Oxford Elementary School teacher Melissa Guerrette poses Feb. 14 with her fifth-grade students during an assembly after learning she received the Claudette & John Brassil Distinguished Educator Award. In front from left, are Sadie Beaulieu, Youston Lumengo, Darius Cunningham, Lydia Poulin, Jace Herrick, Guerrette, Jaelynn Passalaqua and Abygail Varney; back row, Fallon Demers, Mason Hodgkiss, Carson Davis, Jackson Waters-Christensen, Liliana Tripp, Michael Robinson and Emma Corliss. Submitted photo
OXFORD — Oxford Elementary School teacher Melissa Guerrette has been named this year’s winner of the Claudette & John Brassil Distinguished Educator Award by by the Maine Council for English Language Arts.
The award recognizes her for demonstrated excellence in teaching, contributions to the professions and her commitment to her students and community.
Guerrette begin teaching at Oxford in 2001. She is nationally board certified, holding a Master of Science in Education and bachelor degrees in elementary education and French.
Guerrette is also a 2022 Maine Teacher of the Year semifinalist, the 2021 Oxford County Teacher of the Year, is on the 2020 Fenway Bowl Honor Roll, and a 2018 Binnie Media Golden Apple Award winner.
Beyond her classroom, Guerrette has dedicated herself to literacy advocacy at the state and national levels, serving as a county team lead for the Educate Maine Teacher of the Year Selection Team, contributing to Maine’s future teaching workforce through National Board Teaching Certification and the Teach Maine Center Design Team, and presenting on literacy and teaching at dozens of state and national conferences.
“Melissa works tirelessly on her craft, is committed to growing personally and professionally, and lifts those around her to achieve their best,” Sara Lavertu, sixth grade teacher at Oxford Elementary wrote in recommending Guerrette to the Maine Council for English Language Arts. “She is that teacher — the one who is remembered lovingly for generations and the one you hope any child in your family is lucky enough to call theirs.”
The Maine Council for English Language Arts is a professional organization dedicated to supporting literacy and English language arts educators in Maine.
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