Boothbay Region Elementary School welcomed fourth grade teacher Sara Boies Sept. 8. She fills the shoes of longtime teacher Kathy Hartley. Boies’s first year as a full-time teacher comes in the era of hybrid learning, social distancing and masks.

Boies graduated from the University of Maine in Presque Isle last December and taught as a long-term substitute for Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 90 in her hometown of Baileyville.

“That was up until COVID happened … Then this summer I was busy working at Woodland Recreation Department. This past summer was my fifth year working there as head counselor.”

Boies moved to Edgecomb in August with the help of BRES colleagues Lacey and Jeremy Phelps who are from around the same area in eastern Maine. “They're the ones who actually told me about the position, so that's how I'm here. I'm really thankful for them. They're always asking if I need any help.”

Boies has been teaching math, science and a section of social studies with a class of 18, 10 students in-person and eight online. Balancing the in-person and virtual classrooms makes teaching harder, but it is going as well as can be expected constantly switching gears after finding a good groove, said Boies. “It's about knowing how much to be online versus being with the students … I'm thankful for the teachers who are here and they have been very helpful. Mrs. (Jennifer) Lassen has taught me a lot … Lacey has helped.”

Students have adapted very well to mask, distancing and sanitation rules considering how hard it can be to make good habits, said Boies. The hardest aspects of teaching lately are not being able to see everyone’s faces and not being able to do activities bringing anyone closer together than three feet.

Even though it has been tough to start a career now, Boies said she would take the classroom over distance learning without a second’s thought. “It’s been crazy. I never imagined my first year would be like this and I was hoping it wouldn’t be like this, but I'm glad that I have the teachers' help (and) we can be in the classroom. That's been the biggest plus through all this.”

Boies said the sentiment is no different for the students and though it may have taken a pandemic to break down stereotypes, students who can be in school are very happy to be there rather than at home. “They really want to be in school because they do miss being with their friends and they say that a lot.”

“The main thing we want for the school is just making sure that the kids are safe. It's been a roller coaster … but they have been doing extremely well.”

Between the pandemic and keeping up with in-person and virtual teaching, Boies said she loves what she has seen of the area, but has not had much chance to get out and enjoy the region. “It's different from back home, but I like being close to the water and there's a lot more here than there is back home … Everyone I've met is super nice, I'm just hoping to get out there more and see the area more.”

Boies said one of the hardest things about starting off a career in this manner has been not being able to see her students’ faces and their reactions.

“I just wish they could see my face and I could see theirs … It's sometimes hard to read whether they're understanding a lesson or enjoying it or having fun, so I just miss seeing kids' faces. That's what I look forward to most (and) I always smile and I'm a smiley person in general, so when the kids can't see me smile, too, it's hard.”