As the 2019/20 school year wrapped up during the global pandemic, the Gorham School Department said goodbye to a number of its staff during quarantine, making it a memorable one for these staff.

Sylvia Hawkes is retiring from Narragansett Elementary School after working for Gorham Schools for the past 33 years.

Her introduction to the Gorham School Department came when her daughters, Lisa and Nicole, attended White Rock Elementary School and she served as a parent volunteer.

She began her career at White Rock as a one-on-one ed tech in December of 1987. She worked in that role for eight years in several multi-age classrooms. She loved her job there, the staff she worked with, the students, and their families but opportunity knocked.

In 1995, she moved to the Little Falls Kindergarten Center as the administrative assistant. She found joy working in a building filled with just kindergarten students. The staff there formed a tight bond and still get together today.

When the Kindergarten Center closed in 2003, she transferred to Narragansett where she again loved working with the staff, students, and their families.

“I’m very fortunate to be able to say that I have always loved my job and enjoyed getting up and going to work,” said Hawkes.

The most rewarding part of her career has been all her friends and acquaintances that she has made and being able to put a smile on a student’s face when “floating them a loan” for a bag of school popcorn or just helping them get inside the school door to part with their parents.

In retirement, she is looking forward to spending more time with her husband Jim boating, fishing, browsing yard sales, attending auctions, and spending more time with their daughters, their husbands, and their adorable granddaughter, Zyla.

She said she may even go full circle by volunteering at school again, which is how her whole career began.

Jane Meggison is retiring as the school social worker at Narragansett Elementary School after five years in that role.

She has worked in Gorham Schools for 25 years and was the second social worker in the district, covering three schools for 16 years.

Prior to working in Gorham, she was the director of social work services in two hospitals, for a total of 10 years. She has also been a consultant three times. Additionally, she held the position of adjunct faculty for the University of New England for several years after it opened the original social work program.

She holds two Bachelor degrees and earned her Masters degree at the time she became a mother. She holds an advanced certificate in Ethics. What she found most rewarding is providing quality services to her townspeople. “I am, after all, from a founding family,” said Meggison.

She says she won’t have to miss what is most dear to her when she retires as she will continue to provide for the children and families of Gorham. In retirement, she plans to expand her private practice (to a bit more part-time) and have more time to spend with those she loves.

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Teresa Merrill is retiring as the school nurse at Great Falls Elementary School, a role she had held since 2015.

She has worked in the Gorham Schools since the fall of 1995 when she started as a part-time school nurse covering three schools in Gorham.

Prior to working in Gorham, she was a medical surgical RN at Mercy Hospital, a charge nurse, a clinical coordinator for a medical-surgical unit, and she worked in the ambulatory surgical unit. After that, she worked for Dr. John Goodrich as a pediatric office manager/office nurse for seven years. She has worked as a registered professional nurse for 42 years.

She graduated in 1978 from the Brockton Hospital School of Nursing. In 1996, she attended the University of Maine at Farmington and graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health Education.

The most rewarding aspect of her job is helping students master a health skill that they can use for life, such as learning how to calculate carbohydrates for insulin doses, or learning how to properly use an asthma inhaler.

“I enjoy taking advantage of teachable moments that happen in the nurse’s office and seeing the smiles from a student when they learn something brand new,” said Merrill.

She will miss the funny stories she has heard over the years from the students, especially the K-5 students, who really tell it like it is. She will also miss working with students and families and the friendships she has made over the years.

In retirement, she plans to spend more time with her family traveling and catching up on her reading list.

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Cindy Muehle is retiring as a resource room teacher for grades 3-5 at Great Falls Elementary School, a role she has been in for the past four years.

She has worked in the Gorham Schools for 25 years. Prior to her current role, she was the alternative education teacher at Village Elementary School for one year and the instructional strategist for eight years. Additionally, she was the behavior program teacher for eight years at Village. During her first four years at Gorham she served as a long-term special education substitute and special education ed tech from 1995-2000.

She attended Cazenovia College for early childhood education; SUNY at Plattsburgh for elementary education; and the University of Southern Maine for special education and educational leadership.

“The most rewarding part of my career has been watching my students grow emotionally and cognitively, and celebrating these accomplishments with me,” said Muehle.

She will miss her amazing co-workers and the challenge and learning she would gain every day from her students.

In retirement, she plans on spending more time with her family and her granddaughter Ella. She also hopes to work with parents of Iraqi war vets who have lost their children after they have come home. Additionally, she will be ready and willing to substitute teach.

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Sherry Russo is retiring from her role as assistant kitchen manager at Gorham Middle School (GMS), a role she had held for the past two years. Prior to that she worked at Village Elementary School.

She has worked in the Gorham School Nutrition program for the past 36 years. She started in September of 1985 at Gorham High School (GHS). After three years, she became the manager at GHS for many years.

When the new middle school was built, she moved there and was the manager there for many years.

“I have to say some of my best memories are the high school and middle school. The ladies that I worked with were so much fun and we had some really fun, good times. The job was fun back then and you really looked forward to going to work every day,” said Russo.

A 1973 GHS grad, Russo has worked in every school in the district and has loved working with the older students and the little students, making their lunches every day.

It was also nice to see her children and grandchildren go through the school system.

She will miss the ladies that she has worked with for all these years, past and present. They work so hard everyday to get everything done. She will also miss a lot of the teachers that she got to know so well.

Since her retirement earlier this year, she sold her home in Gorham and moved to Savannah, Georgia, where her daughter and her husband live. She loves it in Savannah but she will be coming back to Maine to visit her sister, and she will be checking in on everyone in the kitchens to say hello.

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Deb Stirling is retiring as the principal’s secretary at Gorham High School (GHS), after 15 years in this role and supporting three different principals.

Hired in 1989, she worked as a substitute in all the Gorham Schools, adult education, special education, and at the Central Office. In 2000, she began working at the high school as the attendance secretary in the main office.

Prior to working in Gorham, she was a typist for graduate students, ran her own catering company, and waited tables in numerous restaurants. She also worked as support staff in a large public relations firm, at the Maine Correctional Center, and at UNUM.

She graduated from an all-girls’ high school in Cleveland, Ohio then attended college in Middlebury, Vermont. She spent one year of college living abroad, first studying the culture in the mountains of Colombia, living with a local family, and then attending the Middlebury School of Madrid.

“Since I love being of help, this was the perfect job for me. Being able to assist students, faculty, and parents was so rewarding. I loved that I learned new things all the time – both educationally and professionally,” said Stirling.

She loved working with such a great administrative team and such a smart, creative, and fun-loving faculty. The best part was working with enthusiastic students in all their teenage glory.

She will miss the daily interaction with the GHS community and the action-packed, stimulating and high-energy pace of the high school’s main office.

In retirement, she plans to sleep late, volunteer at her grandsons’ preschool and in the community-at-large, spend more time with family and friends, travel to explore, continue to learn, read, and pursue her hobby of quilting.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Michael Lawrenson, Gorham High School Latin teacher, Laura Melvin, bus driver, and Ray Legendre, Maintenance Dept., also retired this school year but were unable to be reached for comment.