FARMINGTON — Students and teachers mingled on South Street on Thursday afternoon in a Rally to Support Education.

Organized by a small group of education majors at the University of Maine at Farmington, about 150 stood to hear speakers and students of all ages remember teachers and how they inspired and sometimes changed their lives.

The goal of the rally was to show people education is supported and important, Grace Kendall, an organizer and UMF Education major, said prior to the rally.

The rally was scheduled to occur on the same day that Gov. Paul LePage was on campus for an unrelated event. His appearance was a catalyst for the rally after several students showed their support for education at the Capitol a few weeks ago, she said.

Student after student climbed into the back of a small pickup truck used as a stage to give testimonials about teachers who mattered in their lives and were remembered, said Grady Burns, who emceed the program.

“It takes a passion for education and children to sustain you,” Kendall told the crowd about teachers and her goal to be one. “A lot has been said lately about teachers being lazy and undeserving, but that’s not what I see today.”

The crowd cheered for the teachers remembered and those of tomorrow.

“It’s become a public sport to vilify teachers instead of giving teachers the support they deserve,” Chris Galgay, teacher and Maine Education Association president, said.

People say recruit the best teachers and pay them well but without providing funding, he added. Maine teacher salaries rank No. 44 in the nation. Proposed budget cuts could drop those to 49th in the nation, he said.

“I love my job and seeing my students everyday,” Mountain Valley High School teacher Jarrod Dumas said. “Do not listen to the negative rhetoric about educators. Without them you wouldn’t learn to read, write, show respect, empathize, learn to work out differences or be pushed to expand your horizons.”

Mt. Blue teacher Dan Ryder told students to take teaching seriously.

“Don’t do it unless you love it,” he said.

“The support can not end today,” Burns said ending the program. “Education is the very blood that pumps through the heart of democracy.”

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