Tag Archives: Alaskan Teachers

Carol Comeau: The noon supervisor that became District Supervisor

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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.

Niilo Koponen: Teacher and member of Alaska’s House of Reps

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Niilo Koponen was an elementary school teacher and principal from Alaska who also served in his state’s House of Representatives. Photo credit: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Many capable educators are also excellent politicians. This is true of Niilo Koponen, an elementary school teacher and principal from Alaska who also served in his state’s House of Representatives.

Niilo was born on March 6, 1928 in the Bronx section of New York City, New York, Following his graduation from the High School of Music and Art in 1945, he attended Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. There he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Social Administration and Sociology in 1952. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Anthropology from the University of Alaska in 1957, and he also studied anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science in London, England. Niilo completed the requirements for his Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Harvard University in 1966.

Niilo and his wife moved to Fairbanks in 1952. The couple homesteaded 160 acres and raised a family of five children. For some time, Niilo worked as a surveyor and an electrician, but later he accepted a position an an elementary school teacher at University Park Elementary in the North Star Borough School District located in Fairbanks. He taught fifth and sixth grades from 1957 to 1962. Eventually Niilo became the principal of the school. He also taught night school and extended day courses in anthropology, sociology, Arctic Peoples, and Arctic Natives at the University of Alaska. He also served as a grants administrator for the school district and consultant for other projects, including the development of village high schools, director for Greater Fairbanks Head Start, and a labor investigator for the Alaska Human Rights Commission.

All his life, Niilo was committed to service to others and the improvement of his community. In 1948, Niilo volunteered at a Quaker work camp in Finland helping World War II refugees from Soviet occupation. In 1982, Niilo was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent the 21st District in the Alaska House of Representatives . He served five terms there, from 1983 to 1992.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on December 3, 2013, in Fairbanks, Alaska. He was 85 years old.  To read more about him, see this obituary published by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

 

Alaska’s Native American teacher John “Wolf Smeller” Fredson

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Alaska’s Native American teacher and pioneer John “Wolf Smeller” Fredson workded tirelessly for the Neetsaii Gwich’in people of the Yukoi, Photo credit: US National Park Service.

Often dedicated teachers commit themselves to the important social causes of their day. This is true of Alaska’s John “Wolf Smeller” Fredson, a Native American educator and hospital worker who labored tirelessly on behalf of the Neetsaii Gwich’in people of the Yukon.

John was born in 1896 near Table Mountain by the Sheenjek River watershed in the Yukon. He grew up speaking Gwich’in as his first language. His Gwich’in name is Zhoh Gwatson, which translated means “Wolf Smeller.” Orphaned at a young age, John attended a mission school operated by the Episcopal church.

As a youngster, John became exceptionally skilled in climbing, hunting, and following trails. At age 14, he became a member of a 1913 expedition that climbed Mount Denali, the highest peak in North America. For this expedition Johnny served as the base camp manager. While the older men climbed, John  remained at the base camp for 31 days by himself, feeding himself by hunting caribou and sheep. The young boy’s experiences are documented in the book Ascent of Denali by Archdeacon Hudson Stuck, another member of the expedition.

With the Archdeacon’s encouragement, John decided to continue his education beyond elementary school, becoming the first native of Athabascan descent to complete high school. He earned a scholarship to attend Sewanee, the University of the South, an Episcopal college located in Tennessee. He was the first Alaska native to graduate from a university. While there, John worked with renowned linguist Edward Sapir to classify Gwich’in as part of the Na-Dene language family. This work is documented in the book John Fredson Edward Sapir Ha’a Googwandak (1982).

After he graduated from college, John served his country in the US military. When he was discharged, he returned to Alaska, where he worked at a hospital in Fort Yukon. In his later years, he built a solarium for Native American tuberculosis patients. At that time, his facility was the only hospital in the far north, and was utilized by many native Alaskan patients, primarily from the Gwich’in tribe. Most of these patients suffered from communicable diseases introduced by Europeans and Asians to which the natives had no immunity.

John also taught school in the village of Venetie, instructing his students how to grow household gardens in a community that had previously supported themselves through hunting. In Venetie John became a tribal leader and worked to establish Native Alaskan rights to traditional lands. He was the primary founder of the Venetie Indian Reserve, the largest reservation in Alaska, which earned federal recognition in 1941, before Alaska was admitted to the Union as a state. The reserve was approximately 1.4 million acres at the time of its establishment. On this reserve the John Fredson School of Yukon Flats has been named in his honor, and the school remains there to this day.

All his life, John “Wolf Smeller” Fredson was a Native American rights activist, writer, hunter, skilled debater, musician, artist, and more. He is said to have lived his life with integrity, passion, and a great sense of humor. He always exhibited a great love for the land and for his people, and he made many significant contributions to his tribe in his relatively short life.

Alas, this Chalkboard Champion died of pneumonia on August 22, 1945.

Alaska Home Ec teacher Patricia Roppel also earned fame as a 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 fine classroom teachers earn accolades in 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.

Alaska’s Lyda Green: Educator and State Senator

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Alaska’s Lyda Green: Educator and State Senator.

Many fine educators also make excellent politicians. An example of this is Lyda Green, a high school teacher from Alaska who has also been elected to her State Senate.

Lyda was born October 16, 1938, in Livingston, Texas. As a young girl, she attended Brazosport High School in Freeport, Texas. She graduated in 1956. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, in 1959. She earned a Slingerland Language Arts Certification from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, in 1988.

Once she completed her education, Lyda accepted a position as a teacher at West High School. She worked there from 1963 to 1964. In 1991, she accepted a position as an instructor’s assistant at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. She also served as an adjunct instructor at Matanuska Susitna Community College from 1991 to 1993. In addition, Lyda served as a member of the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education (1991-1994). She was named by the Alaska Department of Education to serve on their special Education Regulations Task Force (1993-1994). Later she owned her own tutoring business she called The Study.

In 1994, the former educator was elected to the Alaska State Senate on the Republican ticket. She represented the Matanuska Susitna Borough until 2009 for four terms. From 2007 to 2008 she served as the Senate President. Now 81, Lyda lives in Wasilla with her husband, Curtis.

To read more about Lyda Green, see this link from the Alaska State Senate.