New principal comes to Evergreen Elementary

Evergreen Elementary School will be under new leadership come August. Virginia Tulley, the school's new principal, is looking forward to making a difference in Wrangell.

"I went into teaching because I lived on a Navajo reservation, and I would be working with my own people and the children of my own people. I just really wanted to make a difference," Tulley said.

She said she got a late start in her teaching career, not going back to school until her youngest child was in elementary school. In 2000, Tulley received her bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of New Mexico. This was followed with a master's degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona.University in 2010. She has spent her career in many educational positions across Arizona, but she said she has been eager to come to Alaska, ever since visiting the state on a vacation a few years ago.

"I always wanted to live in Alaska," Tulley said. "I don't know my specific reason other than I wanted to explore ... I just knew I wanted the lower part of Alaska."

Tulley said her first day of work will be August 6, and plans to arrive in Wrangell on July 31 by ferry.

"I'm so excited to come up there and be a part of the community," she said.