Meet Mike and Jeanne Beal, retired educators who, combined, have served students and communities in Washington County for almost a century (96 years and counting)

When I met Mike Beal, the first question I asked him was “Do you know you’ve inspired Ron Ramsay (Superintendent, MSAD 37)?” Mike replied, “Do you know he inspired me?” Mr. Beal was Mr. Ramsay’s teacher, Principal, and coach at S.S. Nash School in Addison back in the sixties. What Mr. Beal was expressing in his retort was a guiding principle I discovered defined his long and illustrious career in education: allow the children to inspire you.

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Meet Lynn Mitchell, Passamaquoddy Culture and Language Teacher at Calais High School

Have you ever considered learning Passamaquoddy? If you are not Native, does this question give you pause? Have you ever wondered if learning the Passamaquoddy language and culture is an endeavor you should or could have access to? According to Lynn Mitchell, yes and yes. Lynn Mitchell is the Passamaquoddy Culture and Language teacher at Calais High School. She’s been teaching Passamaquoddy Culture and Language to Native and non-Native students at Calais for four years. Lynn believes her class bridges divides between Native and non-Native communities, creates a shared experience, and develops empathy and deepens ties between the communities. Lynn isn’t the only person at Calais High School who believes this. Her passion reverberates throughout the school.

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Meet Charity Williams, Principal at Princeton Elementary School

As I explored ways to best support Washington County educators this year, Charity’s name kept on coming up. “Charity has done some great work implementing practices that celebrate teaching at Princeton Elementary School,” one colleague told me. As I reflect on teaching and how to best support it, I’ve come to believe celebrations are key. I wanted to learn more.

Charity welcomed me to her school a couple weeks ago. I showed up an hour early (long story) and offered to wait until our scheduled time and catch up on some other work. Charity told me to come on over instead. So I showed up at 8:00 AM on a Wednesday morning, somewhat unannounced.

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