At a surprise schoolwide assembly Wednesday morning in Dover-Foxcroft, a local teacher learned she’d been named Maine’s top educator for the year.
Kaitlin Young, a music teacher at SeDoMoCha Elementary School who also teaches choral music to district middle schoolers, started her teaching career in 2010. Since then, she’s held a variety of music education positions, teaching kids ranging from kindergarten to high school seniors. Young recently earned her master’s degree in music education from The Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut.
“Kaitlin’s integrated teaching style and dedication to bring a love of music and the arts to her students as well as their families and the community that surrounds her makes her a true leader among her peers and an inspiration to us all,” Maine Department of Education Commissioner Robert G. Hasson, Jr., said in a news release announcing Young’s selection.
Young, who earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Maine, was among 16 teachers across the state, one representing each county, selected to vie for the statewide honor. This crop of teachers was selected from more than 300 nominees.
Those candidates underwent a series of portfolio reviews, interviews and classroom visits until the list was whittled down to three finalists. Jennifer England, an English teacher at Noble High School in North Berwick, and Kasie Giallombardo, a social studies teacher at Nokomis High School in Newport, also were named finalists.
As the state’s teacher of the year, Young will be asked to travel throughout the state during her yearlong tenure to advocate for students and teachers across the state, and serve as a spokesperson on education issues.
The Maine Department of Education’s teacher of the year program is administered by Educate Maine, a business-led organization whose mission is to promote college and career readiness.
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