Special Education

Ernie Easter - Ed Tech III

Ernie is a 37-year retired teacher who has decided to go back to teaching as an Educational Technician.  He has mostly taught at the Middle School level in both special education and regular education.  Thirteen of those years were in a small rural school where he taught regular education, all subjects, to both 7th and 8th grade at the same time.  He has been involved in teaching with Lego Robotics as part of his school curriculum as well as Upward Bound at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

Last year he and his wife Nancy moved back to southern Maine from Aroostook County where they had lived on their 100-acre farm for the past 30 years.  He enjoys building things, photography, genealogy, and all thing history.  He has a large collection of bird photos he as taken while following his birds.  He and his wife are both passionate birders. 

Shauna Dunn - Ed Tech III, Social Studies Teacher

Prior to joining the Baxter Academy community, Shauna enjoyed teaching students in a variety of subjects including World History, World Geography, American History, and Holocaust and Human Behavior, as a high school social studies teacher for many years. In this capacity, Shauna also facilitated extracurricular activities, including Student Council, class advisor, Interact Club, co-lead a Student Study Abroad, assisted track practice and meets, and organized participation in Dirigo Girls State.

Shauna values learning about and educating the whole student; and believes academic and social and emotional growth are fundamental to the pedagogical process. Shauna has a passion for collaborating with others, alongside designing curriculum, instruction, and assessments to create engaging classroom experiences.

Shauna graduated from Northeastern University (B.A. in Criminal Justice) and the University of Southern Maine (M. Ed., Professional Educator & CGS in Literacy Education). Shauna has participated in Teacher Study Tours (Turkey and China) and taught college English and volunteered in an orphanage while serving as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan.

Outside of school, Shauna and her husband/partner have three children and two black labs. Shauna has too many hobbies -- reading, running, yoga, cooking, skiing, traveling, dabbling in arts, to name a few.

Fun Fact: Shauna NEVER EVER imagined herself as a teacher until after college graduation. To pay college loans and all things related to life as we know it, she found a job as an Educational Technician and voila, she became devoted to a career in education.

Billy Wall - Ed Tech III, Robotics

Billy’s first long-term job was as a bench technician for a local radio messaging and in-car phone provider in Jacksonville, FL; by the time he moved on to his second career, he had been an operations engineer and manager for a large portion of the state, the company was called Verizon Wireless Messaging, and the phones fit into pants pockets. After relocating to beautiful, rocky Maine, he got a math degree and teacher training at USM, and began teaching math at Central High School in Corinth, Maine. While there, Billy coached the math team and led other STEM enrichment activities at both the high school and adjacent middle school. Most recently, he taught math and coached the math team at Freeport High School. Billy spends most of his summers working in USM’s STEM camps, and he enjoys hiking year-round. He wishes Baxter Academy had been an option for his (early 30s) daughter and son when they were in high school!

Shannon Fowler - Speech & Language Pathologist

Shannon C. Fowler is a Speech Language Pathologist from Mark R. Hammond Associates
Speech and Hearing Center (MRHA) in Portland.  She has worked for MRHA for 18 years
and is currently the Director of Clinical Services for Speech Language Pathology; this role
requires supervision of a number of clinicians and implementation of office policies and
procedures. Shannon provides direct and consultative services to students at Baxter as
well as preschool to young adult clients in the office setting.

Shannon attended the University of Maine at Farmington earning a Bachelors in
Communication Disorders and a Masters from Ithaca College in Speech Pathology.
 Shannon has experience in working with individuals and their educational and/or medical
teams to address needs related to speech-language development, augmentative
communication, social cognition, and executive functioning.  

Shannon has been married for nearly 18 years and is a mother of two children ages 16 and
13.  Within her community, she has volunteered as a Girl Scout leader, a coach for Girls on
The Run, a nationwide organization that serves to empower girls in grades 3-5 and as a
liaison for Heart and Soul-the sister organization that serves girls in grades 6-8.
Fun Facts:  Shannon loves home improvement projects, science fiction including Harry
Potter and Lord of the Rings, and is obsessed with the original NCIS television series.

Debra Gagne - Social Worker

With a background in case management, crisis intervention, therapeutic behavior interventions, trauma informed care and addiction there probably isn’t a story Deb hasn’t heard.  Working in special education has been very rewarding and an eye-opening experience.  “Watching students learn about their strengths and challenges, and overcoming any obstacles is very rewarding work.”  Deb is always there to lend an ear or help a student work out a problem.  She feels that the students teach her just as much as she teaches them.  Deb has attended multiple conferences on topics such as autism spectrum disorders, anxiety disorders and supporting lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.  

Deb received her master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern Maine and is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor.  Prior to becoming a social worker Deb worked in the business field and was a stay-home mom for many years.  She is forever grateful for having the ability to stay home when her children were little. 

Deb is a proud parent of two teenagers, Sydney and Noah, who attend Biddeford High School. Deb has been married to her patient husband Mike for 25 years.  They are getting ready to send Noah off to college and like many other parents try to “keep it together” when discussing this topic.  Deb admits to being a “helicopter” parent and says “it’s just who I am.”  

Fun Facts: Deb loves gardening, the New England Patriots #TB12, Harry Potter, and fishing with her family.  She tends to get a little competitive when fishing, but says she often wins.  She also loves barbecuing in the summer and watching sunsets.  She encourages everyone to stop by her office anytime for a cup of tea!

Eric Poulin - Special Education Teacher

Kathryn Low - Psychologist