Board of Directors
Linda Warner is a jack of all trades. Linda’s primary career was as a stay-at-home parent to Kate (actor), Libet (management, The Shed) and William “Bear” (freelance production electrician). She’s been an avid community volunteer serving as President of Blue Ash Elementary PTA, Sycamore High School PTO, Theater Boosters, and Choir Boosters among others, And a mentor for nearly a decade.
Later in life, Linda was the first Development Director for the Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati where she organized the annual fund drive, published a community healthy-eating cookbook, and hosted an annual awards event with well-known speakers including Christopher Reeve, Patty Duke, Gov. Mike Huckabee, and Ben Vereen. Linda worked for Seminole County Public Schools in Florida as the Families in Transition Tutorial Coordinator providing support for homeless students under the Mckinney Vento Homeless Education Act, as a Language Support Tutor for special needs students, and as the school “nurse” at Woodlands Elementary School.
Linda holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wells College in Aurora, NY. She is Past President of Friends of Messalonskee Lake Association. She currently works part-time in a yarn shop, teaches knitting and creates custom knitwear under her Queen Bee Knits label. Linda lives in Belgrade with her husband and their Chocolate Lab, Monk.
Linda Warner, President
Drew Landry is an attorney with a practice concentrated in utility and energy matters. Drew is currently Deputy Public Advocate for the State of Maine which involves representing the interests of consumers in utility regulatory matters before the Maine Public Utilities Commission and in other forums in which the interests of Maine utility customers are affected. Drew is a graduate of Syracuse University and the University of Maine School of Law. In addition to his role on the Board, Drew serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Theater at Monmouth, the Hallowell Planning Board, and as Chair of the Hallowell Comprehensive Plan Committee.
Drew has previously served as President of the Penobscot County Bar Association, Chair of the Brewer Water District, and board member of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Bangor. Drew’s daughter is currently studying Art Education and the University of Maine. Drew is a resident of Hallowell.
Andrew "Drew" Landry, Vice President
Governance Committee, Chair
Tim is retired after 34 years of working in the Maine state government. While working for the state he served in several departments, most recently protecting Maine’s groundwater through the regulation of underground petroleum storage tanks. Tim serves on the Finance Committee at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Waterville, and is President and Treasurer of Reprise Chorale Ensemble. He is the past President of the McGrath Pond/Salmon Lake Association and served as Clerk of Vestry at St. Mark's. Tim has a BS in Education from the University of Maine where he trained as an elementary school science teacher. An accomplished musician, Tim co-founded two small choral ensembles: The Occasional Chorale, based in Waterville, and more recently, Reprise Choral Ensemble, based in Augusta. He has performed in a variety of musical theater organizations and sung in numerous choral ensembles throughout Maine, including Vox Nova Chamber Choir in Brunswick and the Oratorio Society at the University of Maine in Orono. Tim sang under the direction of the late Sir David Willcocks and performed at Trinity Wall Street and the Washington National Cathedral. He continues to sing at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Waterville, Colby Kennebec Choral Ensemble. Tim is an amateur artist and a staunch supporter of arts education in all its forms. He worked for many years in the picture-framing business owned by his family in Camden. He is committed to the ideals put forth by the Maine Arts Academy and to the Academy's success as a charter school in central Maine.
Timothy Rector, Treasurer
Finance Committee, Chair
Janna Townsend is an educator with 40 years of experience. She taught children in the classroom and instructed teachers on the strategies of teaching and learning by modeling them in a classroom setting. Always interested in teaching struggling learners, she began as an art teacher, using a blackboard and colored chalk as a major teaching tool. Janna became a specialist in ‘learning abilities’ and mediation, which helped her to build collaborative educational settings where general and special education students are taught together. Building inclusive programs in NYC elementary and middle schools, she provided professional development training and taught college courses on collaborative team teaching, cooperative learning, behavior management, and peer mediation. Janna developed a Principal’s Academy, where school principals were required to learn key concepts of collaborative education and how to support its use prior to embracing the techniques within their schools. This action led the way to delivering direct support to northern district schools to create team teaching classrooms that strategically and effectively taught students with special needs alongside their general ed peers.
