HOULTON, Maine — On Feb. 11, the Houlton Rotary Club met for its weekly luncheon meeting at Watson Hall. A new member was inducted by Rotarian Leigh Cummings as Christine Nickerson, senior relationship manager at Bangor Savings Bank in Houlton was inducted into the club.
Rotarian Nancy Ketch hosted the Houlton Middle-High School Principal Jim Hodgkin and Assistant Principal Tim Tweedie. Hodgkin has been a Rotarian in two other clubs in Maine and is a lifelong Mainer, but never lived in the County. He has served as a principal in grades K through 12 in other districts and also as a superintendent.
Hodgkin’s current goal at RSU 29 is to address attendance and dropout rates. His approach is to look at everything that happens in school to a student and the relationship issues that cause low attendance and leaving school. When a student shows up at the office it requires “behavior instruction.”
Hodgkin said he wants to work to improve the school’s ratings at the Department of Education in Augusta. His philosophy is to focus on the three R’s — Rigor, Relevance and Relationships. He believes that you cannot win a student’s brain until you win their heart. There are amazing educators at the high school and middle school who create relevance for learning.
Next year the former Baptist Church on Military Street will be home to regional alternative education center for grades seven through 12 that will accommodate 30 students who require a different learning environment. A workshop was just held at the Higher Education Center that focused on empowering student voices and the mission statement of the social awareness group otherwise known as SWAG is: “We, the Social Wellness Awareness Group (SWAG), strive to cultivate, encourage, and sustain a safe and respectful environment within our community that inspires social awareness, empowering attitudes, and positive change”. Hodgkin introduced Tweedie as his shadow and assistant who provides a wealth of insight and a local perspective.
Tweedie spoke about his connection to Houlton as his grandfather was Jay Brewer, the first principal of Houlton Elementary School. Tim’s wife Erica graduated from Houlton in 2000 and when they married they decided to make Houlton their home.
Tweedie comes to his new job from being a Social Studies teacher and finds the adjustment from the block schedule a teacher follows to the unpredictable schedule of an assistant principal an adjustment. What he has realized is that in a way he is still an educator, but of a new subject that is behavior modification.
His approach is to have conversations with the students who arrive in his office rather that just dole out punishments. They work on resiliency, empathy and reasoning as well as civility. Hodgkin and Tweedie teach troubled students that their current situation can be a temporary situation and they help students “fail safely” in order to learn and to grow and make changes for the better.
