AUGUSTA —Mountain Valley High School Technology teacher Jeff Bailey was recently recognized as the 2014 Oxford County Teacher of the Year in a ceremony in the Hall of Flags at the state capitol. He is in the running for the 2015 Maine Teacher of the Year.

After a day in Augusta learning more about the program, Bailey said, “I met some wonderful teachers from across the state that were incredibly humbled by being selected. Like me, they were truly blown away by their nomination.”

In past years, a nomination had to come from the teacher’s principal or other administrator. This year, nominations were open to members of the public. An additional change was that a teacher of the year was selected for each county.

Bailey said, “Last year with a more closed process there were only 14 nominees. This year with a more open system, 376 educators were nominated. The goal was to increase the profile of the program and they succeeded.”

Bailey’s nomination came from a high school friend, Micki Stetson, who contributed to his Donors Choose fundraising effort. Though a website, he asked for money to buy a three-dimensional printer for his classes.

Stetson wrote in her nomination, “Mr. Bailey has reached out for alternative funding to accommodate a demand for creative teaching tools so that his students will be able to fully utilize their imaginations.”

After his return from Augusta, MVHS Principal Matt Gilbert recognized Bailey at a staff meeting.

Gilbert said, “MVHS was well-represented in the Hall of Flags when Jeff Bailey was awarded the Oxford County Teacher of the Year. He will have some interesting opportunities for learning and growth over the next few months. Most teachers find it difficult to promote themselves and Jeff is no exception. But he will be in a position of developing a platform and advocating for teachers.”

Bailey added, “Being a county teacher of the year is not saying I am better than others in this room. The program is trying to give teachers a voice. They want to get teacher’s voices at the table so we can all work on that together.”

The county teachers of the year will submit a video of their classroom teaching as well as a recommendation from a county stakeholder. The group will then be cut from 16 to 8. At that point, they will develop a portfolio for further judging.

Bailey teaches high school students in the areas of video production, broadcasting, CAD (computer aided design), architectural design and engineering. He serves as adviser for the Civil Rights Team and the co-adviser of the student improv group known as Room for Improv-ment.

Prior to teaching technology topics, he spent 10 years as an English teacher. Bailey started his teaching career in 1998. He holds a bachelor of science in secondary education from University of Maine at Farmington and a master of science in educational technology from the University of Maine.

The Maine Teacher of the Year Program is administered and managed by Educate Maine in partnership with the Maine Department of Education with thanks to the Maine Board of Education and the Maine Teacher of the Year Association for their support.