Presently retired, Janna now lives in Maine where she and her family have been vacationing for over 30 years. Here, she became involved in her community, offering her time and skills to numerous community efforts. Janna tutors and directs programs for Literacy Volunteers –Waterville Area, where she sits as President of the Board of Directors. With an eye on those with special needs, Janna also sits on the Maine Arts Advisory Board and serves as Treasurer of Friends of Messalonskee, where she is committed to creating a LakeSmart community and fiddling in her garden.
Janna Townsend, Secretary
Academic Excellence Committee, Chair
Mitchell Clyde Thomas is a graduate of the University of Maine Farmington with a
BA, and the University of Maine Orono with a MPA. He is a singer, pianist, and songwriter and has been entertaining audiences in Maine and around New England for nearly 50 years, beginning as a young sidekick to his fiddle-playing grandfather. Since his youth, he has been sharing and leading music in some way or other in churches and community organizations/events. For 38 summers, Mitch was the director of the Music-Theatre camps for youth at Camp Mechuwana in Winthrop, and for many years, he directed children's choirs in his home church. On weekends, Mitch is the organist/pianist/choir director at a church in Scarborough.
For ten years, he was the Music Director for the New England Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Before the pandemic, he was very active in Lewiston-Auburn's Community Little Theatre, where he directed some of their shows and performed in scores of them over the past four decades. He was the Executive Director at L/A's Franco Center for Heritage and the Performing Arts in Lewiston for five years. Mitch is an adjunct professor (writing and critical thinking courses) at Central Maine Community College and teaches classes for SMCC and Maine Maritime Academy.
Mitch’s daughter, Hayden, is a 5th-grade teacher in the Lewiston Public Schools, and his son, Elias, is a student of Broadcast Journalism at the University of Minnesota.
Mitchell Clyde Thomas
Development Committee, Chair
Sherry Gilbert
Sherry Gilbert is a graduate of the Northern Conservatory of Music with advance study at Hartt School of Music. She is certified by the Voice Care Network and studied Early Childhood Music Education with Dr. John Feierabend. She is a past member of the Maine Education Association (MEA), National Education Association (NEA), Music Educators National Conference, Maine Music Educators Association, and American Choral Directors Association. She taught K-12 vocal, general and instrumental music in public schools for 38 years. She has taught in both New York and Maine with select groups performing internationally, for State music organizations, regional venues, and on local and national television. One of her select groups was the first a cappella group to open the Maine State Legislative Session. Many of her students have attended the Western Maine Music Festival, Kennebec Valley Music Festival, District IV Music Festival, All-State Music Festival, and All-Eastern Music Festival. Her leadership experience covers a number of other areas. She chaired the Maine Music Educators Association District IV for over 8 years; also for more than 12 years, she was active in her local association in grievance arbitration and bargaining. She continued to serve her local association as president for 7 years. Under her leadership, her association received the MEA’s John H. Marvin award for leadership, integrity, and tenacity and was recognized by NEA president, at the time, Reg Weaver.
Sherry is active as a church organist and choir director and has served on the church Parish Council for 5 years. She is on the Oakland Budget & Advisory Committee and has been diligent for citizens in the local area by urging a more in-depth oversight of the RSU 18 school budget.
Board of Directors, Member
April Hughes
April Hughes is a program manager at Healthy Communities of the Capital Area (HCCA), primarily overseeing HCCA’s tobacco prevention, substance use prevention, and healthy eating/active living grants. April has a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Purdue University Global, is actively working on her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) from Walden University, and is a certified prevention specialist (PS-C). In addition to her work at HCCA, she is also a member of the Maine Prevention Certification Board, a peer-led nonprofit organization, serving and representing prevention professionals under the sponsorship of AdCare Educational Institute of Maine. The certification board sets, monitors, and enforces standards for Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug (ATOD) prevention professionals to ensure the public’s protection and enhance the profession. Personally, April has always been passionate about the arts and hopes to bring more arts-based prevention strategies and initiatives into the field of prevention in Maine.
April resides in South China, Maine, with her husband and three children. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, reading, gardening, and trying out new restaurants.
Board of Directors, Member