Boothbay Region Elementary School teacher Cory (Cordelia) Chase won Lincoln County Teacher of the Year on May 5. 

Chase, who lives in Boothbay Harbor, was nominated by her longtime friend, Sarah Sherman. Chase has taught both of Sherman's sons: Sherman Brewer is now a sophomore, and Jake Brewer has Chase as a teacher this year.

“What she has done for Jake is incredible,” Sherman said. “We’ve been friends for a long time, but that's not what this is about. This is about how she took a boy who hated writing, who would do whatever he could to avoid it, and lit the spark inside him. He loves writing now and is even taking her creative writing class.”

“When I found out I was nominated, I was pretty nervous and excited at the same time,” Chase said. “Then when I won, I didn't know what to do. I was in a state of shock. I was thrilled for the school and so glad to represent BRES.”

Chase teaches both seventh and eighth graders in language arts, and also teaches a creative writing class. She is both the yearbook and Project Citizen adviser at the school.

Chase started teaching in 1993, after graduating from the University of Southern Maine.

Originally, Chase was at college to become a journalist. It was at the very end of her education, when she needed a few extra credits, that she took an education course. The course placed her in a fourth grade classroom a few hours every week.

“I fell in love with teaching,” Chase said. “The kids are my favorite part of it. And my students are so unique and lively — they really make teaching fun. And the more excited I get about a subject I am teaching, the more excited the students get.”

“She does so much for her students,” Sherman said. “If she thinks of a book a kid in her class would enjoy, she will drive miles out of her way to get that book. She brings Shakespere and Edgar Allen Poe into the classroom, and in fun ways. They trade Shakesperian insults with the principal, who is all for it! They get excited because she does. She makes learning fun instead of a chore.”

“Students will come back from college to come visit her,” Sherman said. “That’s how strong her influence is on these kids. She’s so modest she doesn’t know how amazing she is.”

Right now, Chase is focusing on the next aspect of being named the Lincoln County Teacher of the Year. She needs to get a letter of recommendation from a county seat holder, video herself teaching for an uninterrupted 10-minute period, and write an essay on why she was teaching that particular class.

All 16 of the teachers of the year from each Maine county will submit the same, and the field will be narrowed to eight by the end of July. After that, the eight remaining will submit portfolios, and by September, Maine will officially have its Teacher of the Year, who will then go on to Washington, D.C.

“The people representing the other counties are amazing teachers,” Chase said. “I have no idea who will be chosen, but whoever is will represent Maine well.”