After 33 years teaching at Boothbay Region High School and bringing the world into her classroom, Joyce Sirois has decided to pass the reins of teaching social studies on to the next generation.

“I've had a very full career,” Sirois said. “It was time.”

Sirois used her teaching career to broaden student's horizons and help them understand cultures outside of the United States. She said one of the reasons she spent so many years at BRHS was the “support and freedom” given faculty in their curricula.

“It's been terrific. Here you can design courses. You don't have to just read from the textbook; you can really involve the students. I'm thankful we have that freedom, and I hope it stays that way,” Sirois said.

Some of the projects Sirois has created include a partnership with seniors and local businesses such as Hodgdon Yachts, Bigelow Labs and Knickerbocker Group. The students get to experience first-hand what it would be like to work in a field, to help them decide where they want their schooling to take them.

“The students sometimes decide to go to college for a very specific job, one they learned about through the project,” Sirois said. “It broadens their horizons and it's a very student-driven project.”

Sirois started her career teaching English and history in middle school. She also was the teaching principal of Edgecomb Eddy School. She got her undergraduate degree at Simmons College in Boston. She took a sabbatical before she started at BRHS to get her graduate degree at Harvard University. In total, she has spent close to 46 years teaching.

“The kids is what I’ll miss most,” Sirois said. “They are very respectful. I'll miss the intellectual stimulation that comes from teaching them, the conversations in class, the special moments shared.”

“Mrs. Sirois was my freshman World Cultures teacher,” said 2015 graduate Brenna Alley. “She made the transition from BRES to BRHS easier with her reassuring attitude towards me and other students.”

“She was a good teacher and had a vast knowledge about what she taught,” said 2003 graduate of BRHS Amylynn Balsdon. “She got us genuinely excited about what she was teaching.”

Sirois said she plans to join book groups and continue her work with Boothbay Region Health & Wellness Foundation. She also will continue to attend the Camden Conference every year on world issues, which she has never missed in the last 26 years.

“They have ambassadors and departments of state speaking,” Sirois said. “World cultures and the issues they face are so important.”

“We're in the 21st century now,” Sirois said. “Our relations with other cultures and communities are more important than ever. We need to understand their belief systems and cultures, more now so than every before. I'm very lucky, I’ve been able to travel to Europe, Central America, and the far east with students and shown them a world unlike their own. That's so important to do.”

"Ms. Sirois has been a fierce advocate of the humanities here are BRHS,” Principal Dan Welch said. “She has been a trusted and respected colleague and friend to many; her mentorship program has left a lasting impact on her students and she has infused an understanding of our global society for all of us.”