Page 9 - Newsletter_Spring_2019

SPOTLIGHT

ON ALUMNI

Sarah Harbison Williams

Class of 2006

By Nancy Ketch ‘82

We love to tell stories of HHS alums who are doing great things with their lives. It is especially exciting for us to share the
story when it is about an alum who has stayed local and is doing great things for their hometown region. at means, we are
thrilled to tell you about Sarah Harbison Williams ’06.

Sarah teaches 1st Grade at Mill Pond Elementary School in Hodgdon and is in her 9th year as a teacher.

Sarah is the daughter of David Harbison, Jr. ’72 and
Mary Harbison. Although her mother was an educator
and administrator in Hodgdon and her grandmother,
Gloria Harbison, spent many years working in the offi ce at
Houlton High, Sarah had diff erent plans for her future. It
wasn’t until her senior year of high school that she decided
to make education her career.

Sarah received her undergraduate degree from the University
of Maine in 2010. She has since earned her Masters from
the University of Southern Maine.

In addition to her classroom work, Sarah is also the coach
of the Hodgdon Varsity Softball Team. It is in this capacity
that she recently received signifi cant recognition. Sarah
Hodgdon coach Sarah Williams speaks to the audience November placed 3rd in the national U.S. Cellular Most Valuable
30th as her daughter Paisley plays with the microphone. In the Coach contest earning a total of $15,000 for her school,
background is Williams’ husband Tim. A U.S. Cellular representative receiving a $5,000 award for making the top 15 and another
presented Sarah Williams a $10,000 check for her school for finishing $10,000 after fi nishing 3rd in the national voting.
third in the company’s nationwide Most Valuable Coach contest.
(photo courtesy of Joseph Cyr ’89, Houlton Pioneer Times.)
Sarah was nominated by one of her softball players, Allie
Winship. During the presentation for the $10,000, Allie said, “A good coach can change a game, but a great coach can change
a life. Coach Williams has forever changed the lives of people in Hodgdon, Maine.” Allie added that, “I always knew that
our little town of Hodgdon was capable of something big. What I have now learned is that it is not just the town, but the
people of the (local) community who have stood together to honor our local coach and that the little steps in life make a big
diff erence.”

Another speaker at the check presentation celebration was Stephanie Bubar Harris ‘88. Harris said she has had the pleasure of
knowing Sarah since being an Ed Tech in Sarah’s fi rst-grade class at Houlton Elementary School. Sarah has gone on to become
a close family friend. Harris said Williams was one of the fi rst people that her daughter Addie, a member of the Hodgdon
Photo courtesy of Penny Nevers ‘61
softball team who was diagnosed with leukemia back in 2016, wanted to speak to when she was able to see visitors.

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