UMaine alumna honored as 2021 Maine Teacher of the Year

Cindy Soule, a fourth-grade teacher at Portland’s Gerald E. Talbot Community School, is the 2021 Maine Teacher of the Year.

A lifelong Maine resident, Soule has a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Maine (‘92) as well as a master’s degree in special education from the University of Southern Maine.

An announcement from the Maine Department of Education, which administers the state’s Teacher of the Year program along with Educate Maine, says Soule “has an innate ability to create a learning community that disrupts the opportunity gap.” It goes on to say that she “inspires curiosity and citizenship in her fourth-grade students” and “empowers students to see themselves as meaningful contributors to their community.”

One way Soule has contributed to Maine’s education community is by serving as a mentor teacher to UMaine College of Education and Human Development students as they completed their student teaching semesters.  

As 2021 Maine Teacher of the Year, Soule will spend her year of service advocating for students and teachers, as well as making public appearances to speak to the importance of education in preparing Maine students for the future. She also will represent Maine in the National Teacher of the Year program.