Maine Department of Education<\/a> press release announcing the Teacher of the Year finalists. \u201cMy school, administration, colleagues, and district have supported me in my growth as a teacher leader and I owe the same to others in education no matter where they teach.\u201d<\/p>\nMaker teaches biology and marine biology at Washington Academy in East Machias. She has been teaching for 19 years, the last four at Washington Academy. She was the 2022 recipient of the University of Maine Volunteer Pen Award for her dedication to the Washington Academy Community Garden, which donates all produce to the Machias Food Pantry. Maker is also a member of the Maine Master Gardener Volunteer Program, the Algae Academy, the Downeast Institute, the Coastal Science Academy, the University of Maine 4-H Cooperative Extension and the Downeast Salmon Federation Research Center salmon stocking program. She incorporates these real-world partnerships into her curriculum to encourage students to be lifelong learners, productive community members and responsible stewards of their environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to represent Washington Academy and Washington County in the Maine Teacher of the Year Program, and I\u2019m thankful to my students, colleagues, administrators, community partners, family, and husband, Joshua, for fueling and nurturing my passion and love for teaching,\u201d Maker said in the Maine DOE press release. \u201cBeing part of a program that celebrates teachers across Maine is truly exciting, especially in a state where incredible things are unfolding in our classrooms and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The state Teacher of the Year program is a partnership between Maine DOE, Educate Maine, the Maine County and State Teacher of the Year Association and the Maine State Board of Education.<\/p>\n
Cumberland County Teacher of the Year Joshua Chard of East End Community School in Portland and Oxford County Teacher of the Year Lacey Todd of Mountain Valley Middle School in Mexico are the other finalists.<\/p>\n
The 2024 Maine Teacher of the Year will be announced in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Edith Berger, the 2023 Lincoln County Teacher of the Year and a two-time University of Maine alumna, and Colleen Maker,\u00a0 2023 Washington County Teacher of the Year and University of Maine at Machias alumna, have been named finalists for 2024 Maine Teacher of the Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"5","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Edith Berger, the 2023 Lincoln County Teacher of the Year and a two-time University of Maine alumna, and Colleen Maker,\u00a0 2023 Washington County Teacher of the Year and University of Maine at Machias alumna, have been named finalists for 2024 Maine Teacher of the 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