Andy Wheeler retires as schools special programs director

La Conner Schools administrator Andy Wheeler has quietly tended to his heavy workload here for the past nine years.

But now, as he transitions to retirement, Wheeler will finally be able to toot his own horn.

Never one to boast, the soft-spoken Wheeler – an enthusiastic trombonist – is headed next month to the Humboldt State College Brass Chamber Music Workshop in northern California.

It's a fitting sendoff for Wheeler, who has been something of a one-man band during his tenure here, handling multiple duties as director of the district's wide-ranging special needs department.

His last day on campus is June 30.

He will, though, remain available to offer input and advice as needed.

"I don't see myself having another career," Wheeler, a native of Rochester, N.Y., said last week. "I told (Superintendent) Will (Nelson) that I won't mind taking phone calls. If something big comes up, I suppose I can contract with the school on that. So, I'll stay connected on some level."

Wheeler said his decision to retire was based on several factors, not the least of which was an injury he sustained a couple years ago that required surgery to repair torn bilateral quad tendons. The aftermath left him unable to stand and wheelchair bound for a time.

"Because of the injury," Wheeler, now fully mobile, reflected, "I've become more concerned with time than with money."

By all accounts, his time at La Conner Schools has been very well and quite efficiently spent.

Wheeler has been engaged in grant-writing, staff training, data collection and compilation, preparing and delivering reports to the school board, keeping abreast of legislation regarding special education, helping develop the district's summer adventure camp and implementing new programs and revamping old ones.

He was even interim superintendent.

"That was one of things that attracted me to La Conner," he told the Weekly News. "I knew I wouldn't be doing just one thing."

Few, if any, have taken such a circuitous route to La Conner, however.

From upstate New York, Wheeler moved with his family to the Denver suburbs, graduating in 1979 from Wheat Ridge High School, which he proudly refers to as "Home of the Farmers."

From there, he enrolled at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he initially studied physics and music. Wheeler quickly discovered his interests were more suited to studies of people than formulas. He swapped out physics in favor of history, focusing on Russia when the Cold War was still dominating geopolitics.

Wheeler took two Slavic trips while in college. One included stops in Belgium, Scandinavia, the Soviet Union, Poland and Turkey. In Poland, Lech Walesa's Solidarity movement had begun to take hold, leading to crackdowns by state authorities.

Things got dicey, recalls Wheeler.

"In Warsaw," he said, "there were two water cannons ready for action."

But the Polish people weren't daunted. Wheeler remembers seeing them passing out Solidarity tee-shirts.

After college, Wheeler returned to Denver and worked for a law firm. Ultimately, he opted to go into teaching. That career plan took him to Brown University in Providence, R.I. for a master's degree.

There he met his wife, Mattie. (The couple has three adult children: Nathan, a firefighter; Travis, a massage therapist; and Clara, a doctoral student in chemistry at Oregon State University).

Wheeler taught in New Hampshire until he was let go due to budget cuts. He found a teaching position at the Casablanca International School in Morocco, instructing students whose parents worked for western companies.

The Persian Gulf War of 1990-91 made necessary another move. Returning to the U.S., the Wheelers set their eyes on the Pacific Northwest, where they had visited. A job materialized in the Tumwater School District.

Until it didn't.

"We were in Illinois, making our way across the country, when I called Tumwater to tell them I hadn't seen my contract yet." Wheeler recounted. "They said they had offered the job to someone else. My first thought was, 'What do I do now?'"

Someone they had met in Morocco spoke favorably of Bellingham. So, that's where the Wheelers landed.

After working as a substitute teacher in Skagit and Whatcom counties, Wheeler found his niche teaching at area alternative schools while also earning his school administration credentials from the University of Washington.

For eight years Wheeler was program director at the Skagit Discovery School in Sedro-Woolley, which serves students experiencing significant social, emotional and behavioral difficulties.

"Skagit Discovery was something of a leap of faith," Wheeler said. "But it worked out pretty well."

When the La Conner post opened, Wheeler applied. It proved to be the ideal role both for his skill set and educational philosophy. Wheeler said what he has treasured most here has been the camaraderie he developed with his colleagues and the connections made with students.

As an example, when Wheeler was in his wheelchair, teacher Maddie Huscher provided morning rides from Bellingham to school. Other faculty members drove Wheeler to Mount Vernon to catch a bus home to Bellingham.

There are other memories.

"(Teacher) Cammy Alumbres would see me in the hall and say, 'Let me tell you a story,'" said Wheeler. "She would share something great about a student and I got to hear her story and celebrate it."

Wheeler anticipates many more celebrations. Recovered from his quad injuries, he plans to join his brother Ron to cycle the nearly 150 miles Cascades to Palouse Trail this summer.

Still, there's no doubt Wheeler will also do some time traveling in his mind, harkening back to his years in education generally and at La Conner specifically.

"Throughout my career," he said, "the best part has always been being able to build relationships with students. It's like Christa McAuliffe said: 'I love being a teacher. I never know where my influence stops.'"