The Maine DOE, in partnership with Educate Maine, recently named eight teachers as semi-finalists for Maine’s 2016 Teacher of the Year. They were chosen from this year’s 16 County Teachers of the Year who were named in May at a celebration at the State House Hall of Flags.
The semi-finalists are:
- Cumberland: Talya Edlund, Pond Cove Elementary School, Cape Elizabeth
- Franklin: Brenda LaVerdiere, Academy Hill School, Wilton
- Hancock: Mickie Flores, Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School, Deer Isle
- Lincoln: Jennifer Wright Gregg, Great Salt Bay Community School, Damariscotta
- Penobscot: Angela McLaughlin, Glenburn Elementary School, Glenburn
- Piscataquis: Mia Morrison, Foxcroft Academy, Dover-Foxcroft
- Washington: Ben Brigham, Shead High School, Eastport
- York: Nick Wilson, Biddeford High School, Biddeford
The eight semi-finalists will continue in the intensive selection process which consists of a professional portfolio review and an oral presentation before the pool is narrowed to three state finalists who will then sit for a final interview and have a school site visit before the 2016 Maine Teacher of the Year is selected. Review panels during the selection process consist of past Teachers of the Year, school administrators, Department staff, members of professional education organizations and the business community. The 2016 Maine Teacher of the Year will be announced at a surprise all-school assembly in October.
The Maine Teacher of the Year is a program of the Maine DOE and is administered and managed by Educate Maine, a business-led organization working to ensure Maine’s students and workers are the best educated and highly skilled in the world. The program has received longtime support from the Maine State Board of Education and the Maine State Teacher of the Year Association. You can view an overview of the Maine Teacher of the Year program here.
Maine’s Teacher of the Year program has received generous financial support from Hannaford, Bangor Savings Bank, Geiger and Dead River.
Biographical information and photos of the 16 County Teachers of the Year can be found at www.mainetoy.org/2015-county-teachers-of-the-year.html.
For more information about the Teacher of the Year program, please contact Dolly Sullivan at Educate Maine at 631-3385 or Dolly@EducateMaine.org.