Who is the new teacher Ms. Fountain? With an eventful past and a promising future, she starts her time in Proctor with a Yearbook and Journalism class along with World Literature I and II. Ms. Fountain has a bright outlook for this year and is excited to see where it goes.

Ms. Fountain, with 18 years of teaching and 15 years as a journalist, comes into the school with a variety of tools on her belt, ready to take on what’s thrown at her. These tools have been shown to work in the past. “I had a student testify before the senate judiciary committee for the New Voices legislation that allows students to control the content of the newspaper. I've had students win the Bernie Sanders essay contest, and get to meet him. I've had a few students published in vtdigger,” Ms. Fountain says.

Before she was a teacher, she was a journalist with The Vermont Standard. “I wrote 3-4 articles a week. Usually one article covered some aspect of town government and often the other articles were something I suggested to my own editor based on what I found interesting. For example, I might highlight a local business and what they do,” Ms. Fountain explains.

Even with her joy for journalism she “wanted something more…” She ended up finding an ad for a long-term substitute teacher and after three months of this she fell in love with it and went back to school to become a teacher. Afterwards, she spent 16 years teaching at Woodstock Union High School followed by one year at Rutland Middle School.

In regards to how she felt about her past and current careers, “There certainly were times where I felt overwhelmed by the prep and grading work, but I love working with students so I always find the energy,” Ms. Fountain notes adding that she is excited to be at Proctor Junior/Senior High School.