Portland Public Schools Educator is Maine 2021 Teacher of Year!
Cindy Soule, a fourth-grade teacher at Talbot Community School and the 2020 Cumberland County Teacher of the Year, wins Maine’s top teaching award.

Talbot School staff and students celebrated Soule’s win at a surprise virtual school assembly on Yesterday morning, Because of the pandemic, the event was held outside, with participants wearing masks and staying physically distant. Only a small cohort of students in Soule’s and other teachers’ fourth-grade classes attended the ceremony outside the building, with the rest of the students safely live-streaming the event inside their classrooms. The event featured a vehicle parade, a presentation of the 2021 Teacher of the Year plaque, and words of praise and recognition for the honoree.

Soule was among the 16 teachers – one from each of Maine’s counties – to win a Maine County Teacher of the Year award this past May. Those teachers were then in the running for 2021 Teacher of the Year. 

In August, Educate Maine, the Maine Department of Education, the Maine State Board of Education and the Maine State Teacher of the Year Association announced that the group of 16 county candidates had been narrowed down to three State Finalists: Soule; Alison Babb-Brott, of Knox County; and Heather Webster, of Lincoln County.