SKOWHEGAN, Maine — Jennifer Dorman, a Skowhegan Area Middle School special education teacher, was named the 2015 Maine Teacher of the Year by the state Department of Education and the nonprofit organization Educate Maine.
Department of Education Commissioner Jim Rier made the announcement on Thursday at an all-school assembly that was a complete surprise to Dorman, according to the Department of Education. There were about 500 students and teachers in the room.
“Dorman came into the school’s auditorium expecting to attend a student fundraising kick-off,” said a press release sent out by the Department of Education. “Instead, she was met with the near deafening applause of hundreds of proud students and colleagues, as well as local and state education and business leaders, legacy Teachers of the Year and her beaming family.”
In a letter recommending Dorman for the award, Skowhegan Area Middle School Principal Zachary Longyear said the special education and reading teacher is “beyond student centered.”
“As a special education teacher, she checks in with her students throughout the day in a variety of circumstances and arenas, monitoring and urging academic and social interactions,” he said.
The parent of one of Dorman’s students wrote a letter explaining Dorman’s evident love of her students and the high standards she holds them to set her apart from her peers.
“I have received emails and phone calls long after the workday had ended just to chat about a new challenge or concern,” the parent, who was not identified, said in the letter. “Her love and adoration for her students, in my opinion, exemplifies what a teacher should be.”
In an essay that Dorman submitted with the application for the award, she said she saw her role as “the axis by which students, teachers, administrators and parents rotate.” She explained that each of those stakeholders rely on her as either an advocate or advisor and collaborator in their effort to support children.
She said her role went beyond understanding a child’s academic needs and included their social and emotional needs as well.
“If I do not recognize that a child is hungry, afraid or anxious about schoolwork, the child will not be in the position to learn,” she said.
In the Department of Education statement, Gov. Paul LePage congratulated Dorman and all teachers “for the positive role they play in our children’s lives and our state’s future.”
Dorman has held her position as a special education and reading teacher at the Skowhegan Area Middle School since 2006, according to Educate Maine. She has been teaching in the district since 1996.
This was the first year that members of the public could nominate teachers for the award, not just principals and superintendents, according to the Department of Education. Nearly 400 teachers were nominated.
Sixteen teachers throughout the state were named county teachers of the year in May. The Maine Teacher of the Year was then selected from that group after classroom visits, interviews and portfolio reviews by past winners, Department of Education staff, principals and members of the business community, according to the Department of Education.
The semifinalists were Gordon Crosby of Poland Regional High School, Sarah Reynolds of Cascade Brook School, Victoria Grotton of Glenburn School and Dorman, who represented Androscoggin, Franklin, Penobscot and Somerset counties respectively.
