On just about any school day, if you went to Old Harbor on the southeast side of Kodiak Island, you’d see that Phyllis Clough wears a lot of hats.
As the Old Harbor school secretary, she picks up the phone, answers parents’ questions and offers a steady stream of encouragement to the children. You’ll also find her in the cafeteria cooking lunch for the students — and during quiet times, the youngest huddle around her desk to practice reading out loud.
Now Clough has a new hat to wear. The Alaska chapter of the National Education Association has named her their Education Support Professional of the Year.
“I’m overwhelmed and honored even to be recognized,” Clough said, “because I feel there’s so many other paraprofessionals and support personnel that deserve this more than me.”
Phyllis Clough’s husband, Glen, is also part of the mix. He’s the bus driver and maintenance man for the school. She says the kids want to know why he didn’t win the award. Both a definitely part of the fabric of the community of Old Harbor.
Clough has worked for the Kodiak Island Borough School District for forty years, and Superintendent Larry LeDoux says he’s known her for most of that time.
“If there were more Phyllis Cloughs in the world, it would be an incredible place to live and be throughout the world,” LeDoux said. “She is just a wonderful, wonderful person.”
LeDoux says Phyllis Clough has taught him more about the Island’s Alaska Native heritage and Alutiiq culture than anyone.
“She’s one of the finest educators I have ever worked with in my entire career,” LeDoux said. “She is a standard bearer for the grace of her culture – her knowledge, her wisdom, how she applies her knowledge to everyday events.”
Like many rural schools, Old Harbor has had many teachers come and go over the years, and Peggy Azuyak was one of those. Today, she’s director of rural schools for the district, but when she arrived in Old Harbor in the fall of 2002, she had just graduated from college.
“She makes sure everybody is fed, so she made sure I had food every day. She would pick me up and take me to the school and pick me up and take me down to church with her mother,” Azuyak said. “She just wants people to feel included and welcome.”
Azuyak says coming to Old Harbor can be a culture shock for some teachers.
“But she just rolls out that welcome mat, a little part of home. And I think that has gone a long way,” she said.
Phyllis Clough is perhaps best known for her Pirok, a Russian pie with lasagna-like layers of fish and vegetables. She says the secret ingredient in that is love, and the same thing is true for education.
“When you are at a job that you love, everything you do is fun. I love being here with the parents, when they call,” she said. “I love being here for the kids, when they come to get help, and then also cooking to nourish them.”
“Everything I do here is love,” Clough said.
As the Alaska winner of the NEA’s educational support person award, her name will be submitted in the national contest. But Clough says, there’s no reward like seeing children grow-up, graduate and go on to live happy lives — and in her time at the Old Harbor School, she’s been lucky to see a lot of that.
