Central Middle School

Did you know that we have seven new staff members at Central Middle School this year? It is not unusual that teachers and other school staff move jobs at least a few times in their careers. The reasons vary. Some of the reasons we found ourselves with seven open positions  include moving to start a new school out of the country, transferring to a full-time job, promotion to a leadership position within the district, trying a different level (middle school isn't for everyone), sabbatical, retirement, and unfortunately, a death. We are always sad to see our old friends go. 

We share our lives with our colleagues. We watch as their children grow. We listen and commiserate through all of life's trials and tribulations. We celebrate when staff members welcome new members to their family. We comfort and cry as they say goodbye to other family members. We recognize the humanness in one another and often create lasting friendships that endure beyond our time as colleagues. 

As the old Girl Scout mantra goes, "Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." Whenever we fill a vacancy, we miss our old friends but it's always great to make new friends too. Adults who work with middle school students have a special knack for making new people feel welcome - many form lasting bonds with students they only work with for 3 short (but very important) years. When new staff members come along, the dynamic and energy changes just a bit. Each person brings with them a new curiosity, prior experiences, and their own personal background. 

This year, we have a new staff member who is also a veteran CMS staff member from a few years back - Welcome back, Tracy McKay. Two new staff members spent their summer as counselors at summer camps - Welcome, Hannah Farrar and Thomas Cote. Laura Ward has been a parent of CMS students in recent years and has also worked across the parking lot at the high school - Welcome Aboard, Laura. Alan Raymond grew up a little further up Rt 15 - Welcome home, Alan. Stephen Urli is truly from away but he had visited Bradford before being hired at Central (this almost counts as being a local) - We're glad you're here, Stephen. And our most recent hire, Maureen Ferriter, gets her beef critters processed at a local butcher shop. Maureen has contributed to the local economy for years and we are happy to have her at CMS.

We are currently fully staffed. We are building new relationships - students and staff. We are learning along side our new friends and finding ways to support one another. We started the school year with a sort of Scrabble game. Each staff member had a letter and they worked together to make words. It was a great chance to use some teamwork skills and to get to know each other. Here are some of their words and a photo from that day: nebula, qualms, equals, vote, unmotivated (pictured).