Radio station B98.5 honors Rex Webb as Educator of the Year

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    GUILFORD — One of the best-kept secrets at Piscataquis Community Secondary School was finally let out of the bag on June 10 at the afternoon assembly.
    Several students and staffers knew something was up when they saw the colorful B98.5 van parked in front of the school and two of the Waterville radio station personalities in the hallway.
    After Principal Kevin Harrington opened the assembly, he immediately turned the microphone over to Randy McCoy, the country music station’s morning announcer.

Observer photo/Mike Lange

    THE WINNER — Piscataquis Community Secondary School social studies teacher Rex Webb was honored as the B98.5 Educator of the Year on June 10. Webb, right, was presented with a trophy by morning announcer Randy McCoy and the school received $1,000 from the Maine Education Federal Credit Union. Pictured holding the simulated check is B98.5 staffer Merry Tracy-St. Pierre.

    McCoy then made the surprise announcement: Rex Webb, the popular junior high school social studies teacher, was named Educator of the Year.
    McCoy explained that the radio station honors a Teacher of the Month all during the school year, and the winner receives a $50 gift certificate to the Chinah Dinah. “But at the end of the year, we pick a Teacher of the Year — and they’re presented with a $1,000 check for their school,” said McCoy.
    After Webb went onstage, several members of his family — who were hidden in the band room — came out to join him. An extra-added attraction was a Skype message from his wife, Jennifer, who was working in Georgia and unable to make the presentation.
    “I was certainly surprised,” said Webb. “This isn’t something you see around these parts every day.” Webb said that as a teacher, “We touch so many lives each day. Sometimes it’s the right ones at the right time. I just love what I do.”
    Webb said that he “comes to work with a smile on my face and leave the same way. I just love what I do.”
    The Teacher of the Year was nominated by Michelle Patterson, whose son and daughter were both taught by Webb. “He has done so much for my kids and I. He is one of those teachers that go above and beyond what’s needed. They’re rare nowadays,” Patterson said.
    As a single parent, Patterson said that Webb was a “positive male role model” for her son, Delan, now 19. “He’s firm, but fair and an excellent listener,” she added.
    Webb also visited Patterson’s daughter, Caitlin, now 15, when she was hospitalized in Bangor. “He really cares about every one of his kids,” Patterson said.
    Webb also organizes trips for his class to Boston and Washington, D.C. and actively participates in all the fundraisers, Patterson said. “You’ll see him counting cans and bottles or working at every spaghetti dinner,” she said.
    SAD 4 Superintendent Ann Kirkpatrick said that it’s “always an honor to have teachers recognized for the dedicated work they do with children. In Mr. Webb’s class, students are taught social studies/history in creative ways. He is also looking for ways to engage students in learning through trips, the National Honor Society and coaching.”
    Webb has taught at PCSS for nearly 13 years and coordinates the Civic Oration Contest, Geography Bee and History Bee. He also serves as adviser to the Student Council and National Junior Honor Society.
    Prior to joining the staff at the Guilford school, Webb taught at Penquis Valley High School for three years and coached boys varsity soccer, boys varsity baseball and middle school girls basketball.