DIXFIELD — Two administrators and athletic directors with a passion for helping students began their new jobs in Western Foothills Regional School District recently.

Ann Bell, 53, replaces Brian Laramee as assistant principal and athletic director at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School.

Christopher Moreau, 39, replaced Charles Swan, as assistant principal and athletic director at Dirigo High School.

Swan moved into the principalship of Dirigo Elementary School.

Bell recently completed her master’s degree in leadership from the University of New England. She comes from the position of science teacher at Oxford Hills Middle School. During her 28 years in education, she has also coached many high school and middle school sports teams.

“I’ve wanted to get into leadership and Buckfield is a nice, small school where everyone is a learner and everyone continues to learn,” she said from her office at the school.

The one-acre garden tended by middle school students at Buckfield also influenced her decision to apply for the position.

“I feel our children are the most important job we have. We are preparing for the future,” she said.

In addition to teaching science and coaching, Bell has also taught elementary, special education and alternative education.

“I have loved every experience I have had. In this new job, I can influence more children,” she said.

Moreau said he felt like he had come home when he accepted the Dirigo position.

He did his student teaching at Dirigo when he was a secondary education student at the University of Maine at Farmington. He also has many friends in the school district, and the school is much closer to his Jay home, he said.

He comes to Regional School Unit 10 from a similar position at Lisbon High School. He has also served as assistant principal, athletic director, or both in schools in Dexter, Scarborough and South Portland. Moreau has also worked many years as a Jobs for Maine Graduates employee.

Also attracting him to Dirigo is its top athletics status, he said.

He has a certificate of leadership from the University of Southern Maine, and is working on a master’s degree in athletic administration with an eventual goal to earn an education doctorate with an emphasis in athletics.

Moreau plans to start a mentoring program for all athletic directors throughout the district.

As assistant principal, he considers himself the prime student cheerleader. He said he wants to be fair and consistent, and enhance what is already in place at Dirigo.

“I want the students to be engaged in school and to know that the assistant principal is always fair and tries to do right,” he said.

Bell plans to meet with every teacher to learn what is going well and what could be improved.

“I have some good ideas. I’d like to bring literacy into the content area where reading and writing is in all subjects,” she said.

Bell and her husband, Peter, who owns a landscaping business in Harrison, have two adult children. One, a daughter McKayla, is also a teacher. Her son, Eben, builds “green” structures. Bell comes from a long line of teachers that include a grandmother, mother, brothers and sisters, and in-laws.

Moreau and his wife, Michelle, have five children from age 6 to 19. The couple also provides respite care for adults with mental or physical disabilities.

He credits Jay High School teacher Mike Simoneau with his decision to go into education.

“The way he approached us, he wanted us to be successful. He was a very powerful figure in my life. I want that affect on students,” Moreau said.