Staff Writer

David Crandall, principal of Peninsula Elementary School in Prospect Harbor will become the new principal of Consolidated Elementary School in Kennebunkport on July 1. Crandall sat down with the Post to talk about learning from children, being called “captain” and coming home.

Tell me a little about your educational background.

I’m a UNE (University of New England) grad, class of 1980. So this is like coming home in several ways.

Are you from the Kennebunk area?

No. I’m from northern Maine, from Aroostook County originally but I went to University of New England in Biddeford and my wife is from Biddeford Pool, 10 miles from Consolidated.

Did you take a teaching position after graduating from UNE?

I taught for five years in Limestone when I graduated from UNE. The Air Force base was still open back then and I hung around a little too much with the Air Force people and I went and joined the Air Force. So I have seven years Air Force time. I was a captain. I was an air weapons controller when I decided to come back to Maine in the early ’90s. I taught ’til about 2001 because this is my ninth year as an administrator.

Does your wife have any family still in the area?

Yes, her mother still lives at the Pool, her brother lives at Biddeford Pool and her sister lives just off Pool Road in Biddeford. What is that old saying? “A son’s a son ’til he takes a wife. A daughter’s a daughter all her life.” When you get married you spend all your holidays with the wife’s family, I think that is what that means. Have you also heard the one, “No one’s happy unless mama’s happy?” I’m very happy so that means mama’s always happy. Yes, that really made us look at Consolidated as a place to come back to. We still see our friends from college; we get together every fall for homecoming. We spend a good amount of time with my friends from UNE.

When you came back did you make the kids salute you and call you Captain David?

I wish. No, I did not, but to tell the truth, Air Force or military time is really great for training. I learned a lot about teaching, especially small group instruction. I actually ran a school for the Air Force for a couple of years, I took people that were very good at their Air Force position and I was a weapons controller on an AWAC airplane, so I flew, but for two years I took people who were good at their job and I taught them how to be instructors. It was called the basic instructor course.

What did you do when you returned to Maine?

When I came back to Maine I taught middle school until 2001. I became an assistant principal and athletic director at Carrabec High School. It’s where the Carrabassett and the Kennebec Rivers meet, hence the name. Maine has a lot of nice areas, and that’s one of them. So I was the athletic director and assistant principal at that high school for three years.

I finished my master’s at UMaine, Orono and I became a principal at Philips Elementary … between Rangeley and Farmington, in the vicinity of Sugarloaf. Actually one of the most fun things we did was all of our schools in the school district in January once a week we would take our kids to the mountain to go skiing. We called it Ski Skate. It was really fun.

Have you thought of anything like that event to bring to Consolidated?

I think the key will be to use what they’re already doing at Consolidated. The hardest thing is to come into an already very good, fully functioning school and try to not change the flavor, try to keep the traditions they have going. The worst thing you can do is to come in with “these are the things I want to do.” This is my opinion only, I think you need to become part of the environment and see how things are operating and all that and earn the respect of all the people you’ll be working with so that’s what I would like to do. I’m positive they do fun things that use their environment also. We were in the mountains; it was a very appropriate thing to teach all the kids to ski.

Consolidated school has many green initiatives like solar panels, a greenhouse and outdoor classroom. Do you have any experience working with environmentally friendly schools?

I think I will learn a lot. My style, if it’s a style, is I hope I listen and learn a lot during my visits and during my first few months working with my new crew.

How long were you at Phillips Elementary School?

So I spent five years in Phillips as their principal, I came to Peninsula this year to open the new school. I opened a new school and it’s been a great experience, but the chance (was too good to pass up) to get to Consolidated and to get back to what my family considers home.

We have moved a little bit and we had seven years in the Air Force. We lived in different places in Maine, but my children really think of their grandmother’s house as their home. Biddeford Pool is really home to my wife and children. So this is like coming home to us.

How many children do you have?

I have three children. Matthew, my oldest is 27, Katie my middle daughter is 25, Andrew is 21 … a junior in college. He is a nursing student at Utica College in Utica, N.Y. Katie graduated from Bentley (University in Massachusetts) and works for Filene’s Basement as an assistant buyer. It’s shopping for a living. Katie understands brand names and all that stuff so much.

Business is totally different than education. When we talk, she’s talking about business models and things like that. Matthew graduated from Worchester Poly Tech and is a software engineer.

Each child likes different things and followed a different path and you know, it’s great when you talk to each one about their different jobs, although Matthew, I don’t always understand what he’s talking about. Andrew, we think he’ll be home for the summer, and one year left. We’re almost empty nesters.

Are you excited about being empty nesters?

I’ll be excited about not paying for college tuition. When Andrew went on to college my wife had to get a dog.

What kind of dog?

We have a – oh my gosh – a Labradoodle, is that what they call it?

Has the moving process been started yet?

No, none of that has been started yet. This is what, Wednesday? And they voted on me Monday.

When you get to the school board for approval to take the position, don’t you sort of expect you may get the job?

I played sports. One superstition in baseball is if you put the bats away when you’re ahead in the last inning, bad things will happen. You never fill a bat bag until the game is over and you’ve shaken hands. I take one thing at a time, don’t ever take anything for granted.

We haven’t started to do that (moving) yet. So, sports superstitions, I have those, probably not a good thing.

When is your last date at Peninsula and your first date for Consolidated?

July 1 is when I’ll start at Consolidated and we’ll work through the school year here. I talked with Kathy (Pence, current principal of Consolidated) we’ll work together to make the transition nice and smooth so I can meet as many people as possible. I’m really looking forward to getting started but it is always good to cross every “T” and dot every “I.”

Do you have any plans for the summer now that you’ll be in the Kennebunk and Biddeford Pool area?

Well I think it will be a lot easier to get to see Katie, and I didn’t tell you, Katie has a daughter, I have a granddaughter. So Katie is about an hour’s drive from Kennebunk, so I think we’ll see her a little easier and a little more. We always spent a good amount of the summer in Biddeford Pool anyway, but I’ll get a little more time this summer than I have in the past, I think.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.