Meet Miss Foster

My name is Sara Foster and I’ve been teaching primary aged children at Dyer Elementary since 1992. Prior to moving to Maine I taught in Michigan and in Texas, where I worked teaching English to children of migrant families. Everywhere I’ve worked I’ve learned so much and wouldn’t trade this career for any other!

The daughter of two teachers, I was born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota. My father was a research geneticist at North Dakota State University and my mother taught kindergarten and first grade prior to raising a family. My only sibling, a younger sister Mary, lives with her husband and 21 year old son in Phoenix, Arizona.

For the past 26 years I’ve sung in a Portland based women’s chorus called Women in Harmony. We sing pieces by and for women in all musical styles and from all time periods. In addition to singing I enjoy hiking, biking, kayaking, swimming, and reading. I also love to spend time working in my yard, even if that means shoveling snow!

During 24 of the last 32 summers I worked as the assistant director of Camp Bishopswood, a resident summer camp for children. I retired in 2012. There I had the wonderful luxury of teaching outside nearly every day. I taught arts and crafts, wide area games, swimming lessons, campfire skills and cooking, and much more. Camp was a place where I realized how important it is to build community, and that's just what I work hard to do in my classroom as well.

I’ve had the good fortune to travel quite extensively in my life and have been to five of the seven continents! In 1989 I was selected as an exchange teacher from Michigan to Japan for six months. Being immersed in another culture, learning to speak another language, celebrating new holidays, and teaching high school sophomores was remarkable. The experience still proves to be one of the highlights of my career!

One of my favorite parts of teaching is watching a child learn something for the first time. The wonder and awe of learning to read, sing a solo, go across the monkey bars and other milestones in children’s lives is what calls me back year after year. I’m proud to be a member of the South Portland community: to work not only with the first graders in my class, but all of the other Dyer Dragons as well! We’re going to have a wonderful year together!