Spruce Mountain Schools: Meet the Staff!

Spruce Mountain Elementary School

April Pinard has been working for Regional School Unit 73 for the past 5 years in the Life Skills Program at the elementary school. She finds this program to be very rewarding and loves watching the children grow and build up their self -esteem. She has been married for 17 years and together she and her husband have two sons. In her spare time she enjoys snowmobiling, hiking, and crafting.

Betsy Harvey is a local girl from Wilton who graduated from Mt. Blue High School and attended University Maine Farmington. She moved to Millinocket and worked in the Millinocket School System for 18 years in special education. She also worked in the Spurwink Residential Program for 11 years with her husband Jim. Later she moved back to the Wilton area and for the last six years has worked for RSU 73 in the Life Skills Program, currently at the elementary school.

Carrie Mitchell is a third grade teacher at the elementary school. After receiving her elementary education degree from UMF, she began teaching fourth grade at the Intermediate Learning Center in RSU #36 in 1996, which later closed and combined with other schools to become Livermore Elementary School. Her favorite parts of teaching are building relationships with the children, watching them learn and gain confidence in themselves, having them come back to visit, and being part of the wonderful teaching family at SMES. She and her husband, Dave, have three sons, Cody, Cameron, and Carter, all who went through the Jay School system. Cody is grown and recently got married, Cameron is a junior at University of Southern Maine majoring in electrical engineering, and Carter is a junior at Spruce Mountain High School. St. Thomas, Jamaica, Mexico, or Walt Disney World have been some of her favorite places to visit. She and her husband hope to travel to more tropical places and out west to visit the national parks someday. She enjoys any time spent with her family, including her goldendoodle named Cooper.

Christina Bamford is a special education teacher at the elementary school. She earned her Bachelors Degree at UMF and her Masters Degree through the University of Maine at Orono. She started working at Jay Middle School in 2003. She has worked in various programs in the district, all working within special education and alternative education settings. She enjoys traveling, motorcycling, camping and spending time with her family finding new adventures. She enjoys following her daughter and husband all over Maine and New England to watch them participate in field hockey, jiu jitsu tournaments, and MMA fighting. She has even traveled across the US to watch live UFC events. She has a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which she earned while training on and off over the last 9 years at the Foundry in Farmington, Maine. She has even traveled the east coast participating in jiu jitsu tournaments.