PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — For Bill Guerrette, an eighth-grade English language arts and social studies teacher at Presque Isle Middle School, being named Aroostook County Teacher of the Year has given him a great opportunity to reflect on more than 30 years as a teacher for Maine School Administrative District 1.
“I remember playing ‘teacher’ sometimes while I was growing up, but when I went to college I initially wanted to be an athletic trainer,” Guerrette said, a week after the Maine Teacher of the Year program of Educate Maine named him and 15 other educators around the state the County Teachers of the Year.
Guerrette attended the University of Maine at Orono in the 1980s when the school only offered athletic training as an internship for students in other majors. He chose to major in secondary education with a social studies concentration and returned to Presque Isle during the fall of his final year of college to student teach at what was then Skyway Middle School.
While there, Guerrette also coached basketball and baseball. He spent the following summer as an athletic trainer for the New York Yankees Minor League Baseball Team, but decided to return to Presque Isle after realizing how much he enjoyed working with students in a classroom setting.
“I spent my first two years with MSAD 1 as a teacher in the migratory program at Presque Isle Middle School and Mapleton Elementary School for children whose parents travelled downstate for agricultural work,” Guerrette recalled during an interview Thursday.
He then became the first computer lab coordinator for grades K through 8 at Presque Isle Middle School and was responsible for instructing teachers on how to use the newly installed school computers as learning tools for students. After several years in that position, he became a fifth-grade teacher at Zippel Elementary School, where he remained for the next 16 years.
Guerrette became a social studies teacher at Presque Isle Middle School six years ago and later added English language arts to his curriculum. His passion for local history has inspired him to create many hands-on projects that teach students about unique and often surprising facts about Presque Isle.
For the past 11 years, one of Guerrette’s favorite projects has been, “The Amazing Race.” On a day near the end of the school year, his eighth graders divide into groups of five and, along with chaperones, bike through the city, reading questions and deducing clues placed inside businesses or near landmarks. Every question the students answer leads them on a tour of one of 25 of Presque Isle’s historical locations, such as the site of the Perry Opera House on Main Street, and tests their knowledge of the people and businesses that helped shape what the city is today.
The project is based on the popular CBS reality television show, “The Amazing Race,” in which contestants race around the world solving clues and performing physical and mental challenges.
Guerrette also has begun a history club at the middle school that has done much research into Presque Isle’s former Air Force base.
“Many times students ask, ‘Did anything interesting ever happen here?’ We always look at old photographs of the area, but I wanted to do something that took them out of the classroom and really connected them with where we came from as a city,” Guerrette said, about The Amazing Race project.
Guerrette’s colleague Brian Cronin, a physical education teacher at Presque Isle Middle School, nominated him for Aroostook County Teacher of the Year and has taught at the school for almost the same number of years. He praised Guerrette’s ability to create new learning opportunities for students.
“Bill is very innovative and creative and has a great work ethic. He always looks to improve upon everything he does for students both inside and outside the classroom,” Cronin said.
Two weeks after finding out that he was named Aroostook County Teacher of the Year, Guerrette and his fellow Maine teachers were honored at a ceremony in the Hall of Flags at the State House in Augusta. As part of the Maine Teacher of the Year program, the 16 teachers will spend the next year, regardless of who wins the ultimate title, participating in professional development conferences and public speaking events throughout the state.
In June, eight county semi-finalists will be announced. The selected teachers will give speeches and participate in interviews at the University of Maine at Orono in August. After the final three teachers are chosen, state educational representatives will visit each school in September. They will announce the winner of Maine Teacher of the Year in October. That person will serve on various committees and in speaking engagements throughout Maine and is eligible for the National Teacher of the Year award, selected from winning teachers in all 50 states.
Regardless of whether he becomes the newest Maine Teacher of the Year, Guerrette said that he is grateful for the opportunity to represent Aroostook County educators at the state level. For him, the greatest moments as a teacher will always happen when interacting with students and guiding them through the sometimes difficult journey through education.
“I tell my students that for better or worse we’re a family for the school year and, like families, there will be days when we get along and days when we don’t. The important thing is that we’re there for each other,” Guerrette said. “I let them know that it’s OK to make mistakes because that’s when some of the best learning happens.”
