The students of the Class of 2016 are not the only members of the KHS community who will be departing after this year; a number of faculty will be retiring while other teachers will be pursuing other careers and opportunities throughout the country. Here is what your faculty graduating class of 2016 will be up to after this spring.

Ms. Moore has been teaching at KHS for 31 years, 12 years of which she has spent in a portable outside of the main building for KHS. Despite having been located outside of the school, Moore has enjoyed her years outside of the high school as it keeps her out of “all of the distractions located in the main building” so her students can better focus on learning.  

In speaking of her time at KHS, Moore stated that “I’ve taught some excellent and amazing people in my 300 years here. I’m very lucky to teach the kids here, even though they call me names.” Moore later elaborated that although some adults may have questionable feelings toward the younger generation, she knows that today’s students “are going to go on and become really great people” Currently, Moore teaches IB Spanish SL I and II, Spanish III, and Spanish IV/V. After graduation, Moore plans to return to KHS part time to teach IB Spanish. Moore is looking forward to returning to KHS because she loves the IB program and teaching the material, and KHS needed someone who was qualified to teach IB within the school district.

Ms. Guerin, our school nurse at Kennebunk High School since 1999, will be retiring this year after working as a nurse in Southern Maine for 27 years. Starting in 1990, Guerin worked as a nurse practitioner for ten years at the Bonny Eagle school based health center. Despite the excitement of working in a facility that became a role model for other school based health centers in the state, Guerin began to work as a nurse at KHS in 1999 to be closer to home.

In describing her time at KHS, Guerin stated that she enjoyed having her “job fit around her skill set.” As a professional with Emergency Room training and qualifications beyond a school nurse, Guerin has been able to become a first responder in the case of medical emergencies at KHS. Guerin further elaborated that “school nurses normally aren’t qualified to do much aside from make referrals to see a primary care physician, but I feel that my background has helped me provide better care for students.” After leaving KHS, Guerin plans to enjoy life “not being on call anymore” since she has always worked in a “high energy environment.”

This year being Mr. Laverriere’s 28th as a full time guidance counselor at Kennebunk High School, he will be joining our graduating class of faculty in retirement this year. After having worked as a mental health counselor in private practice with Maine Behavioral Health for six years with two other partners, Laverriere soon transitioned to KHS in 1988 as a part time drug and alcohol counselor before working full time as a guidance counselor.

Laverriere, in speaking about his final year at KHS, stated that “I would say this year has been a crossroads for me” but that it is bittersweet because “the class of 2016 is the most respectful class I have ever seen” as they are filled with “more old souls than I have ever seen.” Before leaving KHS, Laverriere is looking forward to giving the commencement speech for the Class of 2016. Laverriere stated that he was “blindsided with the offer to be the commencement speaker” but is proud to graduate with “one of the best classes I’ve ever worked with” who have the ability to “come together well as a group and set the tone at the high school.”

After KHS, Laverriere plans to nanny his 20 month old granddaughter two days a week and “let the dust settle for six months before I see what fire starts burning.” Retirement is not the end for Mr. Laverriere, as he is just looking for his next inspiration to dedicate his time to.

Ms. Moore, Mrs. Guerin, and Mr. Laverriere will not be the only teachers who are retiring this year. Other teachers who are retiring are French teacher Madame Garnett, English teacher Mrs. Johnson and special education teacher Ms. Sferes.

Also in this year’s graduating class are a number of teachers who will leaving Kennebunk High School to pursue other careers or job opportunities. Teachers who fall under this category include Ms. Thompson, who will be leaving the KHS Science Department to study cells in Canada. Mrs. Pierce will also be leaving to teach at a Catholic private school in Iowa. Mr. Menefield will be taking a sabbatical year at Stanford University in California. Also leaving KHS will be computer teacher Mr. DeSimone and girls alternate education coordinator Ms. Levasseur.