Rewilding Inside and Out -

42nd. Annual Award

The 2024 Educator of the Year is Derek Bent, who has been make a difference in his students lives at the Amesbury Middle, for 27 years. Derek was nominated by Julie Sisson, who's letter read by Amesbury Rotarian; Madison Barns. Joining Derek for the award presentation were his daughter Lily, and son Ethan. Recognition of Derek's work, contributions and accomplishments were Amesbury Superintendent (and Amesbury Rotarian); Elizabeth McAndrews, and Amesbury Middle School; Jayne Vilandenis. We were honored by the presence of past recipients of this award; Marianne Curry and her husband Mike, 2000, and Stacey Fijalkowski, 2001.

Previous Recipients:

The Amesbury Rotary Club is committed to serving the youth of our community. We sponsor scholarships and offer interest-free loans to Amesbury students. We also honor one of the many outstanding educators in our school system each year. This award recognizes professional excellence and the performance of outstanding service in the Amesbury School System. Eligibility requirements as follows:

• Must teach in the Amesbury School System - this includes all classroom/special education teachers and specialists in technology, art, music, library, guidance counselors, etc. Administrators are not eligible.

• Must have been employed in the Amesbury School System for at least five years.

• Must not plan on retiring within the next two years.

• Must not be a previous recipient.

42 years and counting

“This is the 42nd.. year that the Amesbury Rotary Club will be giving an Educator of the Year award,” said Donna Collins, who heads the nominating committee., “which recognizes professional excellence." The Amesbury Rotary Club takes nominations from students, parents, co-workers, anyone in the community, Collins said. “We get all these letters and I screen them. The teachers have to have taught in Amesbury for at least five years and not plan to retire within the next two years.”

After Collins sifts through the nomination letters and verifies eligibility with the school department, the committee, which includes three or four Rotarians and four past winners, reviews all eligible nominations. Rotarians make the final decision,” she said, “but the input from the teachers is very valuable to us in making that decision.”

For event pictures, please click on the READ MORE button on the lower right of this screen

On March 27, 2024, Christine Turner, Executive Director of Link House based here in Amesbury presented an update of Link House, its several housing, rehab and treatment sites, and its outreach to the communities that Link House serves.

Chris oversees all aspects of Link House’s residential and outpatient treatment programs, bringing more than 25 years of experience leading human service organizations to this role.

Prior to joining Link House Inc., Turner held leadership positions at Lowell House Inc. where she served as the Clinical Director for women’s treatment services and was instrumental in procuring grant funding for the development and oversight of specialized addiction treatment programming for women. During her time at Lowell House she also served as Director of the Sheehan Women’s Program, Senior Director of Residential Programs, and interim CEO. Turner was also the Director of DPH funded Community and Residential Substance Abuse Services at The Psychological Center in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

A Licensed Alcohol Drug Abuse Counselor and Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor, Turner is also board certified by The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and is a Master Addictions Counselor with the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Bedford College (part of the Cambridge University Institute of Colleges, UK) and her graduate degree in Community Counseling Psychology from Springfield College, Massachusetts.