By Ed Pierce
It’s said a good education can change anyone, but a great teacher can change everything. Put RSU 14’s Doug Elder in that latter category.
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| Doug Elder, a Social Studies teacher at Windham Middle School, has taught at the school since 2016 and also heads up the annual 'Taking Back Maine's Future' spring event at WMS, an innovative program for seventh graders working to overcome Maine's Opioid Crisis. |
He also heads up the annual "Taking Back Maine's Future" spring event, an innovative program for seventh graders striving to overcome Maine's Opioid crisis. The intent of the program is to empower students to combat Maine’s opioid crisis from every possible angle.
Students use current data analysis and research to examine the impacts of Maine's opioid crisis and make predictions about what the state might look like in the future from two differing perspectives, one where real solutions to the state's crippling opioid epidemic are found and end the crisis before it gets worse, or another with a future in which the current trends of opioid addiction and overdose continue to grow.
According to Elder, the best aspect of teaching at the middle school level is that he has an opportunity to connect with kids and their families in the community.
“I like being part of their lives in a crucially important stage in personal development,” he said.
Originally from Windham, Elder attended Windham Middle School himself and went on to graduate from Windham High School in 1996. He then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education with a focus in American Studies from the University of Maine Farmington.
“Both of my parents spent most of their teaching careers in Windham, so I guess they feel that the apple has not landed far from the tree,” Elder said. “I think that they are glad that I get to teach a good deal of local history, which is truly fascinating and action-packed stuff when you really dig into it.”
He’s taught at WMS since 2016 and prior to that, Elder was a Fifth and Sixth Grade teacher at Jordan-Small Middle School in Raymond and he also taught Fifth Grade at Songo Locks School in Naples.
According to Elder, the most challenging part of his job is paperwork, and all the associated record-keeping tasks involved in working for a school.
“The clerical aspects of the job have never been my strong suit,” he said. “The biggest misconception people may have about my work is that we must be crazy and willing to hang out with middle schoolers all day long. Maybe that's only partially a misconception?”
Landing a teaching job at Windham Middle School fulfilled a long-standing dream for Elder.
“Teaching at WMS had been my hope for a long time,” he said. “It's been the place I wanted to land in teaching forever. My alma mater.”
Having worked at WMS for eight years, Elder says he can’t pinpoint one moment that stands out the most for him, rather he values humorous times with his students.
“I don't have a great memory, but pretty much every day I can find a reason to laugh with my students would be memorable,” he said. “As any adult can recall, middle school is a very strange time in life, full of crazy experiences. It's fun to be there to help kids navigate all that weirdness. At least most of the time it is.”
For Elder, one thing that the public may not know about his job is that it’s more than academics.
“As important as academics are, it is really just a vehicle by which good teachers connect with kids, support their growth in building good habits, character traits, and crucial people skills which will hopefully serve them well in all aspects of their future, whatever they choose to do in the world,” he said.
And above everything else, Elder says he has learned one significant thing from his time as a teacher at Windham Middle School.
“There’s a statement ‘nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care’ and I have learned how much truth there is in that,” he said. <
Originally from Windham, Elder attended Windham Middle School himself and went on to graduate from Windham High School in 1996. He then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education with a focus in American Studies from the University of Maine Farmington.
“Both of my parents spent most of their teaching careers in Windham, so I guess they feel that the apple has not landed far from the tree,” Elder said. “I think that they are glad that I get to teach a good deal of local history, which is truly fascinating and action-packed stuff when you really dig into it.”
He’s taught at WMS since 2016 and prior to that, Elder was a Fifth and Sixth Grade teacher at Jordan-Small Middle School in Raymond and he also taught Fifth Grade at Songo Locks School in Naples.
According to Elder, the most challenging part of his job is paperwork, and all the associated record-keeping tasks involved in working for a school.
“The clerical aspects of the job have never been my strong suit,” he said. “The biggest misconception people may have about my work is that we must be crazy and willing to hang out with middle schoolers all day long. Maybe that's only partially a misconception?”
Landing a teaching job at Windham Middle School fulfilled a long-standing dream for Elder.
“Teaching at WMS had been my hope for a long time,” he said. “It's been the place I wanted to land in teaching forever. My alma mater.”
Having worked at WMS for eight years, Elder says he can’t pinpoint one moment that stands out the most for him, rather he values humorous times with his students.
“I don't have a great memory, but pretty much every day I can find a reason to laugh with my students would be memorable,” he said. “As any adult can recall, middle school is a very strange time in life, full of crazy experiences. It's fun to be there to help kids navigate all that weirdness. At least most of the time it is.”
For Elder, one thing that the public may not know about his job is that it’s more than academics.
“As important as academics are, it is really just a vehicle by which good teachers connect with kids, support their growth in building good habits, character traits, and crucial people skills which will hopefully serve them well in all aspects of their future, whatever they choose to do in the world,” he said.
And above everything else, Elder says he has learned one significant thing from his time as a teacher at Windham Middle School.
“There’s a statement ‘nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care’ and I have learned how much truth there is in that,” he said. <
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