Debbie Hales: A Sisterhood of Support

Debbie Hales is used to firsts. She is the first person in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree. She is also the first to receive a master’s. Soon, she will be the first in her family to complete a doctoral degree.

Hales comes from a big family. She is the fifth of nine children. Born in Seattle, Hales grew up in Fall City, Wash., a small Cascade foothills town east of Lake Sammamish. Her family moved to the reservation of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe in eighth grade where she remained until two years ago. “I’m not Indigenous but I consider myself a community member of the Tribe,” she said. “I consider Elwha home because they have given me the opportunity to love, live and work amongst the Elwha people. That’s where my heart is.”

When it comes to education, Hales describes herself as a non-traditional student. “I went to a few weeks of kindergarten and went to public school for seventh grade, but was otherwise homeschooled,” she said.

At first, Hales didn’t consider herself college material. “My sister was in college and she came home one day with this poem that she didn’t understand,” said Hales. “I looked at it and talked to her about what I thought it meant.” Hales’ sister went to class and reported back that Debbie’s explanation was the same as her professors. “I started to think, ‘Maybe I can go to college,’” said Hales.

Hales completed a bachelor’s in humanities from Washington State University and a master’s in secondary education at Grand Canyon University. She originally planned on working as an English language arts teacher at a middle school or high school. “That’s not what happened,” she said.

Hales’ career path shifted. “My child was going to preschool at the Lower Elwha Headstart while I was getting my master’s,” she said. “I volunteered at the school and they mentioned they really needed help and I should consider becoming a substitute.” Hales did just that. She continued volunteering throughout the duration of her master’s program. In what turned out to be happenstance, a position opened up just as Hales finished her degree.

Hales spent the next ten years at the Lower Elwha Headstart, three as a teacher and seven as the school’s early learning director. “Parents are a child’s first and best teacher, but after that they typically go to preschool or some sort of childcare, so it’s important in those settings to provide children with a strong educational setting,” she said.

Setting children up for future success is only one component of working in early childhood education and after school programs. “There’s also an advocacy piece where I’m working with parents and kids on issues like special education rights or pushing for more cultural awareness,” said Hales.

She’s no longer with the Lower Elwha Headstart, but Hales still works in education. She moved to Portland a few years ago to take an executive director position with a non-profit multi-site childcare.

Hales is graduating from UW Tacoma with an Ed.D. degree in educational leadership. She is part of the inaugural cohort of students in a collaboration with the Muckleshoot Tribal College. The cohort is Indigenous-centered and meant for practicing educators who work with Tribal communities.

Hales made the move to Portland during her first year as a doctoral student. It took a while to adjust, but Hales got through it with help from the cohort. “It’s a sisterhood and everybody has helped each other,” she said. “I would not have made it through this degree without them.”

The Cohort sisterhood supported Hales, as did her family. “One of my sisters lived with me for the first year-and-a-half of the degree and that was a tremendous help,” she said. “When I think about it, I feel like this is something my mom and my grandma would have wanted to do. My grandmother had an opportunity to go to college, but she had to stay home and take care of her father and never got the chance. I feel like the way that she raised my mom and the way that my mom raised me made it possible to be where I am.”