Carol Comeau ( Smith; born September 4, 1941) is an American educator. She was inaugurated to the

Alaska Women's Hall of Fame The Alaska Women's Hall of Fame (AWHF) recognizes women natives or residents of the U.S. state of Alaska for their significant achievements or statewide contributions. It was conceived by the board of directors of the Alaska Women's Network (AWN) ...

in 2009.

Personal life and education

Carol Comeau was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

and raised in

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. Her father died when she was seven. When she was young, she wanted to be an

investigative reporter Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend ...

. She attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

to earn her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

, however, she started studying

elementary education Primary education is the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle schools, de ...

her sophomore year. In 1960, she met Dennis Comeau. She and Dennis married in 1962. His father owned a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

. In 1963, Carol and Dennis spent the summer in Anchorage working for his father, before they returned to Oregon so Dennis could finish his degree. Carol Comeau worked in

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley, Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA, Eugene-Springfield metropolitan statistical area. Separ ...

. In 1965, they moved to Alaska. In 1972, the couple moved back to

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

. Dennis worked for

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...

. They returned to Alaska in 1974. Together, they had three children, Christopher, Michael, and Karen. Comeau returned to work full-time after ten years. Comeau earned her

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

and

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

from the

University of Alaska Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna C ...

. She and Dennis have five grandchildren together, Adam, Amanda, Samantha, Reid, and Elizabeth.

Work

Comeau started teaching again in 1975. She helped lead a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

, which lasted seven days, in 1979. In 1984, she became president of the Anchorage Education Association. In 1993, she became a

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Building superintendent, a manager, maintenance or repair person, custodian or janitor, especially in the United States; sometimes shortened to "super" *Prison warden or superintendent, a prison administrator *Soprin ...

for the

Anchorage School District The Anchorage School District (ASD) manages all public schools within the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the 107th largest school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local p ...

. She became head superintendent for the school district in 2000. She helped get

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic and

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

holidays added to the school calendar and included

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

as part of the anti-harassment policy for the Anchorage School District. As of 2011, Comeau was one of the lowest paid city school superintendents in the United States. She retired on June 30, 2012.

Legacy

Comeau was named Alaska Superintendent of the Year in 2004. In 2007, she was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

at the University of Alaska Anchorage. In 2012, she was named an alumnus of Distinction and given the Alumni of Achievement Award by the University of Alaska Anchorage. An endowment at the Alaska Community Foundation is named after Comeau, which is focused on education.

References

External links

"Carol Comeau says goodbye to district"
from the ''Anchorage Daily News'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Comeau, Carol 1941 births 20th-century American women 21st-century American women American women educators Anchorage School District Living people People from Anchorage, Alaska People from Berkeley, California School superintendents in Alaska Schoolteachers from Alaska University of Alaska Anchorage alumni University of Oregon alumni