Many talented teachers make their mark in fields other than education. Such is certainly the case for high school history and government teacher Angela McLean. In February of this year, Angela was appointed by Montana’s Governor Steve Bullock to be the new lieutenant governor. She is the first classroom teacher and the second woman to become Lieutenant Governor in Montana history.

Angela graduated from Twin Bridges High School and became the first person in her family to graduate college. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Montana Western and her master’s degree in curriculum and insruction from the University of Montana. As a beginning teacher, Angela taught at Arlee High School from 1994 to 1997. She has taught at Anaconda High School from 1997 until she was appointed Lieutenant Governor on February 17, 2014. At the time of her appointment, Angela was the chairwoman of the Montana Board of Regents, a position she held from 2012 to 2014. She has also served on the Montana Board of Public Education and as an adjunct professor at Montana Tech of the Univerisity of Montana.

This remarkable educator credits her former teachers for her adult successes. “As a high schooler waiting tables at the Blue Anchor Cafe, it would have been hard for me to imagine one day becoming lieutenant governor – but great teachers and the support of my friends, my community, and my family have made today possible for me,” she said on the day she was appointed. These teachers “made me believe the sky was the limit,” she continued. “I think, even at times when the challenges I felt were so overwhelming that I might not have believed it, they made me see it. So I hope that somewhere along the line I made a difference in the lives of my students the way the teachers in my life made a difference.”

Alaska’s history abounds in stories about lionhearted pioneers who were also chalkboard champions. One such teacher was Crystal Brilliant Snow Jenne.

Crystal Jenne was born on May 30, 1884, in Sonora, California. In 1887, when only three years old, she emigrated to the Alaska Territory with her parents, who worked as a troupe of actors who entertained Alaska’s gold miners. When her father joined the Klondike Gold Rush, the family moved to Circle City, where her father built an opera house. At one point, Crystal’s father discovered gold, so the family moved to Seattle, Washington. Unfortunately, her father lost his investments, and so the Snows returned to the Alaska Territory.

For a number of years, Crystal’s mother tutored her, but the child was ten years old before she was enrolled in school for the first time. She attended an Alaskan mission school, where she learned “singing, praying, and knitting.” When the family moved to Juneau, Crystal was sixteen. Despite her age, she was placed in a fifth grade class. Being behind in formal education did not stop Crystal from achieving,  however. She graduated from Juneau High School in 1905 at the age of twenty-one, the only member of her class.

Following her high school graduation, Crystal enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in music. She also earned a teaching certificate. After her college graduation, Crystal taught in Paso Robles, California. From 1907 to 1908, Crystal taught school in Douglas, Alaska. A talented musician, Crystal performed creekside concerts for gold miners in the Alaska and Yukon Territories when she was not in the classroom.

Always thirsty for knowledge, the venturesome teacher attended the Spencerian Commercial School in Cleveland, Ohio, where she studied business and shorthand. Following her graduation from business school, Crystal returned to Alaska, where she continued her career in education, teaching in Skagway, Sitka, and the Mendenhall Valley, and also at her alma mater, Juneau High School.

In 1916, Crystal married Dr. Charles Percival Jenne, a Juneau dentist, and the couple had three children. Their daughter, Corrine Bertha, was born in 1918; their second child, Charles Jacob, was born in 1919; and their daughter, Phyllis Mae, was born in 1921. Even after she started her family, Crystal continued to teach and give concerts. In 1923, she performed her mother’s composition, Alaska and the U.S.A., for President Warren G. Harding and First Lady Florence Harding, during their visit to Juneau.

Charles Jenne passed away in 1938. The next year, Crystal published a volume of historical poetry.Meanwhile, she pursued community activities, participating in church choirs, running a flower shop, and continuing with her teaching career. In 1940, this remarkable educator was elected to the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket. She was the first woman to run for representative in the Alaska Legislature. She served several terms representing the First District of Southeast Alaska.

During her lifetime, Crystal was a member of the Alaska Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Democratic Women’s Club, the Juneau Women’s Club, and the National Business and Professional Women’s Club. She passed away on June 5, 1969, at the Sitka Pioneer Home.