By Lorraine Glowczak
Some call it a calling. For Windham High School teacher Adrianne Shetenhelm, hers began in elementary school, when she proudly told her class she wanted to be a teacher while answering the age-old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Even a joking warning from her teacher – “There’s no money in it” – couldn’t shake a dream she felt to her core.
 |
| Windham High School's Adrianne Shetenhelm, now in her 19th year of teaching, blends compassion and steady leadership to lift her students to success. PHOTO BY SAWYE GRENDALL |
Today, she serves as the lead educator behind Windham High School’s APEX program (Alternative Programming for Excellence), a support system for students whose education has been disrupted, who need flexibility in earning credits, or who require a different pathway to graduation. For her, the work is far more than instruction; it’s about helping students reconnect to hope, responsibility, and possibility.
“When I started teaching English, I was eager to share my love of literature,” she said. “Through the students’ writing, I saw the complex lives my students lived. When some disappeared – due to homelessness, transfers, or mental health struggles – I felt powerless to help.”
Her move to APEX changed that. “Here, students can resume classes after a break in education, or a move from a new school, or earn the credits they need to graduate in a small learning community. My job has shifted from solely teaching literature, to helping students take responsibility for their learning and move toward their goals after high school.”
Shetenhelm describes her job as “having one foot in the traditional classroom and one foot in alternative education,” she said. “We support students earning credits or those needing a home base in a large high school. I truly have the best students—talented, unique, and inspiring me every day.”
She also recognized that many educators supporting nontraditional student pathways weren’t connected under a formal department. In response, she proposed creating a new “Alternative Pathways” department, which she now chairs.
“I wanted those teachers to have a voice and a community,” she said. “When adults feel supported, students feel supported.”
Shetenhelm’s core values are rooted in dignity, trust, and growth. She builds relationships by listening without judgment, showing consistency, and creating spaces where students know they matter.
Like many educators, she sees challenges that most community members never witness.
“Some of the biggest challenges are the unseen ones—students who are struggling outside of school, juggling adult responsibilities, or battling anxiety or depression,” she said. “People sometimes think alternative education is a last resort, but it’s not. It’s a course correction. It’s a chance to realign and take control of their learning with support.”
She wishes more people understood the resilience her students demonstrate every day.
“These are young people who want to succeed. They just need the right environment to do it.”
Her educational journey reflects her dedication. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English and Secondary Education from Wheaton College, then worked at a Portland middle school as an in-school suspension teacher before earning her master’s degree in Curriculum & Instruction from Boston College. She taught for six years in Massachusetts before returning to Maine to teach in Sanford High School’s BARR program.
“I randomly saw the opening for the APEX position and knew it was for me,” she said. “I wanted to keep teaching English but also work with students who, in other districts, might disappear from the classroom.”
This year marks her 19th year in teaching and her 11th year of leading the APEX program at WHS.
APEX’s motto reflects Shetenhelm’s belief in resilience and finding direction: “We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails.”
“I call my students ‘the APEX crew,’” she said. “Like a crew on a boat, you have to lean on your team and they see success comes from hard work, realigning after difficulties, and sticking with your goal. That’s where growth happens.”
With her blend of compassion, leadership, and unwavering belief in her students, she continues to make APEX a place where young people can rediscover direction – and themselves – one adjusted sail at a time. <
