PARIS — The Paris Elementary School staff will honor the memory of colleague Fred Schwaner by dedicating a corner of the library to the longtime educator and poet.

Schwaner, a sixth-grade teacher at Paris Elementary School and an educator in the Oxford Hills School District for 36 years, passed away last July at his Hebron home after courageously battling cancer. He was 59.

He began his career in the Hartford-Sumner school system and moved on to teaching principal and sixth-grade teacher at Waterford, Norway and Paris elementary schools in the Oxford Hills district.

“His love of poetry became an integral part of his teaching and of his sharing with staff through the years,” Paris Elementary School Principal Jane Fahey said.

“He challenged students to express their feelings through poetry. He also kept our staff ‘alive’ with his poetic creations and we called on him often to write a poem for special occasions. His poetry was often deep and made us take pause but it was more often humorous and would lighten an otherwise challenging moment,” she said.

Fahey said that after Schwaner’s death, the staff discussed what could be done to honor him and to keep his memory alive.

“We all agreed that it was through his poetry that we would remember him for many years,” she said.

Fahey said the school library has a corner that is “a perfect place” for a dedication in his name. She described the corner as a place where poetry can be on display or where classes can come to sit and share their own poems. Fahey said the staff also hopes to invite poets to the school each year to share with the students and to help each child learn that through their writing, they can express their thoughts and feelings.

Colleagues Alice Deegan and Doug Hoy said Schwaner touched the lives of many adults and children during his career.

“Whenever there was a special occasion to commemorate, it was not uncommon to ask Fred to write a poem about it,” said Deegan and Hoy in a joint statement announcing the dedication. “Fred had that rare ability to capture in a poem the fun, the humor, or the seriousness that the occasion required. As a poet, his point of view was always unexpected, unique, and valued.”

The dedication of the Fred Schwaner Poetry Corner is expected to occur later in the school year. The corner will display one plaque with Schwaner’s name and picture and a second plaque to showcase the poems he created.

Anyone who would like to make a contribution toward this endeavor can send a donation to the Paris Elementary School-Fred Schwaner Project, 4 Hathaway Road, Paris, ME 04281.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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