The new Edgecomb Eddy School principal has a simple message for his school: Read. Ira Michaud has a lifelong passion for reading and wants to share his desire with the 77 students who attend the pre-kindergarten through grade six school. Michaud has spent 13 years as an elementary school teacher and three as Great Salt Bay Community School’s assistant principal.

This fall, he will begin his first job as principal. On his office door at Edgecomb Eddy, a poster hangs.

“It says ‘Read’. It’s one of my favorite things to do,” he said. “Reading is the most important skill students learn in terms of life application.”

Michaud is a Windsor native and attended Cony High School in Augusta. As a teenager, he considered becoming a lawyer, but after a conversation in his junior year with a German teacher, Michaud wanted to become an educator.

“I was tutoring a peer and my teacher asked me if I ever considered becoming a teacher. I thought about it,  and by the time my father picked me up, I decided and told him I was going to become a teacher.”

He decided to pursue a career as an elementary school teacher based on his younger sister’s experience in public education. Michaud said he had a great educational experience compared to his sister’s. He loved school and learned, which resulted in success in the classroom. His sister had a different learning style which resulted in a different educational experience.  As an educator, his goal is finding the right technique for a variety of learning styles.

“My sister was unfairly compared to me at times and I wanted to do something about that. Everyone thinks and learns differently so that’s how I approach teaching.”

As a elementary school teacher in Benton and South Gardiner, Michaud excelled. Administrators in both school districts encouraged him to pursue a career in administration. Early in his career, Michaud didn’t think he would become a principal.

“I was 22 years old and in my first year of teaching the first time I was encouraged by my building’s principal to go into administration. I just laughed,” Michaud said.

In 2014, he took his first administrative job. He became the assistant principal at Great Salt Bay Community School. As an administrator, he was the school’s chief disciplinarian and led various discussions with teachers on learning objectives. After one year, Michaud moved his family from Chelsea to Damariscotta. When the Edgecomb position opened up earlier this year, Michaud applied due to the school’s proximity to Damariscotta and excellent academic performance.

“Everything I’ve heard about this place is fantastic,” he said. “The community is supportive and cares about children. I appreciate the staff does a lot of outdoor education here. And I also love the Midcoast,” Michaud said.

As a first-year principal, he will undertake new responsibilities. One is creating and managing a school budget. “A major part will be the budget. I want to do what is best for students while being responsible to the taxpayers.”

At home, Michaud and his wife Christine raise three children. Michaud shares his love of literacy with his kids. He is reading the fourth Harry Potter book with his 8-year-old daughter Sofia, a space exploration book with his son, Ian, 5, and recently read “The Going to Bed Book,” a rhyming book, with his almost 2-year-old daughter Evelyn.