Kindergarten teacher Deb Smith, who’s well known for her unit on the chicken life cycle, is retiring this month after 42 years with the Sanford schools, most of them at Carl J. Lamb School.
Photo: Sanford Schools
By Laura Snyder Smith
The best way to teach kindergartners about the world around them? According to longtime kindergarten teacher Deb Smith, hands-on learning engages young learners most effectively while teaching them their ABCs.
“I like the excitement children this age have when they come to school,” said Smith, who has taught all ages at Carl J. Lamb School for 35 years. She will retire this year after 42 years in Sanford schools.
“She’s been here long enough to teach children whose parents were once her students, creating lasting connections with families that make her truly special,” said CJL School Principal Sherri Baron. “As much as it breaks our hearts to see Ms. Smith retire, we’re so proud of the incredible legacy she’s built and hope she’ll visit often for PTA events, because that red room in kindergarten will always belong to our beloved Ms. Smith, who touched the lives of hundreds of children and inspired all of us with her warmth, creativity, and endless love.”
Smith is well-known for her annual unit on monarch butterflies, punctuated by their colorful release, but she is perhaps best known for and proud of the chicken hatching unit taught every spring.
For more than 20 years, she has brought a dozen eggs to school and incubated them in the office window for all to see. Children in her classroom learn all about the hatching process over the course of three weeks, and after 21 days their learning comes to life. All students in grades K-4 end up part of this literal hands-on life lesson.
“Ms. Smith is a glowing example of a teacher who goes above and beyond for not only her students, but the whole school,” said Lydia Lehoux, a PTA co-president who has worked with Smith for seven years.
Children, parents, colleagues and friends know Smith for attending every PTA meeting, always with her famous candy basket to share. She also made many contributions behind the scenes.
“What makes us love her even more are all the wonderful things she did when she thought no one was looking — those beautiful flowers by our school sign, homemade cookies for sick colleagues, and countless other acts of kindness that showed her generous heart,” said Baron.
To recognize Smith’s exemplary career, the Sanford Schools Legacy Foundation is collecting donations to fund naming rights to her kindergarten classroom in her honor.
Smith started at CJ Lamb School when the school opened in 1990 and was a founding PTA member; her colleagues named her the inaugural Outstanding Staff Person in 2018. Starting as a substitute teacher, she has taught in every Sanford school except the high school. She taught English/language arts at the middle school and taught sewing. She’s also been an enthusiastic advocate for field trips, particularly to the Children’s Museum in Dover, NH, and is a leading force behind the annual Chewonki guest visits to the school.
Added Baron: “We’ll never forget her dressing up as a pilgrim with Mrs. Sylvestre to serve Thanksgiving dinner while teaching table manners and gratitude, organizing Chewonki or those magical storybook character and Memorial Day parades.”
“I really have enjoyed my time with all of the kids,” said Smith, who doesn’t have any children by birth. “These are my kids.”
The Ms. Smith Room will be her favorite classroom by the door, currently Mrs. Marley’s room, where she could see everyone coming and going.
All donations to the Legacy Foundation will be returned to CJL kids in the form of play equipment, such as balls and chalk to enjoy at recess.
To make a donation go to https/sanfordschoolslegacyfoundation.org
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