Hello – my name is Anne Cyr. This is my 26th year of teaching. As a child, all I ever wanted to do was “play school,” so my mom put me in kindergarten a year early. I thus graduated from high school at the age of sixteen! After experimenting with the world of dance, I decided to go to college and follow my mother’s footsteps and become a teacher.

I received my Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and my Master of Science in Literacy from the University of Southern Maine. I student-taught in a multi-grade classroom on Southport Island (in the Boothbay Region) and then proceeded to “island hop” in both Penobscot Bay and Casco Bay for the first half of my career. I am extremely grateful to have had that experience.

I returned to the mainland several years ago, and have taught in South Portland since 1990, first at the old Kaler School, and then moved over to Skillin. (And yes, I think Skillin Schoolis the best school I have ever taught in!) First grade is both a challenge and a delight to teach. As Art Linkletter once said, “Kids say the darndest things!” (Now I am showing my age…!)

In 1990 I also became married to my husband, Conrad, and now have two wonderful stepgrandsons, ages eight and eleven. We live in the wilds of Buxton, and also maintain our family property on Southport, where I spend many happy hours every summer.

It has become my passion the last few years to encourage a love of nature in children, and this led to the creation of the Skillin School “Learning Gardens Project.” The Garden Committee is always seeking parent participation – please contact me if you are willing to help us out. Just this afternoon I watched a child leave the noisy playscape area, wander out to the garden, and stretch out on a boulder, looking skyward. It made my heart sing!

Hello, my name is Myra Caron and this is my third year teaching at Skillin School. My first two years were in Kindergarten and now I am excited to be teaching first grade. I also get to work with another great team of teachers. I am very lucky to be teaching in such a wonderful school community!

I’ve always known that I wanted to be a teacher. I spent many nights in my father’s classroom writing on the chalkboard, correcting papers, and filling out hallway passes for invisible students. When I wasn’t teaching at his school, I was “home-schooling” my stuffed animals. My father’s ninth grade classroom was in a high school in upstate New York. We lived along the banks of the Mohawk River in a small town called Fort Plain. After graduating from the State University of New York at Oneonta with a degree in Elementary Education, I followed most of my siblings here to Maine to live. The coast of Maine was our summer vacation for the last two weeks in August every year. Four of my siblings live here, while the other two ventured off to other parts of the United States. I love being the “baby” of the family!

Before coming to Skillin School, I was a substitute teacher, preschool teacher, the assistant buyer for a kitchenware store and an advertising salesperson for the Portland Press Herald. Each experience allowed me to meet and work with many interesting people and has enriched my life in many ways.

When I’m not at school, I enjoy being at home in Scarborough with my husband, Glen, and our cat, Jack. I love to cook, hike, play wallyball, visit with my family, and of course read. This summer I spent many hours curled up with a book outside on my porch. I hope to pass on my love of reading to my students to help them become lifelong readers and learners!