By Laura Snyder Smith
At her core, even through challenging budgets and especially disciplinary measures as principal, Sharon Remick exemplified love: Love for children, loving support for her colleagues, passion for community, and a penchant for clicky shoes and fun-loving fashion!
Colleagues, friends and family gathered Thursday, May 30, to remember their beloved Mrs. Remick and dedicate the Remick Library at Margaret Chase Smith School in Sanford. Sharon, who died March 13, 2024, taught and led as principal at Lincoln School, Margaret Chase Smith School, and Lafayette School for 45 years. She retired in 2020.
“This one’s for you, Sharon,” said Gale Michaud, a close friend and colleague who led the ceremony hosted by the Sanford Schools Legacy Foundation. Wearing the same Halloween sweater she and Sharon wore every Halloween through the years in school together, Gale wearing her own “clicky shoes” said she remembers how happy Sharon was to learn about the honor just a few months ago.
“Although Sharon was supposed to be here today to accept this honor, I am truly grateful that she did know about it,” she said. “She was humbled and sooo happy that a library was being named in her honor. … She was grinning from ear to ear.”
MCS School Counselor Joanne Spring happened to be the one to give Sharon a tour of the library when she stopped in after the building renovations. “She was beside herself with all the space and how beautiful it was,” she said. “I know she’s really happy!”
After the memorial plaque was revealed Thursday, Sharon’s son Darrell Remick donated a large framed puzzle completed by his grandmother Leatrice Martin that Sharon proudly hung in every office at her different schools.
Numerous friends and family from various parts of her career also shared their own Sharon stories.
“It didn’t take me long to understand that Lafayette was a magical place,” said Superintendent Matt Nelson, who joined the Sanford School Department as assistant superintendent in 2015. “And a lot of that had to do with Sharon’s leadership and the staff and the work they did every day. If I was having a bad day, go to Lafayette. You go to Lafayette and you would go out of there feeling great about the work we did, and a lot of that had to do with Sharon.”
It was Sharon’s love that made the difference, said former art teacher Joyce St. Pierre. “The kids just needed love, which is exactly what Sharon brings to everything. … When I think of Sharon, I think of a big heart.”
Director of Special Education Stacey Bissell, who had the privilege of calling her “Aunt” Sharon as a relative, said love was the foundation of Sharon’s work. “Everything she did was because she loved what she was doing. I love that about her. I love the fact that if there was something she was passionate about, you couldn’t move her off that topic.” Even when they disagreed about a student, “more often than not … we would come to some kind of compromise.”
As much as Sharon loved her children, she equally loved her staff.
“When we were sad about something, she would be sad with us,” said Special Education Teacher Nicole Civiello, who worked with Sharon at the former Emerson School and MCS. “When we were really happy, she would celebrate us. When we were frustrated about something, she’d be frustrated with us. She wasn’t just our boss, she wasn’t just our principal, she felt everything we were feeling. And that’s a lot of feelings to deal with because there’s a lot of people. She felt all the feelings with us.”
Superintendent Nelson said Sharon was their secret weapon during budget season. “(Former Superintendent David Theoharides said) ‘I have a plan, I am going to bring in Sharon, and Sharon is going to talk to them, because no one says no to Sharon!’ Damn if he was right. … How could they say no to Sharon when she was talking so passionately about kids and students and the work we do in education. I don’t know how she did it, but it was a magical thing.”
Nelson said as sweet as she was, she was also stern when she needed to discipline a child.
“Sharon was very special, she had a magical quality of always trying to enhance everyone’s experience that she came in contact with. It’s an unbelievable honor for us to be able to recognize her today.”
A short reception following the ceremony included Sharon’s favorite, Buffalo Chicken Dip.