BETHEL – After 35 years with SAD 44, Ann Holt has retired with the honor of being named Special Education Administrator of the Year by the Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities.
Colleague Marcye Gray nominated Holt for “her commitment to children with disabilities, her steadfast work in having these children be part of their school communities, and commitment to families.”
Gray is special education administrator with SAD 17. She presented Holt with the award at the Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities Awards Dinner on July 27.
Holt taught at Telstar High School in Bethel for 18 years before working for 17 years as special education administrator with SAD 44. During her time as a teacher, she worked both in a resource room, with students who attended regular classes but needed extra help with reading or math, and in a self-contained special education classroom.
As an administrator, Holt served on many state and local associations and committees. In 1996, she served at the state level as a member of the instructional support group for the Department of Education for a full school year.
Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities comprises more than 200 special education administrators in public schools, private special education schools and Child Development Services across Maine. Nominees were requested from each of the 15 regions the association covers.
“I was very pleased that they thought enough of me to nominate me,” Holt said of the other administrators in her region. “It’s been a good group to work with.”
John McCarthy III, special education administrator in Dixfield, will be replacing Holt as administrator in SAD 44.
Holt said that she has no specific plans for her retirement, although she has “always dreamed of going to Alaska.”
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