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Farmington resident, UMF grad named ‘Teacher of the Year’

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Longtime MSAD 54 special educator Jennifer Dorman is the 2015 Maine Teacher of the Year, the second special education teacher ever to receive this honor. Pictured here: Skowhegan Area Middle School Principal Zachary Longyear, Maine Department of Education Commissioner Jim Rier, 2015 Maine Teacher of the Year Jennifer Dorman and MSAD 54 Superintendent Brent Colbry.
Longtime MSAD 54 special educator Jennifer Dorman is the 2015 Maine Teacher of the Year, the second special education teacher ever to receive this honor. Pictured here: Skowhegan Area Middle School Principal Zachary Longyear, Maine Department of Education Commissioner Jim Rier, 2015 Maine Teacher of the Year Jennifer Dorman and MSAD 54 Superintendent Brent Colbry.

SKOWHEGAN – In a surprise assembly today, Maine Education Commissioner Jim Rier announced Skowhegan Area Middle School teacher and Farmington resident Jennifer Dorman had been selected from nearly 400 nominees as Maine’s top teacher in 2014.

Dorman came into the school’s auditorium expecting to attend a student fundraising kick-off. 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.

The 7th-and 8th-grade special education and reading intervention teacher is described by her colleagues as “the epitome of what teaching is.” In supporting her nomination, fellow teachers, parents and SAMS Principal Zachary Longyear all cited Dorman’s constant compassion and commitment to the betterment of her students, colleagues and school.

“Jennifer Dorman is all about kids, just as every teacher should be,” said Governor Paul R. LePage. “Instead of making excuses for why her students can’t succeed, she sets high expectations and helps even those with the most significant struggles pursue their potential. In Mrs. Dorman’s classroom, all students are guaranteed access to the life-changing opportunity they deserve from our education system. I congratulate her and thank her and so many other great Maine teachers for the positive role they play in our children’s lives and our state’s future.”

In her application, Dorman, who lives in Farmington, said she wanted to be a teacher from her first day of Kindergarten and used to play “school” in her family’s garage. As a student, she faced adversity and says the skills and confidence her teachers once fostered in her she now strives to develop in her own students.

“For many past and present students, my classroom is their safe place, and I am the one that encourages them, just as my own teachers once empowered me,” she wrote as part of the award process. “I feel fortunate to be a teacher. I am using what teachers once taught me to improve the lives of my own students.”

Dorman has been especially effective in closing achievement gaps by tailoring instruction and intervention approaches to the unique learning and life needs of the children she works with. On average each of the past three years, her students have gained more than three grades of reading growth.

This year’s selection was the first that began with an online public nomination process and included recognition at the county level. Among the final four teachers considered for the Teacher of the Year award was Sarah Reynolds, a 4th grade teacher at Cascade Brook School who took the 2014 Franklin County Teacher of the Year recognition. Also considered was Skip Crosby, Spanish teacher at Poland Regional High School and Vicky Grotton, prekindergarten teacher at Glenburn School.

Dorman is a graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington, as are five of the previous seven award winners. Three out of four of the 2014 final candidates graduated from UMF.

As the 2015 Maine Teacher of the Year, Dorman will travel throughout the state to advocate for teachers, students and the efforts underway in Maine’s public schools to prepare students for success in college, career and civic life.

Maine Teacher of the Year is a program of the Maine Department of Education, administered by Educate Maine, a business-led organization whose mission is to champion college, career readiness and increased education. Funding is provided by Bangor Savings Bank, Geiger, Hannaford and Unum with support from the State Board of Education and the Maine State Teacher of the Year Association.

The Teacher of the Year program has no cost to taxpayers at the local or State level. Bangor Savings Bank reimburses the winning educator’s school district for the cost of substitutes while the Teacher of the Year is out of the classroom on their official duties, which also include a national forum with other state winners, a week at a NASA Space Camp and a visit to the White House.

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23 Comments

  1. Congratulations, Jen.

    From first meeting you when you were chosen as an Alumni Scholar in your freshman year at UMF, I knew you were destined to be a great teacher – you can’t get much better than this!!! So proud!

  2. Congratulations Jennifer. I am so proud of you and so pleased to have been a “little” part of your professional career. Great job ! This is an award that is well-deserved. You represent the profession well !!! Keep on doing great things !

  3. We are ALL so proud of you Jenn!!! Congratulations!!! Cal’s buttons must be bursting!!!

  4. WOW ! We remember you doing lesson plans in between delivering tacos! We are so proud, well deserved Jen!

  5. Jen has always contributed such positive energy to our school and community – as a parent. Great to hear of her teaching expertise over there in Skowhegan! Congrats, Jen!
    Tracy

  6. Congratulations Jen!

    UMF also needs recognition. “Five of the last seven ‘Teacher of the year’ graduated from UMF”.

    So congratulations to UMF as well!

  7. Congratulations, Jen! I knew you were destined to do great things when we attended classes together at UMF. You (and Cal) have made a huge positive impact on the children in the area. Keep up the good work :)

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