Carlyle "Bear" Paul
THREE-YEAR TERM, BAR HARBOR SCHOOL COMMITTEE
BEAR’S BIO
My real name is Carlyle Barrow Paul, but everyone calls me Bear. My wife and I and our two children moved to Bar Harbor from Washington, D.C. in the late winter of 2021. We moved here as I assumed the role of administrative dean/CFO at College of the Atlantic and to be able to step out of Washington, D.C. during the crush of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professionally, I have been in education for the last twenty years or so. I moved into the classroom through a lateral entry program called DC Teaching Fellows, essentially a Teach for America type program focusing on Washington, DC. I taught sixth-grade special education science and math with DC Public Schools. Since that first year, I’ve served as a classroom teacher for an additional seven years, served as an assistant principal in a middle school for two of those years, moved into the business office, and served in leadership roles at two educational institutions. In that time, I’ve developed curriculum and written IEPs, coached sport teams from middle school to the varsity level, developed a school’s class schedule, and developed an institution’s financial budget. I’ve found participation in school life to be incredibly hard work but also incredibly joyful.
I grew up in a family of educators. The classroom was one of the primary topics of conversation at my childhood dinner table. Schools are the heart, soul, and future of their community.
THE QUESTIONS
What inspired you to run for the school committee?
When we moved here in 2021, our children’s charter school in Washington, D.C. was still in full distance mode in response to the pandemic. It was a challenging time for everyone. Conners Emerson was open five days per week and welcomed our child with open arms. Both of our children are at CES now, and we feel lucky for this to be the case. It is a wonderful community, and if I can offer something from the set of experiences I’ve had in my career to support the school, I would be excited to be able to serve the community in this way.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the school community right now?
I believe we are in one of the most challenging periods in the history of formal education. We are coming off a global health emergency where most children in school experienced some form of major disruption to their educational life, the availability of distraction machines (smartphones, iPads, etc.) is growingly pervasive, and social media has the ability to impact the social dynamic of the classroom in significant, unpredictable ways.
For challenges specific to Conners Emerson, I would list: the challenges of occupying an aging building, the shrinking population of school-aged children on the island, and recruiting and retaining highly capable faculty as the local housing market becomes increasingly challenging. Within the classroom, there is the ongoing process of honing the skills of how best to teach and lead a classroom: what’s the right balance for use of technology, how do we keep students in engaged in topics, etc. Without being a daily part of the life of the school, I don’t think I could accurately guess what the biggest challenge is. I see the role of a committee member as asking questions and being ready to support the school in addressing challenges as they arise.
How will you balance the short-term needs with long-range planning for students in Bar Harbor?
I will focus on supporting the school in continuing to provide an excellent education. We can’t know all the challenges that are coming. I’ll focus on supporting the school community in a way that allows it to be as nimble as possible in addressing new challenges as they arise, while maintaining a focus on its core values.
What are your thoughts about the potential consolidation of the schools on Mount Desert Island?
Considering the state of available 12-month housing on the island and how that might progress, I think this is an important conversation to have. I do not yet have enough information to make any definitive statements on this front, but this is a topic I am keen to examine further.
What is your favorite aspect of this school community? Do you feel as if it’s thriving?
Too easy – I deeply care for the people of the school community (the teachers, staff, students, administrators, parents). With any school community, it’s the people that make it great. CES has great people. You see it at drop off and pick up every day. You see it in the way the bus drivers wave to you after your kids get on their bus. You see it at school events. Is it thriving? Yes, indeed, it is. The school community is definitely thriving, but it is thriving through challenges and will have to continue to do so. But the thriving through the challenges is what makes it great. If it were easy, it wouldn’t mean as much. Thank you, Conners Emerson.