ANCHORAGE - School's out for summer, but for one teacher at West High it could be permanent.
Chris Ruggles, 27, his wife Colleen and 1-year-old daughter Rylee landed in Anchorage on January 1 from Utah.
“We were excited about the adventure, the idea of coming to Alaska,” said Chris Ruggles. “We heard a lot of great things about the education system up here, especially Anchorage.”
"Everyone said, 'hey, you're safe, they wouldn't bring you up here just to let you go.'”
But the P.E. and Physiology of Wellness teacher was told on Tuesday that he had been let go.
"I understand how it works, not that I agree, but I understand how it works.
“What am I going to do now? I came up here with my wife and daughter we've moved three thousand miles away and exhausted our finances to do it.”
Colleen Ruggles said the transition to life in Alaska wasn't easy.
"We got the call that he got the job, we had two weeks to pack up our entire house and figure out how to come up with the money to ship everything up here and get up here.”
Now, the young family is waiting, with hope and faith, that Chris finds another job in the district.
"It's disappointing, but Chris is a hard worker and he'll do whatever it takes to support our family whether it's teaching or not, but I sure hope it's teaching because that's his passion,” said Colleen.
