PIMS teacher named outstanding educator
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Presque Isle Middle School teacher Bill Guerrette was the recipient of a state education award recently, thanks to some secretive behavior by his peers.
Guerrette, who teaches eighth-grade English/language arts and social studies, was presented with the 2015 Janet Nesin Reynolds Outstanding Educator Award during the annual meeting of the Maine Association for Middle Level Education. A team of his fellow instructors nominated him for the honor.
The hitch was getting him there without him knowing it, because the award is always presented as a surprise. Enter Erin Hoffses, PIMS grade 6 math/science teacher — and one of Guerrette’s former fifth-grade students.
“They did keep it a surprise till the end. Erin Hoffses is on the MAMLE board; she was the one who presented it,” Guerrette said.
“She had everybody stand up,” he said. “She had different qualifications, and people were eliminated and sat down. There were five or six of us left, and the last one was, ‘Please remain standing if you’ve ever had me as a student.’
Unbeknownst to him, PIMS Principal Anne Blanchard had traveled to the MAMLE conference, held at Point Lookout Resort in Northport, for the award presentation. “She was hiding out back until they announced the award, and then she came up, so that was nice,” Guerrette added.
The Janet Nesin Reynolds Outstanding Educator Award is presented each year by MAMLE for educators with more than five years of experience.
According to MAMLE, the teachers who nominated him said, “Presque Isle Middle School is a better place because William Guerrette is there, and we couldn’t be happier to have him on our team. He represents what it means to be an exemplary middle level educator.”
Guerrette is in his 29th year of teaching. After teaching fifth grade for 16 years, he moved to the middle-school level. Though receiving the award meant a lot to him, he said he believes there are others as deserving.
“It does touch me. It’s very nice to be recognized by your peers in the teaching profession,” he reflected. “But there are a lot of people in our profession that are worthy of it, too.”
The news of his award was announced in school, and Guerrette said his students were “pretty supportive and pretty happy.” Though there have been a lot of changes in education, he said, after all, “It’s about the kids.”
He feels fortunate to be in the profession he is in and to have enjoyed it for 29 years. “I tell people, I feel kind of blessed to be teaching, because I’m with the same age of kids all the time — so I don’t feel like I’ve aged. I feel very fortunate that I still have a job that can keep me young.”
