Eight teachers in the running for the 2016 Maine Teacher of the Year title presented to and answered questions from members of the State review panel last week. The teachers were selected from the 2015 County Teachers of the Year named in May at a ceremony at the State House Hall of Flags. Maine DOE’s Acting Deputy Commissioner Rachelle Tome and the 2015 Maine Teacher of the Year Jenn Dorman from Skowhegan Area Middle School were among the seven member review panel.
Maine’s selection process is the most rigorous in the nation, lasting almost nine months. Candidates must submit essays, classroom videos, professional portfolios, and participate in interviews, presentations, panel discussions, and school site visits before the Teacher of the Year is named in a surprise all-school assembly each fall.
Maine Teacher of the Year is a program of the Maine Department of Education, administered 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.
For more information about the program, or other educator recognition opportunities, visit www.maine.gov/doe/recognition/educator.html.