News - Maine's 2020 County Teachers of the Years Announced Today

2020 County Teachers of the Year Announced in Virtual Ceremony

Teachers from all 16 of Maine’s counties were honored today in a virtual announcement that was broadcast live on the Maine Department of Education Facebook Page.

The Maine County Teacher of the Year announcement is held annually in the spring to honor the teachers selected from nominations for Maine Teacher of the Year from each county. The County Teachers of the Year are the finalists for Maine Teacher of the Year, an honor awarded each year to one teacher in Maine.

The educators were each nominated by a member of their community for their exemplary service in education, and dedication to their students. They were selected by a distinguished panel of teachers, principals and business community members from a pool of hundreds of other nominated teachers in their communities.

During the ceremony, teachers were honored by Maine Department of Education Commissioner, Pender Makin; Executive Director of Educate Maine, Jason Judd; State Board of Education member, Martha Harris; 2018 Maine Teacher of the Year, Kaitlin Young; and 2020 Maine Teacher of the Year, Heather Whitaker.

2020 County Teachers of the Year: 

Androscoggin: Nicole Sautter Philip W. Sugg Middle School, Lisbon	Aroostook: Jocelyn Saucier Fort Kent Community High School, Fort Kent	Cumberland: Cindy Soule Riverton Elementary, Portland	Franklin: Melissa Hoisington Kingfield Elementary School, Kingfield
Hancock: Kathryn Meyer Mount Desert Island High School, Bar Harbor	Kennebec: Lindsay Mahoney, Messalonskee Middle School, Oakland	Knox: Alison Babb-Brott St. George School, St. George	Lincoln: Heather Webster, Medomak Valley High School, Waldoboro
Oxford: Tonya Prentice Woodstock Elementary School, Bryant Pond	Penobscot: Kristy Dube Fourteenth Street School, Bangor	Piscataquis: Jessica Gregory Piscataquis Community Secondary School, Guilford	Sagadahoc: Bree Candland Mt. Ararat High School, Topsham
Somerset: Jenny France Somerset Career and Technical Center, Skowhegan	Waldo: Sara Pendleton, Captain Albert Stevens School, Belfast	Washington: Debra Carver Jonesport-Beals High School, Jonesport	York: Robert Westerberg, York High School, York

As ambassadors for teachers, students, and quality education in Maine, the Maine County Teachers of the Year are available to make presentations to local and regional organizations. Throughout the summer, they will continue to participate in an intensive State Teacher of the Year selection process.

The Maine Teacher of the Year is a program of the Maine Department of Education, administered and partnered by Educate Maine, a business-led organization working to ensure Maine’s students and workers are the best educated and highly skilled in the world. 

For more information contact Rachel Paling (Maine DOE) at rachel.paling@maine.gov or Dolly Sullivan (Educate Maine) at dolly@educatemaine.org.