I am a child of educators. My father served as a Jr. and high school administrator; my mother taught elementary education both working in the Akron Ohio Public School System. Both were active members of OEA, the Ohio Education Association. I resided in Ohio for the initial 18 years of my life. I have lived in Maine for 51 years, although I remain a Buckeye at heart. When asked, what is a Buckeye? The answer is often “a worthless nut.” Those who know me well, know of my fervor for Ohio State University Football as well as being a fan of the Cleveland Guardians baseball team.
I attended college in Massachusetts for one year before transferring to George Peabody College, the college of education for Vanderbilt University in Nashville TN, where I graduated with a degree in Special Education. I then moved to Maine to begin a teaching career of 43 years working with students having behavioral, intellectual, and physical disabilities in programs for the State of Maine. Five years in a private state funded program for severely disaffected children and youth, many were able to be returned to Maine having been placed in programs in FL and TX at great taxpayer expense., The goal was to reunify families and to provide appropriate educational support for these students in the State of Maine. Thirty-six of those years were in public schools in Wiscasset and in MSAD #75.
I am blessed to have a wonderful supportive husband of 40 years, Andrew Poulin. A son Benjamin Poulin who lives in Bath NC with his wife Nicole, 2 sons and daughter. Ben is the Director of UAS (Unmanned Aeronautics Systems) and Industry Training, and Nicole the Allied Health Admissions Coordinator, both at Beaufort County Community College, in Washington NC. Our daughter Allison Lytton lives in Lewiston with her 2 boys and is currently an Uniserv Director for MEA., formerly an elementary educator in NC and Lewiston as well as a local and state Association leader in both states.