FARMINGTON — Wilton teacher Brenda LaVerdiere is one of the top three teachers in the state to be considered for the title of 2016 Maine Teacher of the Year, Wilton schools Principal Keith Acedo announced during Tuesday’s Regional School Unit 9 school board meeting.

LaVerdiere, a fourth-grade teacher at Academy Hill School, was named the 2016 Franklin County Teacher of the Year in May. 

LaVerdiere has been a teacher for more than 35 years.

“We are very proud of her,” Acedo said. “She is an outstanding teacher.”

LaVerdiere will meet with the state commissioner of education and a panel for an interview on Thursday, Acedo said.

The Maine Teacher of the Year is a program of the Maine Department of Education. It is administered by Educate Maine, a business-led organization that works to ensure Maine’s students and workers are highly skilled. 

In other business, Superintendent Tom Ward read off a list of new personnel that was presented to the board and approved.  

Hired at the Mt. Blue Middle School in Farmington were Carl Backman, science teacher; Nadine Fenderson, social worker; and Susan Notarangelo, Spanish teacher.

Lucky Harrison was hired as plumbing instructor at Foster Career and Technical Educational Center in Farmington.

Hired at the Mallett School in Farmington were Daniel Patterson, half-time second-grade teacher; and Sara Spear, a pre-kindergarten teacher. 

Galen Dalrymple was hired as a special education teacher at Mt. Blue Campus in Farmington.

Erica Emery is the new volunteer coordinator for the district. Amy Ryan is a new fourth-grade teacher at Cascade Brook School in Farmington.

Ward also announced several other new staff members in the district.

They are Melanie Prescott, secretary/registrar; and Kathleen Kirsch and Bob Bourassa, special education educational technicians, all at Mt. Blue Campus.

At the Cascade Brook School, new educational technicians in the Special Education Department are Ruth Ann Keister, Amy Hayes and Shannah Cotton. Other staff members hired at the school are Amy Hanrahan, secretary/duty monitor; and Stacy Maxham, duty monitor.

Brittany Errington and Maria Wells were hired as educational technicians in the Special Education Department at Academy Hill School in Wilton.

At the Mallett School, new staff are Arika Galkowski, a special education educational technician; and Rebecca Hutchinson, a prekindergarten educational technician.

New staff members at Cape Cod Hill School in New Sharon are Cindy Dellarma, a Title I educational technician, who will also work at Cushing School in Wilton; Amber Kapiloff, a multi-grade educational technician; and Crystal Oliver, a duty monitor.

Shaun Weeks was hired as maintenance/bus driver at the bus garage. Gail Tourtelotte will work in the school lunch program at Cushing School in Wilton.

Ward also announced the resignations of educational technicians Autumn Doiron, Craig Collins and Ryan Sucy at Mt. Blue Campus; Katie Reed, prekindergarten educational technician at Mt. Blue Campus; Barbara Collins, teacher at the Adult Education Program; and Terri Reiter, a social worker at Mt. Blue Middle School.

Justin Fitch has transferred to maintenance at the bus garage.

The school board also approved an unpaid year leave of absence request from Denise Correll, an instructor in the Diversified Occupations Program at the Foster Center, for personal reasons. 

dperry@sunmediagroup.net