CARIBOU, Maine — Four candidates are vying for to seats on the RSU 39 School Board to represent Caribou. Candidates are Nancy Houghton Murphy, Jan Umphrey-Tompkins, Katherine Guerrette Whitten and Ronald Willey. Their candidate profiles are listed below.
Nancy Houghton Murphy
Full name and age: Nancy Houghton Murphy, 69
Political party: I am a registered Republican.
What other political offices have you held and what other offices, honors, titles have you earned: I have been an educator all of my working life and during that time, I have held various positions and achieved honors as well. While at Brewer High School, I was the coordinator of the PPT program in the College of Education at the University of Maine; a coordinator of the Career Advantage program, a school-work initiative, sponsored by the Eastern Maine Community College; a master English teacher in the Upward Bound Program at UMO; four Trident yearbook dedications; and three nominations to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.
What is your career background: I have been an English teacher for 32 years and have taught students from the ages of 10 years to 65, from the technical curricula to the advanced placement offerings to college-level courses at Beal College and Husson University as adjunct faculty.
What made you decide to run for this office: I decided to run for this office on the School Board because I have been immeasurably impacted and inspired by all the students, parents, fellow teachers, principals, superintendents, and the community-at-large in schools where I have taught. Therefore, I want to give back to the entire RSU 39 community in sincere appreciation for all the past support and assistance given during my 32-year tenure as a teacher. I also feel that one person can make a difference, and because of my many experiences in education, I think I can bring new ideas to the table.
What do you see as your primary goal, if elected: My primary goal is to continue to holistically teach every student, regardless of maturity or ability levels. One of the vehicles to achieve this goal is to establish Caribou as a “Community of Caring,” a program designed by Mrs. Eunice Shriver, sister to the late John F. Kennedy. “Community of Caring” is a No Child Left Behind Program to promote the teaching of character education focusing on whole school improvement and creating tools to sustain that improvement. The work is based on five core principles: caring, trust, responsibility, respect, and family. “Community of Caring” collaborates with schools, districts, and communities to improve and transform and sustain a positive school culture and a climate that is safe and supportive for all members of the community.
Equally, I support a stronger bond between the schools and community and advocate that the schools always be fiscally responsible, without compromising or diminishing the quality of teaching, the enrichment of all programs, and the accountability to every student and parent.
Finally, we need to reinforce among all staff a strong desire to transform education and to support always child-centered instruction.”
Jan Umphrey-Tompkins
Full name and age: Jan Umphrey-Tompkins, age 38
Political party: Republican
What other political offices have you held and what other offices, honors, titles have you earned: I have been an active member with the Caribou Lioness Club for the past 15-plus years, serving as a Past President and Vice President and also chaired activities within the club.
What is your career background: My career background is diverse. During high school and college I was employed as a waitress, a banking service representative, and an administrative assistant in the radiology department at a local hospital, which led me to my dental hygiene career. I am employed at St. Apollonia Pediatric Dental Clinic in Presque Isle as a dental hygienist.
What made you decide to run for this office: My first, and probably most important reason for running for the school board is a personal interest. Having a child in the RSU 39 School Department motivates me to have an active role in preserving and improving the current school system. Growing up, my parents were very active in the community and have taught me the importance of volunteering and participating in the community. I believe I have the talents, knowledge and ambitions to be an asset to the RSU 39 School Board. I have the utmost respect for the teaching profession and understand that our communities’ success rests on how well we educate our young citizens. I feel as a member of the Caribou community I have a responsibility to do my part and running for RSU 39 School Board is an excellent opportunity to meet that responsibility.
What do you see as your primary goal, if elected: My primary goal, if elected to the RSU 39 School Board, is to improve the overall learning environment for our young citizens in our classrooms, schools, and community. As times change and we are faced with new and difficult challenges, I want to have a positive impact on the system that will benefit the future of our community.
Katherine Guerrette Whitten
Full name and age: Katherine Guerrette Whitten, 41
Political party: Republican
What other political offices have you held and what other offices, honors, titles have you earned: None.
What is your career background? I have a degree qualifying me as a legal administrative assistant. While employed by Guerrette Sales Inc., I also obtained a degree in cosmetology from Pierre’s School of Beauty. I worked as an Ed Tech at the Woodland School and was a licensed beautician at The Hair Affair. I have two sons. One is in the Caribou Middle School and the other is in the Caribou High School. Therefore, I am currently a stay-at-home Mom. My siblings and I all went through the Caribou School System. I have a general knowledge of how the school system works. Having gone through the Caribou School System, I have a personal knowledge of teachers. Since I have two sons presently in school, I have substantial experience in interacting with teachers and other school staff.
