Connors-Emerson’s Rebecca Edmondson Is 1 of 8 Maine Teacher of the Year Semifinalists

Rebecca Edmondson, the Music Teacher at the Conners-Emerson School in Bar Harbor who was chosen in May as the Hancock County Teacher of the Year is now 1 of 8 Maine Teacher of the Year Semifinalists!

Photo Barb Neilly

Up next - Mrs. Edmondson is in the process of creating a 7-8 minute keynote slide show and she will present it at the University of Mainie in front of a panel and other guests in July. She also has to write 2 more essays, cut her resume down to 2 pages, and create other portfolio items. After the keynote, she has to respond to unannounced questions from an expert panel about education policy, classroom practice, and leadership.

The 8 semifinalists will then be reduced to 3 finalists!

She has taught at the Conners-Emerson School in Bar Harbor since 1990! Meet Mrs. Edmondson

Rebecca Edmondson received her Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and her Masters of Music in Music Education from the University of Maine. Her school teaching experience spans thirty-five years, specifically at the Conners Emerson School in Bar Harbor since 1990.

Mrs. Edmondson authored the article, “Beginning Violin: Pizzicato vs. Arco” (American String Teacher 55 [February 2005]: 50-53), and “A Manual for Music Educators: Beginning and Augmenting the K-8 Strings Program” in 2004, and co-authored a Maine Musical for K-4, Plant Kindness and Gather Love, which premiered at The Criterion on May 10, 2018.

National recognition includes being designated as one of twelve in the United States being a Model Music Education Program by MENC: The National Association of Music Education (Blakeslee, Brown and Hofmann. Model Music Programs: Ideas for Everyone. Maryland: MENC/Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2008: 24-29). In 2012 she was chosen as the representative for the state of Maine as one of fifty, nationwide, in SBO's "50 Directors Who Make a Difference," and twice winning the Nebraska ASTA Fiddle Composition Competition.

One of her original pipe tunes is played annually by the Maine State Police Pipe Band at their graduation ceremony. In addition to teaching music at CES, she is co-founder and conductor of TEMPO: The Eastern Maine Pops Orchestra since 2010.