RUMFORD — The Maine Department of Education will decide on Friday whether Mountain Valley Middle School teacher Lacey Todd is chosen as the 2024 Maine Teacher of the Year, said Regional School Unit 10 Superintendent Deb Alden at the board of directors meeting at Mountain Valley High School on Monday.
The other three finalists are second grade teacher Joshua Chard from Cumberland County, sixth grade writing and social studies teacher Edith Berger from Lincoln County and high school science teacher Colleen Maker from Washington County.
Representatives from the state Department of Education visited MVMS and Todd’s classroom last Thursday as part of the Maine Teacher of the Year candidacy process.
In other business, the board of directors approved the purchase of two passenger vans totaling $60,000 for its schools in the Nezinscot area and the Mountain Valley area during their meeting. The vans will be leased at a price of $20,000 for the next three years, Alden said.
In another matter, Buildings, Grounds and Transportation Director Devin Roberts gave the board of directors a presentation regarding updates on the district’s projects and plans for its facilities.
Roberts said that some of the projects his department completed this year at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School were new carpets in three classrooms and in the library, two new heat pumps in the main office and principal’s office, LED lighting throughout the school and a new basketball court and paint job in the gym.
Some upcoming projects for this year include a building study to expand the school to include sixth grade classrooms, an athletic training room, a parking lot for the school’s athletic fields and kitchen updates.
Projects completed at Hartford-Sumner Elementary School in Sumner included new univents in the upper wings of the fourth and fifth grade classrooms, LED lighting and insulation throughout the building, Roberts said. Upcoming projects are to replace rugs, add a dehumidifier or air handler system for the cafeteria and to install a scoreboard outside at the school.
At Mountain Valley High School, the kitchen area has a new walk-in cooler, domestic hot water tanks were installed in the building, the main office received a new carpet, LED lighting was installed and heating and cooling systems with CO2 controls were installed, Roberts said. This year’s project is to complete the front entry of the school.
In other news, the board of directors approved an overnight field trip for Mountain Valley Middle School seventh graders to the University of Maine 4-H Camp and Learning Center at Bryant Pond on Oct. 4.
Of the four days, including one overnight stay, the students will learn about outdoor safety and survival, gun safety and archery, said middle school teacher Diane Farrington and Assistant Principal Chris Brennick.
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