LA Senior Abigayle Reed with Head of School Jeffrey Burroughs at the celebration of the Maine Career and Technical Education (CTE) Students of the Year.
Abigayle Reed, a senior at Lincoln Academy who studies cosmetology at the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center (BRCTC), is the BRCTC Student of the Year.
On Saturday, April 29, 27 students from around the state were honored as Career and Technical Education (CTE) Students of the Year. Each of the CTE schools in Maine selected one student to receive this honor.
The CTE Student of the Year reception took place in Lewiston at the Green Ladle, the restaurant run by students at Lewiston Regional Technical Center. Reed attended with Lincoln Academy Head of School Jeff Burroughs, BRCTC Cosmetology Teacher Jillian Sawyer, Jobs for Maine Graduates teacher Juliet Stone, BRCTC Student Services Coordinator Wayne Dorr, and her parents.
Each sending program submitted a description of their student and the reasons they were selected as Students of the Year. Reed was described this way by her BRCTC instructors:
“Abby Reed is a CTE champion. Staff came to know Abby well over the last two years as she contacted staff monthly to gather information to write an article about CTE in her sending school newspaper [the Lincoln Academy Eagle’s Talon] in an effort to bridge the gap between the schools. She is also a leader in Sigma Sigma Chi, and in the Ambassador’s Club at her sending school. Abby was inducted into both the National Honor Society [at LA] and the National Technical Honor Society [at BRCTC], and was one of the first students in the state to compete at the Maine Career Exploration Badge for Jobs for Maine Graduates [JMG]. At her sending school, Abby is described as a student who is not afraid to challenge herself and best demonstrates spirit, leadership, and overall good for the community. At Bath Tech, Abby makes herself known by being a strong advocate for CTE. She is a natural leader in her cosmetology program, and among her National Technical Honor Society members in which she was instrumental in implementing the first ever Bath Tech Spirit Week!”
“Abby has been one of the most motivated and goal-focused students we ever had at LA,” said Lincoln Academy Director of Curriculum and Instruction Kelley Duffy. “She designed her whole senior year plan to develop her career goals that includes classes at LA and BRCTC as well as work at B and Co Salon. Abby is goal-oriented, an effective self-advocate, and she always delivers on her promises.”
Reed has been working at B&Co Salon for over a year, and plans to continue after graduation. Her employer, salon co-owner Britani Fairhurst, said, “Anyone would be lucky to have Abby in their life, and we are especially lucky to have her with us at B&Co. We are so proud of her determination to succeed. We love you, Abby!”
“It was great to be honored alongside other students in the trades,” said Reed. “I always work on ways to get Bath Tech and LA to be closer together, and people at LA to be informed about what’s going on at Bath Tech. I think because of that I have been an asset to the Bath Tech program.”
Reed will graduate with honors from both BRCTC and Lincoln Academy this spring, and plans to go on to the Aveda Institute of Maine in Augusta and continue working at B and Co. Salon in Damariscotta.
