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and later her senior English literature class with Mrs. Helen Rich.

After high school Mom attended Westbrook Junior College butt left after a year to marry Dad. She then had four
children in quick succession and so it wasn’t until ten years later that she was able to resume her education. She
matriculated at Ricker College in the fall of 1967. She studied hard, but with the support of Dad and other family
members she managed to balance her studies with home life. While still a student she had the opportunity to teach
the 2 nd grade CCD on Sundays at St. Mary’s, which she found to be valuable experience when she started teaching
full time a few years later.

Mom’s hours of study paid off and she graduated at the top of her class in 1970 with a major in English and minor
in history. Years later she continued her education and earned her master’s degree in education from the University
of Maine. After graduating from Ricker she accepted a position at Monticello School, teaching 5 th and 6 th grade
reading and English. I was in her homeroom and my sister, Jan, was in 6 th grade. Like any new teacher, Mom
worked especially hard in those early years getting lesson plans ready and preparing for classes. She considered
herself fortunate that she got to teach the subjects that she truly loved – English, reading and language arts. She was
also keen in those early years to try more “progressive” teaching techniques she’d learned in her education training,
trying such radical ideas as arranging the classroom desks in circles rather than row. Mom also took great pride in
keeping her classroom decorated with attractive seasonal and educational displays that she devoted many hours of
her personal time to prepare. Mom truly enjoyed her students and the Monticello/Wellington schools and put off
retiring for several years, until Dad finally convinced her to in 2002, after 32 years. She loved the team and her
students at Wellington School and would have seen sad to learn that the District had made the difficult decision to
close it this year. A few years after she started teaching, Mom became active in the SAD 29 Teachers Association,
serving one year as president of the local association as well as serving several years on the Executive Committee of
Maine Education Association. After her retirement she was active in the Aroostook Retired Teachers Association. She
took an interest in public policy and current events and felt it was important to try to improve the experience of her
students through influencing educational policy.

Mom was a strong and early supporter of the HHS Alumni Association, a natural extension of her interest in staying
connected with long-time friends and classmates. The Association’s mandate to provide scholarship was a perfect fit
with her long-time commitment to encourage her students to go on to higher education.

She had long been involved in reunion planning and was a natural to serve as class representative for the Class of
1956. She served on the Association board and was on the planning committee for the HHS multi-year reunion
2010 and was pleased to have the family’s HHS alumni well represented at the event.

Frances Hutchinson, HHS Class of 1978, London, United Kingdom, June 1, 2014.

Editor's Note: Wouldn't Nancy be upset that she wouldn't be able to do her beautiful displays due to COVID!

Stay tune for the next newsletter and the next installment in Meet Your Board.

The HHS Alumni Association Library Alumni Board Members
Needs Your Help Lorraine Davis Quint ‘55
Gary Bossie ‘57
Peter Fitzpatrick ‘59
The Houlton High School Alumni Association is building a library of yearbooks and we are Rachel Sylvester Good ‘60
Patricia Donovan Fitzpatrick ‘63
looking for your help. We are well on our way to having 100 years of recorded HHS history Karen Eleiott Donato ‘69
in the form of North Star yearbooks. Yearbooks can be donated in memory of someone or in Jerry York ‘70
Janice Cowperthwaite Kelley ‘72
honor of someone if you would like. Please send them to: Jon McLaughlin ‘73
Chris Fitzpatrick ‘79
HHSAA • PO Box 990 • Houlton, ME 04730 Nancy Ketch ‘82
Bruce Haggerty ‘86
Lauren Peabody Fitzpatrick ‘86
1910 • 1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • 1922 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1989 • 1997 • 2006 • 2008 Erica McGary Tweedie ‘00
Please donate any of the above mentioned yearbooks and help us complete our library. Thank you.
Katherine Windhalm Hill ‘05

www.houltonalumni.com PAGE 30