Sally Brooks, a beloved teacher at Harpswell Community School, who had a passion for life and made a difference in the community, died Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer. She was 56.
Ms. Brooks taught grades one through four at Harpswell Community School for 23 years. She taught mostly second grade.
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She was remembered by friends and faculty Thursday as the kind of teacher who got to know her students and designed lessons to help them succeed.
“She was very passionate about her job,” said Kerry Bailey, principal of Harpswell Community School. “She spent unbelievable hours working for the kids so that they had a wonderful educational experience here. Teaching was really her passion. She loved what she did.”
Students loved her, too. Ms. Brooks was known for using monarch butterflies to teach kids about life cycles and migration. She taught many students to count with dried beans.
“I know it sounds small, but these things opened the door to kids asking other questions,” said her niece, Amanda “Emmie” Theberge, of Hallowell. “She was unique and always wanting to connect with her students.”
Ms. Brooks stopped teaching midway through the school year when she became ill. On Thursday, teachers told students that she had died. The school had several counselors on hand to talk with students who needed support. A letter was sent home to parents, along with information from the Center for Grieving Children. Bailey said students spent time coloring butterflies with messages to be placed in a boat outside the school.
“She knew families so well and knew Harpswell so well. She was just very special and everyone felt that way about her,” Bailey said.
Ms. Brooks became a teacher after working in the medical profession for 10 years. She was a nurse at various hospitals, including Jackson Brook Institute in South Portland and Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Outside the classroom, Ms. Brooks was remembered as a woman who loved her family and deeply cared about the community.
She lived on Orr’s Island and was married to Walter Johnson for 14 years. The couple enjoyed camping and canoeing trips to the Moosehead Lake region.
Theberge said her aunt was adventurous, creative, artistic and fun-loving. Throughout her life, she enjoyed sailing around Casco Bay, Harpswell Sound and Reed Cove. She was an avid reader, who loved to learn. She enjoyed gardening, feeding the birds, walking on trails on Orr’s Island, and being with family.
“My whole family is very close,” Theberge said. “I’m very fortunate to have had that growing up. Our whole family is very loving and supportive and she was a very big part of that.”
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