Glagolich inducted into FCCLA HOF

By Derek Clarkston

Kodiak Daily Mirror

Kodiak teacher Darcy Glagolich does not like the spotlight. When there is a camera in the room, she moves out of the frame.

“For me, it is always about the kids,” she said.

Like it or not, Glagolich is now the focal point. Recently, the longtime high school teacher was selected as a member of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America 75th anniversary hall of fame class. The induction ceremony is in July in Washington D.C.

Glagolich ― in her 31st year of teaching life skills to teenagers ― was baffled that she was nominated for the prestigious honor. She was even more astounded when she found out that she was selected for the hall.

“To be put along the side of some of our well-known members, there are no words,” Glagolich said. “I felt like I didn’t belong.”

Glagolich carved out space in the hall with her groundbreaking career, which started at Kodiak High in 1987 as a fresh graduate from Eastern Washington University.

While the iconic Joe Floyd built the school’s athletic department, Glagolich created the school’s FCCLA program, which started as Future Homemakers and morphed into its current title in 1999. She has been a local and state FCCLA advisor.

FCCLA is a nationwide student organization that provides career and college preparation for students with interest in family and consumer sciences, which encompasses fields like culinary arts, hospitality and apparel.

Rafael Bitanga, a 2019 graduate of Kodiak High, said Glagolich is the reason why he is studying hospitality at Cornell University. As a senior, Bitanga was Alaska’s first FCCLA national officer in decades. Glagolich was his advisor and one of the first to know of his acceptance into Cornell.

“What I really won’t forget is when we both traveled to the FCCLA headquarters and, before she left, she went and bought me snacks and left me a note. I never told her that this simple act made me cry during the moment, and even today, as I reflect and write on how much she has made an impact to me, to her past students in FCCLA,” Bitanga wrote in a Facebook messenger post to the Kodiak Daily Mirror.

Glagolich earned the moniker “Momma G” from her students for her motherly nature inside the classroom. She has taught a wide array of classes at Kodiak High but is known around the community for her culinary classes, which cater fundraising dinners for various organizations.

Many students have continued in the culinary field, but it is also the graduates who cook for their families that make Glagolich smile.

“It is just trying to get them comfortable in culinary, where they are not afraid to go in the kitchen and try,” Glagolich said. “So many students become foodies. They are always taking pictures (and posting on social media) of foods that they create and foods that they are eating.”

One of Glagolich’s favorite moments as a teacher was in 2010 when Jayse Taan, Nina Gronn and Brice Thomas placed second out of 40 teams at a national FCCLA culinary competition.

Before the trio entered the kitchen, they told Glagolich that they didn’t want to compete because they were not ready. Glagolich tossed paperwork at them and stormed off.

“When they announced it (the winners), they were all looking to find where I was to see my reaction,” Glagolich said. “We were all crying.”

Raised in a Washtucna ― a small town 70 miles from Pullman, Washington ― and by a father who was a vocational education teacher, Glagolich was involved in everything, including being a member of FFA.

“He pushed us to play our part,” she said. “We did community service projects from the time I can remember, rather we were polishing a fire truck or building a building at the swimming pool or putting in irrigation at the cemetery.”

After graduating from college, Glagolich ― through family connections ― found herself working at a fish processor in Kodiak. Shortly after arriving on the island, she secured a teaching gig at the high school and, minus a three-year teaching break from 2015 to 2018, has never left.

That’s when Kodiak’s FCCLA program took off.

“I had administrators who were totally supportive of what I wanted to do,” she said.

VOLLEYBALL CAREER

Having played volleyball in high school and on an intramural team in college, Glagolich inherited Kodiak High’s volleyball team when she was hired.

She coached three seasons from 1987 to 1989.

“I have some really good memories of volleyball,” Glagolich said. “Hank Pennington always came to his daughter’s games. I always got to visit with him, and he traveled around the state with us.”

As a young pup in Alaska, volleyball was a way for Glagolich to see the land. She experienced her first earthquake during a trip to Kenai.

“We were sleeping. The kids knew what it was,” she said.

Glagolich’s teams were blessed with height ― a rarity for Kodiak these days. She said she had three players standing over 6 feet.

“I had an awesome team, we could go all five games but just couldn’t win,” she said. “I didn’t have that skill to take them over the edge because I didn’t have a fighting competitive spirit.”

ONLINE TEACHING

Like every teacher around the nation, Glagolich is embracing an online classroom.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, FCCLA is letting teachers use its online curriculum for free. Culinary students are cooking, then uploading a picture of their creation online.

“We are trying to keep it really simple and do something they can incorporate into their family meal,” Glagolich said. “We are having to adapt to our time right now.”

Glagolich is doing the assignments with her students.

“It has been fun. It has been challenging. It has been new,” she said.