Maine DOE Team member Laura Cyr is being highlighted this week as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Team Campaign. Learn a little more about Laura in the question and answer below.
What are your roles with DOE?
I am the Legislative and Constituent Services Specialist and the Rulemaking Liaison
What do you like best about your job?
A big part of my job is helping our content experts answer questions about the process of governing education, which can be very different from when we used to be teachers delivering education. I love being able to support our teams as they support educators in the field.
How or why did you decide on this career?
I began my teaching career shortly before NCLB in 2001. My students were middle-schoolers dealing with English language acquisition, housing instability, equity issues, and dramatic curriculum changes. I focused my graduate degrees on public policy and educational administration because I believed I could help more students outside of the classroom.
What do you like to do outside of work for fun?
Work during the legislative season keeps me pretty busy. At home, my husband and I have 3 dogs: an Italian mastiff, a Pitbull, and a Belgian Malinois. They like to drink my coffee, snore loudly during Zoom meetings, and begrudge me even one couch cushion. We have a cozy little farm in a 150-year-old farmhouse where we raise our own veggies, goats, ducks, and chickens. Our fun is usually something like building garden beds, renovating our old home, and watching our dogs act like fools.