Mikki Angerman has been working with Wrangell Public Schools for the past 15 years. And the last three, she’s been working as the middle school Special Education teacher, which she discovered is a passion of hers once she started. But recently, she made a difficult decision with her family to leave Wrangell. She sat down with KSTK’s Colette Czarnecki to talk about her journey as an educator in Wrangell, and why she’s made the decision to relocate to the Lower 48.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
I ended up falling in love with Special Ed, and I felt like this is where I was meant to be all along. This is my third year. In order to stay in Special Ed, I had to go back and get my masters so I could actually continue to teach Special Ed in middle school and high school. And so I did. I had a good support system.
My husband Aaron always supported me as a teacher and in the classroom by doing things from putting up my bulletin board decorations to baking something for the kids the next day, or even just understanding why I’m coming home late or having to do schoolwork late.
What made you fall in love with teaching Special Ed?
It’s really gratifying. A lot of the students that I work with are battling things on a daily basis. They have challenges that maybe a lot of people don’t see on the outside, and to be able to almost teach to the whole child is rewarding, I’m a sucker for an underdog, and to see them win, or grow, or for them to see themselves win and grow, those smaller moments just seem so much bigger when you’re in Special Ed.
Will you share a memorable moment?
Oh, gosh, there’s so many.
My relationships with my students, not even like teaching them the math, or the reading or the whatever.
I have several students I’m pretty close to.
I try not to get a little emotional when I think about it, but it’s just gaining those relationships. And there was one student who, through elementary school, they had a lot of challenges with emotions and controlling their emotions and behaviorally, and it felt like they were kind of an outcast, or they weren’t part of the group. And transitioning up to middle school. (Middle school is hard enough. I don’t know if any adult would pay to go back to middle school. Middle school’s hard.) And then working with that student, working through how to deal with their emotions, how to approach situations in a healthier way made it to where I’ve now seen that student is active in athletics. That student is part of every sport that’s offered. They’ve gained friends. Last month, that student was…I don’t want to say too much in a small town, but they were honored for the growth and progress that they have made, and they’re just on a track that’s successful and healthy.
Where are you going?
Our family is relocating to Washington, so Seattle area.
My husband is still going to be working with Tlingit and Haida and we still have family here. We wanted to be close enough to family, and so it’s kind of in the middle. We can see our older kids on the other side of the state, and then we can still come up here. It’s easy enough to visit family, and for Aaron to be able to get back and forth to his job that he still holds.
I’ll be with Seattle Public Schools. I just have to figure out which specific school I’m going to be teaching at. But it was a difficult decision for sure.
Wrangell’s our home. We have a house here and a family here. We didn’t want to really leave.
So this came with tears. But we have to do kind of what we have to do.
Alaska in general, you know education’s going in a direction that’s not great, and our schools are shrinking and shrinking and shrinking, and so we wanted to try to not only be closer to our older kids, but also try to provide our youngest with more opportunities educationally, and arts and music and all those sorts of things.
What are your hopes with this move and this transition?
My husband and I say we’re up for an adventure. We’ve been here for 15 years, and we’ve done the things, and I’ve been on the committees. I think we’re at the point in our lives where we are ready for a new adventure. Seattle is going to be our new adventure. So that’s kind of exciting, something different, something new. And I’m always, ‘Hey, I’m a teacher, I’m a lifelong learner.’ I’m sure I’m going to be learning some new things. I love Seattle. The culture there, it’s very welcoming, and so many different people and things, and I’m very excited to kind of be a part of that.
Do you have any closing statements you want to say about Wrangell Public Schools?
I have obviously a soft spot, and I always will for Wrangell Public Schools. I want to see Wangell Public Schools grow and I would hope to see like more people get involved, join the school boards, join the committees.
But it takes everyone to stand up, be a voice, be involved. Don’t shut your doors. Don’t walk away. I think if enough people do that, it could be great.
The kids here…it’s gonna be hard to leave.
I try to be their advocate. I work in an area where sometimes I’m the only advocate, I care about them, and I hope that everything that I’ve shared and done with them carries with them after I’m gone. I’ll be checking in. I tell them I’m gonna be back in the summers. I’m only a plane ride away. I will always be an advocate for these kids and their families. If they ever need anything, I would 100% be there.
