2025 – Page 154 – The Portland Press Herald

All around Maine, our readers give thanks | Letters

‘Tis the season.

by Eddie Adelman November 26, 2025November 20, 2025

Some of my most memorable Turkey Day experiences were not spent in the cozy confines of home.

Known at Woodside Elementary as ‘Mr. Mike,’ he teaches kids how to make maple syrup, press cider, ice fish and more.

With a middle school cross-country team nearly 50 strong, he helps Readfield-area students define their own success.

She’s known throughout the high school as someone who will ‘always listen.’

Decades after falling for the language as a student at the same junior high school, she continues to inspire new generations.

In her 28th year teaching the youngest students, she finds joy in the transformation to literacy.

The Jobs for Maine Graduates instructor runs a free thrift store at the high school and is working to make Wabanaki studies more accessible.

His goal is to get all students thinking about life after graduation without restriction.

Inspired to create a food cupboard 13 years ago at the tiny Athens Community School, she’s been helping to feed families here ever since.