Through high school and into college, John Dumoulin was a C student in math and never good in science. He says he couldn’t get the hang of trigonometry, even with many instructors doing their best to teach it to him through the years.
So when Dumoulin took a physics course as a requirement for his major, he was surprised when he found himself succeeding — for which he credits Professor Kevin Kimball.

“I am proud

to say that I have never learned more in any class that I have taken than his class, and I am about to graduate this spring,” Dumoulin said about Kimball.
Nothing is more important at Southern Maine Community College than student success. It’s the highest priority of our 350 full-time and adjunct faculty members on our South Portland Campus, Midcoast Campus in Brunswick and satellite locations. 

Every day, our faculty members motivate students to be the best they can be. They build relationships with students and inspire them to engage fully in learning.  They give of their time and step in when students are falling short. And they challenge students by holding them accountable.

A retired Navy veteran, Professor Kimball has been at SMCC for 16 years. He is known for his trebuchet,

a catapult that he uses for teaching the laws of motion, ballistics, calculating trajectories, and making scientific predictions. It’s quite a sight to see the trebuchet hurl pumpkins or gallon containers of water through the air as a learning exercise.

Kimball engages his students “Navy style,” he says, through anecdotes and few frills (“Don’t mistake my trebuchet for a frill,” he warns.). And he makes sure students understand what he’s teaching.“I’m going to make sure you know the arithmetic. I’m going to make sure you know the language,” he says. “Once we establish that, we can do anything.”
Kimball isn’t alone. All of our faculty members are devoted to their craft. For them, there is no better reward than seeing a student succeed.
John Dumoulin, a second-year machining student from Biddeford, says he learned more than just physics in Kimball’s class. He also learned how to use his brain.
“The way Professor Kimball taught this class was awesome. He started with the basics from the beginning and made sure that nobody in the class fell behind (or ‘off the truck,’ as he put it), continuously checking on us throughout the whole semester,” he said.
Too often we forget to give thanks to all the faculty members who do the work and add the magic that leads to student success. Thank you, faculty.
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Dr. Ronald G. Cantor is president of Southern Maine Community College.