Heights' Alley retiring after 40-year career

As a young man growing up in Holton, Lyle Alley didn’t really have any plans to be a teacher.

“I had a desire to be a sports broadcaster for a few years, and I was majoring in broadcast journalism at Highland Community College,” Alley said.

Fast forward to the present day, and Alley is looking at his final days as a teacher, coach and athletic director at Jackson Heights High School — the impending end of a 40-year career in education and athletics, all but two of those years at JHHS.

“I started teaching at age 22, and I thought to myself, if I could go 40 years, I’d be 62 years old, so I’ve always thought that 40-year mark was just a perfect number for me,” said Alley, who turned 62 in March.

Alley graduated from Holton High School in 1973, then went to Highland for two years, graduating with an associate of arts degree and plans to become a broadcaster. But as he was preparing to pursue a bachelor’s degree at Emporia State University in the spring of 1975, something happened.