MVHS Principal Named Principal of the Year

On the afternoon of Friday, April 26, Medomak Valley High School Principal Linda Pease received a standing ovation from staff, friends, family, and the entire MVHS student body as Maine Principals’ Association Executive Director of the Professional Division Holly Blair announced that Pease is the state’s Principal of the Year.

As Blair broke the news to the packed high school gymnasium, students and teachers watching from the bleachers leapt to their feet. On the floor below, staff members and Pease’s friends and family, some of whom had been invited unbeknownst to Pease, also stood to applaud as Pease exchanged hugs and congratulations with Blair and RSU 40 Superintendent Steve Nolan.

“There’s no other school in the county, state, country, or world that I’d want to serve as principal,” Pease said.

Pease grew up attending area schools before attending the University of Southern Maine, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education, graduating in 1985. Pease then began her career with RSU 40, starting that year as an elementary teacher at Prescott Memorial School in Washington.

In 2001, Pease earned a Master of Science degree in education from the University of New England. In her more-than 30 year career, Pease also worked at the former A.D. Gray School in Waldoboro and the Mid-Coast School of Technology in Rockland before arriving at Medomak Valley High School in 2005 as teacher and leader of the school’s freshman academy.

However, Pease’s history at MVHS goes back farther than the early 2000s. Her father, the late Ronald Dolloff, served as MVHS principal for 24 years between 1970 and 1994.

Nolan, addressing Pease and the crowd at the ceremony, said that Pease’s deep connections to the school community and her commitment to doing right by local students made her a clear candidate for the award.

“One of my favorite things about you,” Nolan told Pease as the two stood by a podium on the gymnasium floor, “is that you prioritize getting things right over getting things done.”

Nolan said that Pease’s thoughtfulness and patience made her an excellent leader for RSU 40 students.

“She just works so hard,” Nolan said after the ceremony. “She has been a part of this community her whole life, and she’s just so dedicated to the work of this school community. I’m just so happy to see her getting recognized.”

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“I had Mrs. Pease four times as a teacher,” RSU 40 Assistant Superintendent Christina Wotton said after the ceremony.

Now, Wotton and Pease work alongside one another as administrators.

“There’s not many better to work with, because she just cares so much and loves the kids. Everything else goes from there,” Wotton said.

“Making a difference in the place where I grew up can be challenging,” Pease said, acknowledging that her close ties to this area can sometimes make her work difficult. “It can have disadvantages,” she continued, but concluded that the deep care and love she has for this community and its students have ultimately proven to be assets to her leadership.

“This is my community. These are my people, and to serve and make a difference here is a great honor,” she said.

Pease will be officially honored at the Maine Principals’ Association Night of Excellence awards dinner at the Augusta Civic Center on Thursday, May 23.

In October, she will travel to Washington, D.C., to represent Maine at an event hosted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals alongside other top principals from all 50 states, said Blair.

As students filed out of the gymnasium on April 26, many stopped to give Pease a high-five. Pease said that, as of the Monday following the announcement, students were still running up to her in the hallway with congratulations.

“That’s so incredibly gratifying,” Pease said. “They’re why I do what I do… When I say to them, ‘you are my people,’ I mean that with all of my heart.”