What made you decide to run for this office: Being a full-time mother of two teenage sons, I believe I have an insight that mothers who do not have children in the school system lack. Often the School Board has been represented by highly educated individuals including past teachers and administrators. Many of these people do have a lot to contribute to the School Board. However, I do believe I have a dimension to bring to the Board that has not always existed. That is to say, I believe I am someone who is personally committed to ensuring that all of our children get the education they need and deserve regardless of school cutbacks and restructuring.
What do you see as your primary goal, if elected: I want to be an advocate for under-represented parents of children who attend the Caribou School System. My passion and primary interest is to assist the School Board in improving the quality of education that our children are obtaining. I firmly believe that education is not only to qualify for jobs, which this is certainly important, but I also firmly believe that education should be oriented toward teaching our young people how to live and how to be good citizens in our society. Today’s students need to be well informed with respect to the history of our country and the many issues and challenges facing our nation and the world. Having said this, today’s children in our local community will be competing with other children in our state and around the U.S. for jobs. Unfortunately, many of our children will need to leave this area to obtain good-paying jobs. Therefore, the Caribou School System will need to have highly trained teachers, modern resources and small classes.
Ronald “Ron” Willey
Full name and age: Ronald “Ron” Willey; 62.
Political party: I am a life-long Democrat.
What other political offices have you held and what other offices, honors, titles have you earned: I was recently elected to the City of Caribou Charter Commission. I have a couple of undergraduate degrees as well as a master’s degree in educational leadership. I have done adjunct teaching at both the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Northern Maine Community College. I have held various leadership positions within the school department during my long career. I was also Director of Religious Education at Holy Rosary Parish for 14 years.
What is your career background: I am a recently retired teacher. I spent my career teaching in the Caribou School System (37 years). During my time in the Caribou system, my focus was always classroom teaching but I also served as Social Studies Department Chair, Teacher Certification Chair and chaired or co-chaired the CHS Reaccreditation Committee three times over a period of 30 years. These and other experiences and leadership opportunities pale in comparison to my experience helping my four children navigate the Caribou School System. My education continues with three “live-in” grandchildren currently in the system in grades 6, 4 and 1. My experience with teachers and administrators, the new standards and proficiency education, teacher and administrator evaluation, curriculum, homework and other issues is very current. I am fortunate to have this perspective as an educator but also as a parent/guardian.
What made you decide to run for this office: I have always thought that in retirement serving on the school board would be a challenging and important position for me. My unique experience as a teacher, who knows the system well, would be most helpful. I obviously care deeply about the success of our schools. In the end, I decided that if elected, I would work very hard to make a positive difference for the children and people of Caribou and the RSU. This is also a time of new beginnings for our schools with the selection of a new, dynamic superintendent, which influenced my decision. I really believe that the most important responsibility a community has is to provide its children the very best education possible. Every citizen with children in our schools or not, benefits from effective public schools.
What do you see as your primary goal, if elected: One theme keeps me thinking. Let’s seek to first identify and then eliminate any and all obstacles to a more successful and effective school system. This simple process can be applied to the system as a whole but also to each individual person who works in the system. We need to open up the flow of new thinking and value ideas coming from outside the box. I know I would be part of a leadership team but I believe a more deliberative process of decision-making would be helpful. I would like to see more community awareness of the many successes of our schools and an honest recognition of challenges that need to be addressed. These are trying times with budget cuts driven by a legislature that fails year after year to fulfill its funding obligations to our public schools. This is also an opportune time to encourage new thinking and create a positive atmosphere where, in spite of fiscal realities, growth and forward movement is the hallmark of our schools. I promise to be hard-working, thoughtful, and sensible and a good listener when anyone has a concern or idea.
In summary, I see this as a critical time for our schools. We need to address the funding issues with the state. Staff morale is an issue that impacts the overall effectiveness of the system. Innovation and creative thinking are needed now more than ever at all levels and for all aspects of our system. Our schools need to redouble efforts to demonstrate the critical role of education in a democracy. Our system would benefit from more community outreach with forums and public hearings on significant issues and initiatives. I will advocate for these positions as a member of the board with a no-nonsense dedicated effort.
