RUMFORD – Mountain Valley Middle School teacher Lorraine Tanguay is the Maine Association of Family of Consumer Sciences Teacher of the Year, the association announced earlier this month.

“I was getting ready for class when the call came in and they told me that I had won,” Tanguay said of the announcement. “I was so excited it was hard for me to concentrate. I didn’t tell too many people at the time, either.”

Tanguay teaches family consumer sciences to all 338 middle school students throughout the school year.

“Family consumer sciences is necessary for the students to experience, for in this class they learn valuable life skills that will help them be successful in the future,” Tanguay said. “The students learn to sew, cook, all areas of nutrition along with health-related issues. Right now, the eighth-graders are studying the media and how it can impact the decisions they make. One example is how the media shows a body image influencing the person who watches or reads the ad, which can lead to eating disorders, dieting or anorexia.”

Tanguay was nominated by Principal Charles Lever. Tanguay’s selection as Teacher of the Year is the first the association has made since 2003.

Since the announcement, her students and co-workers have responded enthusiastically, Tanguay said.

“They were quite pleased and one class gave me a standing ovation,” she said. “All faculty and other staff members have been very supportive and excited.”

The selection puts her in the running for a national honor and a trip to Reno, Nev., in June 2007.

“I find out before I go if I’ve won or not but it’ll be nice to meet other teachers from all across the country,” she said.

Tanguay has taught at the middle school for seven years. She took 15 years off from teaching to raise her family then got her master’s degree and came to Rumford from New Hampshire where her first job was teaching kindergarten. Coming to Mountain Valley Middle School she replaced the retiring teacher and found she had to upgrade the family consumer sciences program to suit the students of today.

“It’s hard to be recognized for something you love to do,” Tanguay said. “I’ve been involved with the scouts for many years and have received awards from them as well. I love to teach; that’s what I do.”