“Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.” – Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at Wiscasset Middle High School attending the orientation program for new staff members hired for the 2023-2024 school year. There were a few comments from Kim Andersson, our new superintendent, I thought I’d share. Andersson you may recall taught at our high school for a number of years. Like me, she also served two terms on the Wiscasset selectboard. Most recently she was dean of students for the Searsport school district. Searsport, in Waldo County, is a small coastal town situated on Penobscot Bay. Like Wiscasset, Route One serves as its Main Street.

“I feel like I know all the stakeholders’ roles,” said Andersson. “I’ve been in each of them – ed. tech, teacher, substitute teacher, volunteer, school committee member, and parent.” About the only thing Andersson hasn’t done is drive a school bus although she would probably do that too if asked.

Among the other things Andersson said in her welcoming address was that she is “here to stay.” That was good to hear because that’s been one of our school system’s biggest challenges, holding onto its principals, special ed. director and superintendent. Our school committee hires people, they stay for a few years then off they go in search of greener pastures. This lack of continuity hasn’t been good for our school system. Maybe now this trend is changing. Andersson who resides with her family in Wiscasset said four of the school system’s new hires, including herself, are people who have taught here before. They returned because they wanted to come back. Why is that? I think it’s because Wiscasset’s school system is small enough that students and staff get to know and build trust in one another. That’s a good thing. Don’t you agree? Listen, I’ve said for years Wiscasset is a really good place to live and raise a family. It’s why there are so many people who grew up here who stayed, or people like me who moved here in the 1970s and chose to make this their home.

It was nice, too, to hear Sarah Hubert has returned to WMHS as vice principal and athletic director. She lives in Pittston, a 10-minuute drive from Wiscasset. Here’s something you probably don’t know: Gina Stevens, WMHS principal, lives in Wiscasset, too. And Amy Bayha, our new elementary school principal, is hoping to settle down here as well. “I am truly hoping to live within the community of Wiscasset. For 24 years I worked and lived in the same town, and though I understand that can sometimes be challenging for school employees, I love seeing families from school at community events, at the grocery store,” said Bayha in a recent interview with Wiscasset Newspaper. It was nice to hear her say that.

Now tell me if you can remember when was the last time Wiscasset’s school superintendent and principals all resided here in town? Way longer than I can remember ...

Phil Di Vece earned a B.A. in journalism studies from Colorado State University and an M.A. in journalism at the University of South Florida. He is the author of three Wiscasset books and is a frequent news contributor to the Boothbay Register-Wiscasset Newspaper. He resides in Wiscasset. Contact him at pdivece@roadrunner.com