Assistant principals set to retire after decades in education

Two of Wrangell's lead educators are closing the books on their lesson plans and graduating to retirement.

In June, Bob Davis, assistant principal of Wrangell High School and Stikine Middle School, and Jenn Miller-Yancey, assistant principal of Evergreen Elementary School, will say farewell after more than 30 years each in education.

Davis, 64, who was raised in Alaska and came up through the public school system, swore as a young man that he would never set foot into a school again after graduating.

"After kicking around for a few years at a couple of lousy jobs, I figured that I had to do something different, so I went to college. I said was just going to take courses that I enjoy," Davis said. "After four and a half years of doing that, my adviser said, 'Look, you've got to graduate someday. What are you going to do?'"

That adviser forced Davis to make a decision and he picked teaching, a decision he's never regretted. "I can't imagine having a better career than in education."

Davis began his career teaching in Nulato, a village about 350 air miles northwest of Anchorage, for six years before he moved to Wrangell and started teaching at the middle school.

Looking back over his career, Davis said there are few things that stand out which give him a sense of pride.

"In Nulato at one point we had an academic decathlon team that took second in the state. That was a tremendous amount of work and effort," he said. "(In Wrangell) I think it was the five creative writing books the middle schoolers put together. Students won a lot of national and state awards for writing. I'm proud of ... having had a hand in that."

However, it's the past two years that really stand out for Davis as he took the helm as the assistant principal. He said getting the students and staff through COVID-19 has been a challenge, but he's proud of his colleagues working together and doing "the best we could."

The kids have also had a positive influence on Davis. He said the students who started and continue to run the BASE group (Building a Supportive Environment) have been a role model for him.

Davis is taking an adventurous approach to retirement. His granddaughter, who graduated from Wasilla High School this year, will join him as he travels to Seattle, where he's buying a car, loading it up with their luggage and driving across country. They plan to settle in a state they've never lived in somewhere in the South.

"I'll miss the kids. I taught middle school for years and years and years. It was a circus, but it was always fun," Davis said. "I'm also going to miss my colleagues. We've not always agreed but we've always supported each other. I highly respect everyone. Leaving them, that's going to be hard."

Born and raised in Wrangell, Miller-Yancey spent the entirety of her 30-year career at Evergreen, never even filling out an application or submitting a resume. She attended the University of Portland in Oregon. She double-majored to receive a degree in teaching and one in special education because she knew it would help her teaching career.

"I always wanted to be a teacher or a cook on my dad's boat. ... I got the opportunity to do both," she said.

Miller-Yancey came back home to Wrangell to figure out her next move. She submitted resumes to schools through the state because she had an Alaska teacher education loan. The principal of Evergreen at the time, Dave Dirksen, found out she was back in town and called her. Despite not having applied in Wrangell, she agreed to an interview and was hired on the spot.

"I was in this room (now the assistant principal's office) for 24 years, teaching mainly first and second graders," she said. "It was kind of fun for all those 24 years I got to tell every one of those classes that I, myself, got to go to first grade in this classroom."

Many accomplishments come to mind when Miller-Yancey looks back over her career. She said a few of the standouts are being part of the continuous progress education model, which tracks individual student progress rather than focusing on overall class progress, and in 2010 being named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, a national program that looks at schools that perform at exemplary levels. Evergreen was also named a Distinguished School by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2019.

After high turnover of principals at the school, Miller-Yancey was urged by colleagues to become the assistant principal three years ago. She refused at first, but then relented and was hired for the position. It's been challenging, though she said she believes it was made harder because of COVID-19.

She didn't take lightly the decision to retire, and went back and forth on it throughout the year. She made up her mind and submitted her resignation on April 19. She was intent on taking a year off to figure out if she would stay retired or go back to work. Two days later she was offered a job with the Alaska Department of Education as an education administrator in the Division of Innovation and Education Excellence with a focus on reading. She took the job and will be able to work remotely from Wrangell.

Miller-Yancey said she will miss the staff, students and being in the classroom, where she feels most at home.

"I am a classroom teacher at heart, there is no doubt that I am in my element in the classroom," she said. "I love these kids like family."