A dozen photos of various smiling teachers wearing their college graduation caps and gowns adorn Kitty Deal’s wall.
“So that’s Michelle Griffin, Jessica Skonberg, and then it keeps going right?," Deal pointed to some of her pictures.
These are some of Deal’s 30 former students, from her 17 years with the college, who went on to become teachers and paraprofessionals.
Michelle Griffin, who is now Michelle Leisure, was Deal's first graduate in 2012. Leisure still teaches and currently she’s at Kodiak Middle School.
Deal highlights another former student, Chelsea Robustellini, who went on to student teach in the rural community of Port Lions, northwest of Kodiak. Deal visited years ago and saw how crucial the teacher and school were there.
“Even the building itself is an important part of the community, it was like this is what's important," she said. "And that was in 2014 and that's when I was applying to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and I remember that, you know, it was informing what I knew I wanted to do.”
Her dissertation Qik’rtam Litnauwistai: Island’s Teachers for her doctorate in Indigenous studies was about helping educators understand how to recruit and retain Alaska Natives to teach through place-based, participatory research.
“We've got this revolving door of teachers who come, but then they leave, and that's not good for our children. It's not good for our schools," she said.
Deal, who previously taught for 23 years as a special education teacher in schools across the country before settling in Kodiak with her Coast Guard spouse, has spent most of her tenure with the college focusing on this issue.
According to a press release from Kodiak College, around 2016 she co-authored a $5 million grant, called the Munartet grant which ended at the end of 2025, to support arts integration and culturally responsive teaching practices across the Kodiak Island Borough School District.
In 2022, the U.S. departments of Labor and Education started the Teacher Registered Apprenticeship program. Deal wrote a workforce grant that helped establish it in Alaska. The first cohort for UAA’s School of Education started in the fall of 2024. Since the UA system started offering these apprenticeships, she said there’s been growing interest.
“In the fall of 2024, we were hoping for 15 and we got 40. By spring we had over 50," she said. "Here we are looking at fall of 2026, which is two years later, we are anticipating 95.”
And Deal said those future teachers are spread across Alaska, not just in Kodiak. Like Nina Krumrey, who started her higher education at UAF in 2009 – and just graduated this month.
Kodiak College held its 2026 commencement on May 8, where Krumrey chose to formally recognize her graduation from the University of Alaska Southeast and walk across the stage at the same time Deal was awarded with emerita status by the University of Alaska Anchorage, the institution’s highest honorary title for retiring faculty.
“There were a number of years where I took time off because I had children and I would take classes here and there," Krumrey explained.
Krumrey’s journey to her degree in elementary education from the University of Alaska Southeast hasn’t been straightforward or steady. But she said her goal has been.
“My ultimate goal has always been to get my teaching degree and move home to teach, because that’s just where I want to be," she said.
Krumrey is from Old Harbor on the southeast side of Kodiak Island.
“And when I was growing up, I had some amazing teachers. Karly Gundersen was one, and she really inspired me to come back home," she added.
Krumrey is moving home to Old Harbor in June and plans to apply for a teaching position at the rural school when one opens up. And that, Deal said, is what all of her years focusing on growing Alaska teachers has been about.
“Most of our students are working, and so it takes them longer than four years to graduate, so to be able to hire someone who already knows and understands the nuances of island living, you know, the likelihood is that you’re going to keep them," she said.
Deal’s last day with Kodiak College and the university system is June 30, but she said her early childhood education journey will continue as she spends more time with her grandchildren.
