He was president of the Manitoba Teachers Society, and chaired the Winnipeg School Board on two separate occasions.
Kowalchuk grew up in Sandy Lake, Manitoba, attended Normal School in Winnipeg, and spent one year in the military at the end of World War II.
Kowalchuk supported the creation of aboriginal schools in Winnipeg, as a means of promoting native self-improvement.
He supported a zero-tolerance policy against violence, and opposed budget cuts that reduced the number of counsellors and special-needs educators.
In 1994, Kowalchuk and other trustees defeated a motion which called for students to be taught lessons in tolerance toward people of different sexual orientation.