UMFK honors Brewer teacher

BREWER – The University of Maine at Fort Kent Alumni Association has honored Brewer High School French teacher Claudette O’Connell with its 2006 Outstanding Alumni Award.

O’Connell has a bachelor’s degree in education from UMFK, then known as Fort Kent State College, and was named the Fort Kent Business and Professional Women’s Young Career Woman in 1967.

O’Connell began her career as a French teacher in Houlton, then was a substitute teacher at Kaiserslautern American High School in Germany. A stay-at-home mom until 1977, she re-entered education as a long-term substitute teacher at Brewer High School, teaching U.S. History and special education English and math. She has been a French teacher at Brewer High School since 1979.

O’Connell earned a master’s degree in teaching French from the University of Maine in 1987.

She has been modern language department chairwoman; French club adviser; recertification team member; and accreditation steering committee member. She was host of the Penobscot Collaborative of foreign language teachers for many years.

She has provided enrichment opportunities as a group leader for EF Educational Tours for 25 years, leading student groups on international trips to 12 foreign countries. She was the treasurer of the Foreign Language Association of Maine for four years and has been active in the Brewer Education Association.

O’Connell has been an advocate for the advancement of the profession and serves on the MEA board of directors. In 2004 she was honored with Brewer High School’s Distinguished Teacher Award.

She is on the advisory council of the University of Maine Master of Arts in Teaching French program, a trustee for MEA’s Clyde Russell Scholarship committee, and a cantor at St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor.

O’Connell was awarded the 2006 Sister Solange Bernier Lifetime Achievement Award at the Foreign Language Association of Maine conference in March. She has a passion for the French language and culture and her students have been recognized for their success on the national French exams and on the Advanced Placement exams.

O’Connell and her husband, John, have been married for 38 years and have two adult sons.