Howard steps down as Region Two director

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
RETIRING — Mike Howard is retiring as the Region Two School of Applied Technology director after 10 years in the position. Howard’s final day is June 29.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — The final school bell has rung for a longtime educator and administrator at the Region Two School of Applied Technology.
    Mike Howard retired from his position as administrator for Region Two at the culmination of the school year. His final official day with the school is Friday, June 29.
    Howard, 55, has served as the head of Region Two for the past 10 years. Prior to that, he served as a teacher at the school for three years, teaching applied technology.
    A native of the Hudson Valley area in New York, Howard was in manufacturing and taught machine shop prior to coming to Maine. So how did Howard and his wife, Donna, go from New York to Houlton?
    “I used to get asked that question a lot,” he said. “My wife and I bought property in Houlton in 1988. We built our house and moved here officially in 1999.”
    Though he and his wife have no children, Howard said he always felt his students were like children of his own.
    Howard has spent the past decade turning the Region Two School into the model of success that it is today. Region Two is a technology/career-based school with Houlton, Hodgdon, East Grand, Katahdin and Southern Aroostook Community schools sending students.
    “For me, Mike has always been there to give advice and we worked closely on trying to get the agri-business program idea started,” said SAD 29 Superintendent Mike Hammer. “From what I have heard he has really brought SAVE to the forefront of career and technical education, establishing the criminal justice course and having all programs meet high standards. Many of the programs meet industry or market criteria for certificates.”
    Hammer said he will miss Howard’s “quirky sense of humor.”
    Dave Keaton, a director at the Somerset Career and Technical Center in Skowhegan, will succeed Howard as the new director.
    Keaton is a native of Aroostook County, according to Howard.
    Much has changed during the past decade at the Region Two School of Applied Technology.
    “There is a whole thought difference in regard to this school nowadays,” Howard said. “When you watch the national news, employment is in the trade areas. I honestly think that is where the future lies.”
    The school primarily services juniors and seniors and offers programs in auto body, applied academics, automotive repair, forestry, culinary, business, health sciences, early childhood, welding and law enforcement.
     Howard leaves the program in excellent shape. Enrollment is estimated at 180 students for 2012-13. Much of that increased enrollment was credited to the addition of the law enforcement program that began during the 2011-12 school year. The school also sees 78 percent of its graduates go on to post-secondary education.
    “Everything now is involved with national standards so kids receive multiple certifications while they are here,” he said.
    Improvements in distance learning technology is one of the main things Howard is proud to have been a part of during his tenure. The school received a $1.4 million grant from the USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program to improve its technology. The school is now able to have two classrooms in different locations via a video conferencing system.
    He was also proud of the national standards work that saw the school’s curriculum follow a nationally recognized program, such as NATEF (National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation) for the automotive program.
    Howard said the time just felt right for retirement after spending so many years helping mold the young minds of students.
    “People always ask, ‘What are you going to do when you retire?’” he said. “My response is ‘Can’t I retire first and then figure that part out?’ I wanted to make sure I had time to work in my own shop while I still had my health.”
    Howard has yet to decide what his first retirement project will be in his small wood/machine shop.
    He also plans to spend more time working in his garden and traveling to visit family back in New York.