Head Start teacher will 'miss those hugs' when she retires

Sandra "Sandy" Churchill didn't expect to get her first paid position in 1998 at the Head Start program as a teacher's aide/cook. "There's hardly ever any openings here," she said. "I was so surprised when I got in."

She also didn't expect to still be working at Head Start over 26 years later as lead teacher. "My goal was for 25," she said, laughing.

Churchill will retire at the end of the school year. "It's a whole new chapter for me," she said. "I wonder what's it's going to be like, retiring."

She likes to say with a kind smile that after so many years of working in the program, kids as well as their parents, who also grew up in Head Start, know her as Teacher Sandy. "I'm working on the second generation," she said.

"Even the kids that have graduated and moved on, they always wave at me, say hi to me, talk to me in the stores. ... The ones that are like, middle school, are still hugging me. It's pretty amazing."

Before working at Head Start, Churchill had very different jobs, starting when she worked in office management for 10 years, and then home health care, mostly with the elderly, for another 10 years. Her last home health care job involved taking care of her father for the final few years of his life. "It was after he passed away when I said, 'I think I need to be on the other end of the spectrum,'" she said. "And so I ended up being a teacher."

At first, her work at Head Start began in the most innocuous way. "I had a son here, and so I just came as a parent-volunteer."

When the teacher's aide/cook position opened, she was encouraged by others at Head Start to apply. "They said, 'You've already got your first aid and CPR. You already know the program because you've been working here. You should apply. And there were 35 applicants that year, because the mill had shut down," she said.

Churchill was nervous as she went through the application process and interviewed with a panel of Native elders, parents and other Head Start teachers, but they offered her a job the next day. At the same time, she also received a job offer from Evergreen Elementary School as a paraprofessional that paid more money.

"But I said no, I think I'm going to stick with the tribe. I want to give back to the community through my culture, and so I stayed here, and it was the best thing for me. It changed my life."

The Tlingit and Haida Central Council operates the Head Start program in Wrangell and nine other Southeast communities.

Aspects that Churchill had to learn as an educator included flexibility, adaptiveness and patience. "I could write the most excellent lesson plans, and then something will come up," she said. "Somebody will have a baby, or somebody will lose a tooth and the whole lesson plan changes on the floor."

As she moved into other positions with the program, she reinvented herself. "I went back to school," she said. "I was in my 40s and got my second associate's (degree) in applied science, and then I got my bachelor's in early childhood education and family studies so I could be a social worker or a youth educator up to second grade."

"They kept raising the bar and I just kept going after it.".

A few years ago, the program expanded its hours, changing from a half-day program of 8 a.m. to noon, to a full program of 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Churchill decided to retire this year to help care for her grandchildren, including twin 2-year-old girls, while their parents are at work. "I'd been thinking about it, mostly because there's no day care in town," she said. "After school, I'll have the older kids for a little while."

She'll strive to make the transition for her replacement as smooth as possible. "There's been a lot of projects that I've wanted to get finished before I leave," she said. "Still waiting for the new playground; should be here this spring."

While she won't miss all the paperwork that includes assessments, evaluations and monitoring, Churchill admits it will be difficult to go without her students' affection. She mentioned how one former teacher referred to the preschoolers as "legwarmers" because they're often hanging onto the teachers' legs or sitting in their laps. "I get so many hugs a day. I'm going to miss those hugs."

There will be a retirement potluck party for Churchill at 5 p.m. May 25 at the Nolan Center. All residents are welcome to attend.