Islesboro Central School ushered in the new school year by welcoming several new students – bringing total K-12 enrollment to 86 – and several new staff members as well.
With former ICS principal Jon Kerr now teaching science at Camden-Rockport High School, Michael C. Wright has stepped in as Islesboro Central’s new principal. Wright was an Assistant Principal at Ellsworth High School before coming to Islesboro. He has also taught high school English, and served as athletic director and basketball coach. Besides his Maine principal’s certificate, Wright also holds a master’s degree in education from Norwich University in Vermont. Wright’s wife, Rebecca, is a teacher at Ellsworth High School, and his twin sons are freshmen at Ellsworth High. Although he is renting a house on Islesboro, he plans to commute to Ellsworth to spend time with his family.
Wright said the enthusiasm shown by students and staff at a school-wide assembly on the first day of school made a deep impression on him. His immediate agenda is to get to know students, staff and community, and his goals for the year include determining what has worked successfully in the school and continuing to promote that, and finding what areas need a bit of formalizing and adjustment.
Wright’s enjoyment of problem solving has already come in handy, as he learns more about Islesboro’s unique situations and challenging dynamics. He said the school seems very much like other small town schools, but in the next breath admits that a person can’t really know what it’s like until they’re in the community, approaching each day as an islander would. Ferry schedules and situations must, after all, be respected and accepted. Scheduling classes for students can become a web of tangled options and no-win dead-ends that somehow have to be straightened out.
Also new to the ISC staff this year is Daniel M. Ormsby, the school’s new Physical Education teacher and Athletic Director. Ormsby is a product of midcoast Maine’s educational system himself, having graduated from Bucksport High School as undefeated state high school wrestling champion. A graduate of Springfield College, Ormsby is excited about getting to know what island life is all about by living on Islesboro and becoming part of the community.
Elise Randolph Earl is ICS’s new Foreign Language teacher. Her extensive experience includes teaching in the New England area, and she holds a master’s degree from Columbia University. She was drawn to the island by her love of the ocean. So far, Elise, along with her son Jack, their six sheep, cat, dog, rabbit and goat, are enjoying the offshore life.
Islesboro Central School also has a new kitchen crew this year, Jon Erskin and his wife, Cheryl Gaudiana-Erskin. Cheryl met Jon in the kitchen eight years ago and they’ve been working in kitchens ever since, including fondly-remembered stints operating the Snackmobile parked near the Grindle Point ferry landing, cooking at the Dark Harbor House and doing the same with chef/owner Oliver Outerbridge at Oliver’s. For more than 20 years, Jon has been a chef on Islesboro and in the Portland area. His goal in this latest job in which he and Cheryl have found themselves is to “put food on the school lunch menu.”