New second grade teacher returns from Thorne Bay to put down roots

Aly Howell has patiently waited like a student watching the clock for recess. After eight years working on Prince of Wales Island, she has returned to Wrangell to teach.

On Thursday, second graders at Evergreen Elementary will be greeted by their new teacher, who is settling in to help shape young minds and raise her family. Her journey to get here was nothing short of adventurous.

Howell graduated from college in 2011 with a degree in Christian studies. Her intent was to become a youth pastor. Instead, she landed a job with Alaska Crossings and moved to Wrangell from Arizona. After a year with Crossings, she took a similar job in Australia and moved there for a year. She then returned to Wrangell, again joining Crossings.

She decided the second time around Crossings wasn't a good fit. She was helping Larry "Woody" Wilson, retired superintendent of schools, to do some house remodeling work. Howell was figuring out what to do next with life when Wilson suggested the unimaginable.

"He kind of talked me into becoming a teacher and I was very reluctant to because my whole family teaches," Howell said. "My parents, my cousins, my grandparents, my aunt and uncles. I think I have three people out of 50 who aren't teachers."

Howell considered teaching to be "political," and it kept people stuck in classrooms. Wilson convinced her otherwise.

"He was like, 'Well, in Alaska, you can teach outside if you want. Take them out fishing or hiking or something,'" she said. Howell pursued her teaching degree while in Wrangell, then moved to Prince of Wales on what she thought would be a short-term basis to teach kindergarten.

"It was supposed to be a six-month job and it became eight years just waiting for an opening here (in Wrangell)," Howell said while getting her new classroom ready last week. "It's literally been eight years since they had an opening here."

The previous second grade teacher, Michelle Clark, will teach kindergarten when she returns from maternity leave in January.

Howell has worked in Thorne Bay for the past five years and Craig for three years before that. She started her teaching career in Coffman Cove with 16 students in a way that's reminiscent of the pages of "Little House on the Prairie."

"It was a one-teacher schoolhouse situation," she said. "I had preschool through 12th grade by myself. I was the teacher, principal and secretary and a few other things. I did preschool through eighth grade the first chunk of the day, and I did high school math and English the last three hours."

While away, Howell married her husband, Michael, six years ago, and has since had two children. Her son Archer is now 4 and daughter Ariyah is 2. A second daughter is due in September, which will pull her away from her new job for about eight weeks.

"My hope is to be here the month of September and then leave to have the baby at the end of the month," Howell said. "Things could change, you never know. She could come tomorrow."

The school is looking for a long-term sub during the time Howell is away.

One of Howell's main goals in starting the new school year is getting to know her students to help her build her courses around their abilities.

"I don't necessarily teach a grade level. I teach to ability," Howell said. "If they're doing first-grade work, then I give them first-grade work. If they're doing fifth-grade work and they're at a second-grade level, I give them fifth-grade work. I'm not going to make them all do the same thing because they'll get bored and not feel challenged. Or if they're not there yet, they'll feel overwhelmed."

And Howell will use any chance she gets to take her students outside, no matter the subject. "We do a lot of science, social studies and community learning, field trips, we do a lot of math outside, reading, we take our snacks outside sometimes," she said.

That's not unusual in Wrangell, said Evergreen's principal, Ann Hilburn. "A lot of teachers, if we have a halfway decent day where they can take advantage of that, will get (the students) outside," she said.

Hilburn, who is new herself to Evergreen, said that Howell comes with great recommendations from her previous schools.

"We're excited to have her. She'll be a great benefit for the elementary school," Hilburn said. "The parents are going to find her to be very personable."

Those wondering if Howell is committed to staying need not worry as she and her husband began building their house in Wrangell seven years ago. She's hoping it will be done by December.

"We're hoping by Christmas we'll be in our new house," Howell said. "The plan has always been to return and stay."