many talented educators also make superb politicians. This is certainly true of Ben Grussendorf, a social studies teacher from Alaska who served in his state’s House of Representatives.

Benjamin Franklin Grussendorf was born on February 23, 1942, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. As a young boy, he enjoyed idyllic summers at the family’s cabin on Pokegama Lake. He often referred to those times as his “Tom and Huck days.”

After his graduation from high school in Grand Rapids, Ben enrolled at the University of Minnesota. There he earned first his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and then his Master’s degree in Political Science Education. In 1966, he moved to Alaska, where he accepted a position as a government and social studies teacher at Sitka High School. He also taught political science at Sitka Community College.

The accomplished educator entered politics in 1971 when he accepted a position on the Sitka Charter Commission. That experience led him to a position on the Assembly for the new municipality. He also served as the Deputy Vice Mayor. He was elected Mayor of Sitka, a position he held from 1975-1979.  During these years, he was also the President of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.

In 1981, Ben was elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket. Altogether, Ben was elected to serve his constituents for ten terms—that’s 20 years—in the position. During these years, he also served three terms as the Speaker of the House.

In his spare time, Ben was an active member of many organizations. These included the Lions; the Sitka Chamber of Commerce; the Alaska Native Brotherhood; the Elks; the Moose; the Pioneers of Alaska; and the Sons of Norway.

This amazing teacher and politician passed away on June 17, 2011. He was 69 years old. To read more about him, follow this link to the obituary published in the Anchorage News.

Janice Faiks: Math teacher, school counselor, Alaska State Senator

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Jan Faiks

Alaska teacher and State Senator Jan Faiks worked with her llamas on her farm. (Photo Credit: Anchorage Daily News

Talented classroom teachers often go on to have successful careers in politics. One teacher who proves this to be true is Jan Faiks, a math teacher and school counselor who served in the Alaska State Senate.

Janice O. Faiks was born on November 17, 1945, at Mitchel Air Force Base in New York. As a young girl, she attended Choctawhatchee High School, where she graduated in 1964. After her high school graduation, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at Florida State University in 1967. She earned a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, in 1975.

After college, Jan taught mathematics and worked as a school counselor in the Anchorage School District. She worked there from 1968 to 1978. In addition to her work in the classroom, the educator was well known for operating a llama farm.

In 1982, Jan was elected to the Alaska State Senate on the Republican ticket. She served two terms, and became the first woman president of the Alaska State Senate. While there, her biggest claim to fame was that she was one of the key legislators to create the Constitutional Budget Reserve, a savings fund for surplus tax revenues that could be used in times of economic downturn.

After her service in the State Senate, Jan moved to Washington, DC, where she earned a law degree from Georgetown Law Center. She worked for several years as a Congressional staff member. She also served briefly as an assistant secretary with the Mine Safety and Health Administration at the US Labor Department. Finally, she became a lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). She retired in 2013.

After her retirement, Jan relocated to Amelia Island, Florida. There the former teacher was diagnosed with brain cancer, and five months later, she passed away on April 10, 2017. She was 71 years old. You can read her obituary at Anchorage Daily News.

Patricia Roppel, Alaska Home Ec teacher, historian, and author

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Alaska home economics teacher Patricia Roppel also earned fame as a historian and author. Photo Credit: SitNews.

Many excellent classroom teachers earn recognition for endeavors outside of the classroom. One of these is Patricia Roppel, a home economics teacher from Alaska who also earned fame as a historian and author.

Patricia was born April 5, 1938, in Ellensburg, Washington. As a young woman, she earned her degree in Home Economics from Oregon State University. As a young co-ed, she was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority. Patricia moved to Alaska in 1959, where she accepted a position as a home economics teacher at Ketchikan High School. She taught there until 1965.

In March of 1965, Patricia published her first article in the Alaska Sportsman. Over the next 50 years, she published 13 books and more than 100 articles about the history of southeast Alaska. In her writings, she expertly described the industries of the region, including mining, salmon fishing, hatcheries, and canning. For this work, she was honored as Alaska Historian of the Year in both 1978 and 2006.

In 1975, Alaska Governor Jay Hammond appointed the veteran educator to his newly-formed Alaska Historical Commission. She served on this body until 1983. Among the Commission’s tasks was the writing of a new high school textbook about the history of the state. In 1991, the former teacher was appointed by Governor Wally Hickel to the Alaska Humanities Forum, a position she held until 1996. In 2003, Patricia was once again named to the Alaska Historical Commission by Governor Tony Knowles. She served in this role until 2015. In addition, Patricia was one of the founding board members of Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture (SSRA).

Sadly, Patricia passed away from cancer in Bellevue, Washington, on January 6, 2015. You can read more about her in her obituary, published by SitNews.

Tisha chronicles engaging story about teaching in the Alaskan wilderness

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One of my favorite “teacher” books of all time is Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness. The volume is the memoir of pioneer teacher Anne Stevenson Hobbs, as told to masterful chronicler Robert Specht.

I absolutely love this action-packed true story about a young teacher who travels to the Alaskan wilderness in the 1920’s to teach in a frontier school. This book is as much an adventure story and a romance as it is a chronicle of early Alaskan history.

At the age of 19 in the 1920’s, Anne Hobbs, a plucky young lady, travels from her home in Colorado to the Alaskan wilderness with the intention of setting up a frontier school. She knows nothing about Alaska or living in the wilderness, and she is completely naive about the social conditions or customs there, but she is full of a desire for adventure. She certainly finds it when she lands in a small village called Chicken. Besides encountering the expected lack of teaching materials and frigid temperatures, Anne heroically battles prejudice against the Native Alaskans when she falls in love with one of them.

If you haven’t read this book yet, run—don’t walk—to your nearest brick-and-mortar bookstore and buy it right away! You can also order Tisha on Amazon.com, but don’t wait too long to read this exciting story. This tale will keep you on the edge of your seat.