About the Faculty

A teacher since 1973, Nancie Atwell is the founder of CTL, chairman of its board, and grades 7-8 teacher of writing, reading, and history. She is the first classroom teacher to be the recipient of the major research awards in the language arts, the M.L.A. Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize and the N.C.T.E. David H. Russell Award. She also received the Edwin Hoey Award for Outstanding Middle School English Teacher. Among many articles and professional books, Nancie is the author of In the Middle, Side by Side, Lessons That Change Writers, Naming the World: A Year of Poems and Lessons, and The Reading Zone; she also edited the anthologies Coming to Know and Understanding Writing.

Helene Coffin is CTL’s kindergarten teacher. She has a B.S. in elementary education from the University of Maine at Orono and a Masters in Education from the University of New England. She has twenty-four years of outstanding experience teaching kindergartners, as well as five years at the second grade level. Helene is legendary for her outreach to parents, former students, and the school community. Every Child a Reader, Helene's book about teaching reading through poems was published by Scholastic in 2009. She has presented at the National Council of Teachers of English Convention.

Ted DeMille teaches grades 1 and 2 at CTL. He received his undergraduate degree from Wheelock College in 1981 and returned to earn a Masters in Reading, Teaching, and Consulting. He has twenty-eight years’ experience teaching grades kindergarten, one, and two. He is also a professional musician, involved in The Good Rockin’ Daddies (children’s roots and rock) and North Star (traditional American bluegrass). Ted leads writing and reading workshops for teachers throughout the U.S, presents at the National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association annual conventions. His book Making Believe on Paper, about primary-grade writers and fiction, was published by Heinemann in 2007.

Jill Cotta, CTL’s teacher of grades 3 and 4 since 2002, is a 1997 graduate of Middlebury College. She earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Maine at Orono in 2000; prior to obtaining her Masters, she team-taught a combined third and fourth grade class for two years at Weybridge Elementary School in Vermont. She also taught third grade at the Great Salt Bay School in Damariscotta. Jill conducts teacher workshops about writing and reading in the intermediate grades at seminars across the U.S.

Glenn Powers joined the CTL faculty in 2005 as our teacher of the grades 5-6 combination. He taught humanities, math, and technology for ten years previous to that in Williamsville, New York, as well as East Harlem, Brooklyn, Queens, and at the Baccalaureate School for Global Education in Astoria. He earned a Masters in English Education from Columbia University Teachers College and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has presented at National Council of Teachers of English Convention about assessment in the reading workshop, and is at work on a book for Heinemann about essential lessons for writers in grades 5-6.

Katie Rittershaus has been CTL’s teacher of grades 7 and 8 mathematics since 2004; before that she was a familiar presence at the school as a long-term sub, helping teacher, and advocate for kids. A passionate mathematician, Katie also holds a B.A. from the University of Southern Maine in women's studies and took several years of pre-med courses at Regis College and Colorado State University. Her students are stand-outs at Maine’s annual Mathcounts competitions.

Sally Macleod, CTL’s teacher of grades 7 and 8 science since 2003, previously taught middle school science at Boothbay Elementary and Hebron Academy. She also consulted with the Boothbay schools, where she helped teachers incorporate the Investigations math curriculum. She graduated from the University of Rhode Island with degrees in botany and biology, and also took courses at Goucher College in Maryland, Portsmouth Polytechnic in England, and the University of New Hampshire.

Music is taught by Kaity Newell. Pam Brackett is our physical education and drama teacher, and Mary Beth Owens teaches art. Caroline Bond, Pam Brackett, Donna Guenther, Maggie Limm, and Renee Roy are our helping teachers.

Photography credit for the tree image: corwyn@midcoast.com