LIVING LEGACY: Newly retired teachers reflect on 30 years in Mat-Su school district

WASILLA — Standing in a classroom full of children all day may not compare to a fortnight retired on a beach in Hawaii, but two local teachers say they wouldn’t have traded either experience for anything else.

Freshly tanned and returned from the island of Maui, former Machetanz Elementary School teachers Robin Ouellette and Ann Class sat down for coffee outside Kaladi Brothers in Wasilla to talk about their 31 and 32 years, respectively, spent working with the students of the Mat-Su Borough School District.

Through math lessons, talent shows, birthdays, tantrums and even student deaths, Ouellette and Class have been there.

“Our jobs have not just been in the classroom,” Class said.

How it started

Class said she came from a teaching family in Iowa, and began her own career in Texas in the early 1980s. The following year, Class moved to Alaska to teach at Iditarod Elementary School.

Meanwhile, Ouellette was teaching at Snowshoe Elementary in her hometown of Wasilla, living her childhood dream. Two years later she was told she’d be sent to a new school, Tanaina Elementary.

At first, Ouellette was disappointed. Then she met Class and her friend Brenda Quindel, who had also been reassigned to Tanaina, and the three became fast friends.

“We’ve been through everything,” Ouellette said. “Babies, marriages, divorces, grandchildren — they’re my children’s godmothers, they were my bridesmaids (and) we were Brenda’s bridesmaids.”

In many ways, the three women “grew up” at Tanaina, Class said, and she and Ouellette remained there until Machetanz opened in 2009 (Quindel retired out of state a few years prior).

The refresh button

Ouellette said there were two reasons she and Class left Tanaina for Machetanz. One was the transfer of then-principal Tom Lytle, whom the women had grown to love as a boss and a friend. The other was for the sake of making it to retirement.

“I was at 24 years, 25 years, and I thought, ‘if I’m gonna keep this up, I gotta hit a refresh button,’” she said.

Class said it was the same for her, and they didn’t regret their decisions.

At Machetanz they found they enjoyed the looping system, with Ouellette following her kindergarteners to first grade and Class bringing her fourth graders — many of whom were once Ouellette’s “bear cubs,” as she calls them — into fifth before starting another two-year cycle with new students. That structure allowed the teachers to get to know their students and students’ families better, they said, and vice versa.

“I truly feel that what makes a school so fabulous is the families that are involved,” Class said. “As long as you have that strong core of parents advocating for their children and supporting the school, it’s gonna be a healthy environment.”

Ouellette said she thought it was only fair, in that case, to be equally supportive and available to her cubs’ parents, inviting them to text, call, email or send her a Facebook message whenever they needed to get in touch outside of regular school hours.

“You have to be a special person to be a teacher,” Ouellette said. “You have to own it and you have to love it.”

Saying goodbye?

When it came time for Ouellette and Class to retire this spring, there was no shortage of people who wanted to celebrate the two teachers and their extensive tenure in the district. Ouellette said more than 100 people showed up at the Palmer Elks Lodge a couple months ago to do just that, reenacting skits and performances the women had become famous for over the years (e.g. The Tanaina Tapping Teachers) and donating to the teachers’ favorite nonprofit, Kids Kupboard.

“It was a blast,” Class said.

As a sort of second retirement party, Ouellette invited all her bear cub families to Wasilla Lake last Wednesday, where 15 students and their siblings and parents spent the better part of the afternoon.

Mother and dance instructor Mary Sparrs, whose son and daughter were both bear cubs, praised Ouellette’s ability to balance compassion and discipline in the classroom.

“She definitely makes the classroom a comfortable place, but she runs a tight ship, too — it’s not like, fun all the time,” Sparrs said at the lake on Wednesday.

Recent Wasilla transplant Jannette Nylund, previously from Seward, said her first-grade daughter was nervous about starting at a new school, but quickly moved on from being “the new kid,” thanks to Ouellette.

“That fear was taken away in about two seconds,” Nylund said.

Jason Casto, who brought his kids to Machetanz mid-year from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), said he, too, was happy with how quickly Ouellette brought his daughter Inez up to speed academically.

“She’s probably one of the best teachers my girls have ever had,” Casto said.

Class said it’s those kinds of comments — plus the letters, thank you cards and graduation announcements, years later — that make it hard to leave their jobs.

Then again, they’re not really leaving, Ouellette said — parents and continuing Machetanz staff can expect to see them around, volunteering at the school and maybe even substitute teaching between their travels.

“Now we get to do the fun stuff,” Class said.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.