Conversations with Boothbay Region Elementary School teacher Rita Arnold are fun and inspiring. She's an energetic, multi-faceted person who's done a lot with her life. She’ll retire at the end of the school year with no concrete plans, but one has the feeling plans will find her.

Arnold currently teaches fifth and sixth grade math at BRES. She’s been here 23 years, and it’s clear she’s a committed math instructor and has guided several BRES math teams to victory. She has also taught literature and writing. And, having been granted two FitDesks last year, she encourages exercise in her classroom. She said the combination desk and light exercise machines remain a hit.

Before she was hired to teach math at BRES, Arnold, an Ohio native and her husband Gary, who works in aquaculture, moved around a bit. In Texas, Arnold found work with the Girl Scouts. In Arizona, she took a job with the Council of Governments and worked at the Museum of Northern Arizona, where she wrote, edited, and took photographs.

The Arnolds moved to Maine when their two daughters were small. “I volunteered in their school in Surrey, and people told me, 'You should do this.'” She took her colleagues’ advice and earned the certification credits needed to teach kindergarten through eighth grade classes. 

An opportunity to work with a special needs student in the Surrey kindergarten led to Arnold taking over the classroom when the teacher went on maternity leave and didn’t return. The following year, Arnold also taught fifth grade language arts. “So, for a while, I taught fifth grade and kindergarten. For a few weeks, I taught physical education. That was almost my Waterloo,” she said. When the school gave her a choice between the two, she picked fifth grade, where she taught math, science, reading and writing.

When her family moved to the Boothbay area, Arnold was hired at BRES to teach fifth grade math, reading and writing. She’s narrowed the focus to math, but one thing has held steady. She loves fifth graders. “Fifth grade is great – they’re enthusiastic. Living with 10 and 11-year-olds is funny,” she said.

Teaching math has changed during the time she’s been in the classroom. “I remember back when they said, ‘We're not sure you’ll be able to use a calculator.’ And now, we have computers, tools, and equipment. There’s been a big switch in the exponential growth of math itself. How many digits of pi have been found in the last 10 years? Kids in kindergarten are talking about algebra. Back when I was a kid, fifth grade was about long division,” she said. 

She loves seeing the look on the face of a student who has just 'gotten' a difficult or confusing facet of math. When asked about math anxiety, Arnold said, “If a student blows it, you can say, 'Wait! Explain why you did that. Well, you had half of it right.’ If they can see they had part of it, that helps.” 

A large bookcase filled with middle-grade books takes up part of her room. Arnold is finishing up her second stint as a member of the Maine Student Book Awards committee, made up of four public librarians, four school librarians and four public school teachers. Arnold has been a member for eight years. “We all read as many of the published books for kids from fourth through eighth grades as we can, and compile a list of what we think are the best books for the year, and I get free books for the school,” she said.

Arnold formed the BRES book club, Bookers, for fourth through sixth grade readers. She also produced a student-written and produced newspaper. “We did four issues a year. I had one boy I swear could proofread better than I could by the end of the year.”

Her energy hasn’t waned, but Arnold feels the time is right to retire. “I still have fun, but I’m ready to drop back. I’m not going to miss the 5:47 a.m. alarm, and I’m going to get to finish a crossword puzzle.” She’s also about to become a grandmother, and she’s excited about that. One daughter lives on the West Coast. “Maybe I can get out more often. I need a little R&R to think about what to do next,” Arnold said.

One of her BRES colleagues, Cathie Parkhurst, said, “She’s a perfect teammate, an excellent math teacher, and a good friend. We’ve watched each other’s kids grow, we’ve commiserated on the joys and heartaches of parenting, teaching, politics, you name it. She’ll leave a big hole in our team and in our hearts. But we know it’s right for her to enjoy life outside of school, so we’ll let her go without a fight.”

Hildy Johnson, another BRES colleague, said, “Rita is a remarkable lady. She’s always been willing to try anything to help children learn or have new experiences and she’s an amazing math teacher. She will be missed, however, knowing Rita, she won’t be idle. We all wish her the best!”   

Arnold’s philosophy for teaching kids math sounds like good life advice. She said, “I tell them, ‘Look, if you want to get to the other side of the room, you can’t sit here and say, ‘That’s too hard.’ What you have to do is say, ‘Oh my gosh! I took one step! I’m closer!’ That’s all you have to do.”