Cornerstone welcomes new head of school
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
A WARM WELCOME — Brigitte Morse, originally from Presque Isle, was recently hired as the new head of school at Cornerstone Christian Academy. She began her new duties Dec. 26. Welcoming Morse to the academy are, from left, front row: students Ian Bubar and Matthew Kellner. Back row: Grace McCrum and Madison Bubar.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
PRESQUE ISLE — Brigitte Morse feels very blessed to have been led to Cornerstone Christian Academy.
The daughter of Alan and Ginette Irving and the granddaughter of Ralph and Maddie Irving, Morse began her new duties as head of school Dec. 26.
“It’s a unique position in the sense that there’s no superintendent, so I’m kind of principal and superintendent at the same time,” said Morse. “When explaining my new role to my former students at the Valley Rivers Middle School in Fort Kent they said, ‘So you’re super principal.’
“I have the responsibilities of the superintendent as far as finding sources of income, reaching out to the community to get support, and increasing enrollment,” she said, “and as the principal dealing with conflicts at the school, staff, concerns and issues.”
Morse, who grew up in the Star City, graduated from Presque Isle High School in 1983. She then went to Gordon College in Wenham, Mass. for a year-and-a-half where she studied pre-med.
“That was a bad idea,” she laughed. “Then I went to the University of Maine at Presque Isle. At that point I wanted to be a chemistry teacher, but physics was my Achilles’ heel, so I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do.
“I took some different courses in psychology and social sciences and later went to work as a family teacher with the Boys Town model through different group home settings — off and on — for the next 10 years,” said Morse. “I worked at a boys’ home in Bristol and a girls’ home in Jefferson, and later my husband, David, and I took over the boys’ home in Eagle Lake in 1993. The objective of the Boys Town model is to teach young people alternatives to decisions that they’re making using a positively-based model which works extremely well.”
During her Boys Town work, Morse received a Bible certificate from the New England Bible College in 1991 and a bachelor of science degree in social science from the University of Maine at Fort Kent in 2003.
“For the last 10 years I had been working for SAD 27 in Fort Kent as a special education teacher,” she said. “I spent eight years at the high school and two years at the middle school.”
Morse found out about the head of school position at Cornerstone Christian Academy by looking at the school’s website.
“I looked on the website at the beginning of October just to see how they were doing finding teachers because I knew they were shorthanded,” she said. “I noticed the position, and mentioned to my husband who is a director at the St. John Valley Technical Center and suggested that he apply. He said he was good where he was, but said I should try for it. I figured, ‘Why not?’ and one thing led to another and here I am.”
Morse, who is currently pursuing a master’s of education in administration through St. Joseph’s College, said the head of school position is her “dream job.”
“For me to be able to be with kids and be able to talk about the Bible and Jesus and sing about that all day long is a dream job,” she said. “I feel very blessed.”
Over the next five years, Morse hopes to help continue to build the high school program.
“We have students now who are in ninth grade,” she said, “so it’s important that we build the high school program. I want to do it in a slow, methodical way so that it can be sustained over a long period of time, but flourishing, as well.
“I also hope enrollment will increase,” said Morse, noting that 46 students presently attend the academy. “I’d like to see that reach 100 because then we could get involved in the sports arena. Right now we’re just too small for that. It would be good to have enough students to participate in sports even at the lowest level.”
Troy Heald, chair of the academy’s promotion and fund-raising committee, said Morse is the “right person for the job.”
“The search process for a head of school has been diligent but we are confident that we have now been blessed with the individual who will very appropriately fulfill this role and responsibility for us,” he said.
Morse and her husband have two children, Alan, 21, and Renee, 19, and currently reside in Eagle Lake.
When she’s not busy with her new position, Morse enjoys reading, singing and playing the piano. She is presently a praise team member at the Presque Isle Wesleyan Church.
“Things have been going extremely well,” she Morse. “The staff here has been wonderful and very supportive, and the students have welcomed me. A successful school is comprised of many parts — the administration, board of directors, teachers, staff, students and parents, and I’m happy to be part of the team.”
