Alison Ingle has dedicated more than two decades of her life to special needs education.
She’s taught at two San Luis Obispo County elementary schools and is now a special education program specialist overseeing four schools within the San Luis Coastal Unified School District. Ingle has worked with numerous students who need more intensive support.
Now, her community is returning that support after she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in February, the same cancer she beat four years ago.
Ingle said she and her family have received a “huge outpouring” of support from immediate friends, family, parents, teachers, and students ranging from countless text messages of well wishes, donations to her GoFundMe page, or meals for her family. Schools like Monarch Grove Elementary have worn orange ribbons and sported T-shirts that read “Alison strong.”
“When I hear stories like this, it just makes me want to cry. They’ve really pulled together,” she said. “It just spans so wide that it’s almost so emotional, it’s overwhelming.”
Right now, Ingle is living in San Francisco with her husband during treatment while her two daughters continue to reside in Los Osos. During this time, she said, her local community has helped to ensure her kids are supported and taken care of.
“There’s just a sense of a village that’s so strong in our community—that’s so supportive,” she said. “You just feel like you’re being held, you know?”
After receiving her degree from Cal Poly, Ingle spent 10 years as a special education teacher at Grover Heights Elementary and another 10 at Monarch Grove Elementary before being diagnosed with leukemia in 2020. After going into remission, Ingle came back and was offered a specialist position to oversee special education at Bishops Peak, Monarch Grove, and C.L. Smith elementaries, as well as Morro Bay High School where she would help teachers develop lesson and behavior plans for students with intensive needs.
“It’s evolved as I’ve gotten further along in my career, because I think as a program specialist now it’s supporting teachers and supporting families and IEP [individualized education program] meetings, but also it’s a different role,” she said. “I think I can empathize with the families, and I can support the teachers really well.”
As Ingle receives treatment up north, she said the local support has “lifted her spirits,” and she hopes to return home within the next six weeks.
“If all still continues to go well with my health, then I think hopefully I will get to go home,” she said. “I just miss my kids. I haven’t been able to be with my daughters. … So being away from them has been very, very heartbreaking.”
Despite her difficult journey through cancer, Ingle said in a “wonderful way” the community has not only been there for her, but for each other.
“Some have reconnected, some have really pulled together and formed relationships that maybe otherwise wouldn’t happen,” she said. “It feels heartwarming even through tragedy to feel the power of people coming together to help a common cause.”
Nicole Conrad, Ingle’s cousin, described Ingle as her best friend.
“Alison, growing up, always was the type of person that people gravitated to, because she’s always happy. She’s always the type of person that brings out the best in people,” Conrad said, “and her storytelling abilities are hysterical. She’s really funny. Very adventurous.”
Conrad said she’s never seen the community come together like this before.
“The amount of support that they have shown her consistently over a long period of time is one of the most inspiring things I have ever seen in my life, and it brings me to tears when I think about it,” Conrad said.
For more information or to donate toward Ingle’s medical costs visit: gofundme.com/f/favorite-educator-alison-ingle-is-fighting-for-her-life.
Fast fact
• In honor of National Chip Your Pet Month, and with the help of 24PetWatch microchip registry, Woods Humane Society is holding four free microchip clinics to help protect pets if they ever become lost. The free clinics are by appointment only and will be held at Woods North County on May 2 and 16 from 2 to 4 p.m. and at Woods SLO on May 7 and 21 from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information, visit woodshumanesociety.org/microchip.
• The Beautify Cambria Association announced the return of the family-friendly Bee, Butterfly, and Bat Faire on May 4 at the Cambria Historical Museum Gardens. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and admission is free for all ages. For more information, contact info@beautifycambria.org. Δ
Reach Staff Writer Libbey Hanson at lhanson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Best of SLO County 2025.