“Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.” — John Wooden
Contact Mrs. Murphy at: |
Kim Murphy, District ESOL Resource Assistant Born in Kentucky, Ms. Murphy was a military spouse for more than twenty years. She has lived around the world, including Sicily and on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. She earned her B.A. in Human Services with a focus in Social Work & Counseling at Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire. She has been a licensed social worker in child and family services and adults with disabilities. In 2011, Ms. Murphy obtained her M.Ed. degree in Elementary Education from Chaminade University of Honolulu and has worked in Head Start, Title I, and Special Education. Throughout her career, Ms. Murphy has dedicated herself to empowering and educating others. Her fondest projects include implementing language materials that provided healthcare information to ESL patients and creating a reading program that encouraged students to “read around the world, one page at a time.” Ms. Murphy lives in Richmond with her husband, two dogs and three cats. She is the proud mother of three grown children who have inspired her with their creativity and compassion for others. In her spare time, Ms. Murphy enjoys reading, geocaching, and dabbling in art. |
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Contact Mrs. Meehan at: |
Heather Meehan, District ESOL Resource Assistant Heather Meehan grew up in central Maine and earned her undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College. Her first full time position in Maine public schools was as a Title I Education Technician. That was when she knew she wanted to be a teacher. She enrolled in the Extended Teacher Education Program through USM and interned at Portland and Deering high schools. Mrs. Meehan became a certified English teacher for grades 7-12 and earned Highly Qualified credentials. While teaching high school English, literacy, and special education at Mt. Ararat High School, she earned an M.S.Ed. in Applied Literacy and a teaching endorsement in K-12 Special Education. Mrs. Meehan has had a variety of teaching experiences in Cumberland, Falmouth, Freeport, Gray/NewGloucester, and Lewiston. During her time at Lewiston, she developed a love for working with English learners and began teaching English online through a school called Whales English in China. This November, Mrs. Meehan will travel to Beijing to judge a speech contest. Mrs. Meehan lives in Durham with her husband and her little rat terrier Maple Leaf. She enjoys hiking, writing, singing, and cooking. She has lived in Australia, and traveled to many other parts of the world. Mrs. Meehan recently spent more than two years playing roller derby for the Androscoggin Fallen Angels. Mrs. Meehan is thrilled to be part of the Brunswick School Department ESOL team and is looking forward to seeing what exciting things will happen next! |
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Contact Mr. Silva at: |
Newton Silva, District ESOL Resource Assistant and Language Facilitator Newton Silva was born in Luanda, Angola in 1994. Mr. Silva attended Colina do Sol, a private school where he excelled as a student. His studies were in Portuguese, and he also began learning English. At the time of high school graduation, Mr. Silva’s mother encouraged him to study in another country. As an asylum-seeker, Mr. Silva chose the United States, and moved to Houston, TX in 2013. There his Portuguese and Spanish language skills were helpful. Four years later, he earned his Associate Degree in Business from Houston Community College and honed his English skills. Mr. Silva moved to Portland, ME at the same time as many other asylum-seekers. As soon as he was allowed, Mr. Silva got his U.S. worker’s permit and worked two jobs while also volunteering to help families relocating and resettling from Africa. He volunteered as a Portuguese-English interpreter at East End Community School in Portland, ME. Recently, he joined the Brunswick School Department as the district’s Language Facilitator and Resource Assistant. Mr. Silva works with students in the classroom and with their families outside of the classroom. Mr. Silva provides the school and families a way to communicate and to be connected through his language skills in both interpreting and in translating documents. Since joining the school department, Mr. Silva has moved from Portland to Brunswick, where he is rapidly integrating with the community. In his spare time, he enjoys watching movies and helping people. His friends describe him as a good listener, friendly, kind, and fun. The students, parents, teachers, and staff at all of our Brunswick schools agree! |
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Contact Ms. Carrington at: |
Christine (Chriss) Carrington, district ESOL Resource Assistant Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Ms. Carrington received her B.A. in English from Geneva College. Shortly afterwards, she moved to Connecticut where she lived in various coastal towns and worked as the office manager of Manpower Temporary Services before moving to Brunswick, Maine in 1991. Ms. Carrington began her 25-year career in education by volunteering at her children’s elementary school, Jordan Acres in Brunswick. Ms. Carrington has worked as a library aide, classroom Educational Technician for 4th and 5th grades, Resource Assistant for math and kindergarten. For the past 7 years, Ms. Carrington has worked as a district ESOL Resource Assistant and supported students from kindergarten to high school. In 2002 Ms. Carrington earned her Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina. She has worked as a Children’s and Reference Librarian summers and weekends for 12 years at Curtis Memorial Library. Ms. Carrington enjoys cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers, reading historical fiction, cooking, and deck gardening. She is currently learning various DIY techniques as she attempts to update her 40-year-old home in Brunswick. She has two grown children. Her daughter is the City Clerk of South Portland, and her son is a Media Imager/Graphic Designer for Wayfair, Inc. |
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Contact Ms. Mueller at:
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Ruth Mueller, district ESOL Teacher Ruth Mueller joins Brunswick Schools as our new English for Speakers of Other Languages teacher. Ms. Mueller lived in Zurich until she was five years old, and her first language is Swiss German. Both of her parents are Swiss. The family moved to the U.S., and Ms. Mueller grew up near New York City where she learned English. Ms. Mueller earned her B.A. in anthropology from Grinnell College in Iowa, where she completed a ninth semester to become licensed as a teacher. Her first teaching job was in Fontana, California, where she taught first grade. She then moved to Minnesota, where she earned a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from Hamline University. In 2006, Ms. Mueller moved to Maine to be closer to family and spent several years working for L.L.Bean as a catalog writer and editor. She then returned to teaching and has worked with English learners in Lewiston, Falmouth, and Turner, Leeds and Greene (MSAD 52). Ms. Mueller now lives with her school-aged daughter in Brunswick. On the weekends and in the summer, they enjoy hiking, canoeing, camping, swimming in lakes and rivers, and spending time outdoors. |
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