MEXICO – When David Driscoll was in the Navy during the 1960s, one of the things that struck him the most was the lack of direction many young men had.
The former music teacher decided he’d try to do something about it. Now, nearly 40 years later, and at age 64, he leads the Region 9 School of Applied Technology. He also was the director of the St. Croix Regional Technical Center in his native Calais for seven years before that.
He thinks a lot about outsourcing and the major changes in the country’s and world’s economy.
“Who knows what jobs will be outsourced? But you can’t outsource plumbers, truck drivers, electricians or carpenters,” he said Thursday afternoon.
Much of his reading for pleasure takes in the changing world economy.
“I don’t believe people realize the major changes that are coming due to technology, that will likely lead to a lower standard of living,” he said.
Along with his concern and enthusiasm for young people to learn a trade that will likely not be outsourced, is his love for music.
That’s where his education began.
As a child, he grew up in a musical family with a mother who played piano and saxophone, a father who was talented on the violin and piano, brothers who played clarinet, guitar and drums, and a sister who played piano. As a youth, he played trombone. The family would often gather on Sundays and jam.
But when he entered the University of Southern Maine, he took up all the instruments in his goal to be a music teacher, a profession he followed in eastern and southern Maine for schools for several years.
In the Navy, during the Vietnam War era, he was a shipboard musician, then later toured with the band. He also played in a band that performed at the Algonquin in St. Andrews, New Brunswick.
Over the years as his career changed first to guidance counseling, then to vocational school leadership, he developed a love for the tenor sax, an instrument he hopes to take up again with more intensity as time allows. The brass, etched 1950s Martin saxophone he treasures was a gift from his uncle Jack Davidson, who was music director in the Winslow school system for many years.
His first musical love is jazz.
“It’s very creative, being able to improvise,” he said, adding, “When I get back into jazz, it will be Latin or blues. There’s a lot of drive in Latin jazz.”
He also plays tennis when he has time, and as a youth, was active in basketball, baseball and most sports.
Now, he spends some of that creative energy remodeling the c. 1850 home he and his wife, Jeanette, own in Westbrook.
“I like doing that. It’s good physical exercise and you can see the results,” he said.
He rents a cottage on Howard Pond in Hanover during the week, then travels back to Westbrook on weekends.
When he came to Region 9 15 months ago, he came out of retirement. He had decided he still had a lot more to give before retiring for good. That, he said, will be a year-to-year decision.
He and his wife, a retired speech therapist, are the parents of three adult children and eight grandchildren. All his children are musically inclined, too.
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