Making the Most of His Alaskan Surroundings

PROFILE

As a boy growing up in Missouri, Roy Getchell fell in love with the movie “White Fang” and promised himself he’d make it to Alaska one day. His career as a professional educator took him across the globe to United Arab Emirates, as well as Colorado and Nevada. All the while, the exotic allure of Alaska never waned.

So when he had the opportunity to become superintendent of the Haines Borough School District in Haines, Alaska, Getchell was thrilled. Five years ago, he took the reins of the tiny district in a town on the southern tail of Alaska, 45 miles from the Canadian border.

With just under 300 enrolled K-12 students and about 20 in recent graduating classes, Getchell says, “you know everybody’s name, you know intimately what people need, what supports they need.”

And knowing what people in the Haines Borough School District need includes understanding its environment and culture.

The town of Haines, situated along North America’s deepest fjord, is surrounded by towering mountains and imposing glaciers. It’s not your standard rural school setting.

Haines’ vibrant Tlingit tribal culture is deeply rooted in the surrounding environment. That culture has afforded the school district the chance to incorporate many meaningful cultural opportunities, including a focus on survival in the incredibly beautiful but often unforgiving climate. Getchell is proud his school district has managed to fuse high-quality academics, including robust assessments, with concerted attention to the town’s unique environment and to developing what he calls “Alaska-ready” skills.

“We really try to utilize every bit of our valley as a classroom,” he says.

Students study marine biology in the classroom, then head out to board a skiff so they can pull crab pots out of the water. They learn hunting safety, avalanche safety, cold water safety, in addition to their usual academics. They attend English class, then gather in the school cafeteria to process a moose carcass for meat consumption.

“Our district, and Roy especially, cares about how the education we offer integrates, utilizes and extends the incredible opportunities for learning in our community,” school board chair Michelle Sloper says, “That means the education you receive from our district often happens outside of our school walls, in our own unique and magical community or by bringing our community into our school.”

Getchell’s thoughtful nature benefits staff when times turn tumultuous. K-12 principal Lilly Boron points to the superintendent’s positive influence as her mentor during her first year on the job in 2020. His leadership while establishing mitigations and procedures during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed the district to open on time for 2020-21 and stay open, she adds.

Yet 2020 brought even more heartache to the Haines community. The school’s new kindergarten teacher, a Haines School alumna, was one of two people killed in a December landslide triggered by an “atmospheric river” that generated rain-on-snow.

Boron praised Getchell for exemplifying servant leadership. “I could not have survived as a principal without his leadership,” she says. “With all the unknowns in these challenging times, I can’t think of a superintendent I would rather work with.”

How does he stay calm and grounded in such times? Consider how much he appreciates the location of his workplace, located down a hallway from the entrance to the high school and its students.

Says Getchell: “Whenever I have a hard decision to make, I will go out and walk around and think ‘How am I their champion?’”

Jennifer Larson is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tenn. Twitter: @JLWrites