Erin Fitts '02
As a student at MCI, Erin Fitts '02 never took her time on our campus for granted. After teaching and traveling halfway across the world, Fitts has found her home at Maine Central Institute and hopes that current and future students alike learn to appreciate the school as much as she has.
Growing up in Pittsfield and its surrounding towns, there are plenty of families and household names that are synonymous with the community and have been around for generations. The Fitts' are one of those families, and Erin Fitts '02 has cemented herself as a proud representative of not only her family history and tradition, but the tradition of MCI as well. Fitts is a fourth generation MCI alum on her father's side through both his parents, and a third generation MCI alum on her mother's side. There is a long and rich history of school pride in Fitts' family. From her time as a student at MCI, to her experiences teaching overseas in Singapore, to landing back at MCI and facilitating the next generation of MCI alums, Fitts has experienced a lot in her pursuit of education and knowledge, and it all comes back to MCI and what the school has meant to her over the years.
Growing up on the Palmyra/Pittsfield border on the Spring Road, Fitts actually had to go through the superintendent's office to go to school through MSAD #53 and as a private day student at MCI. While at MCI, Fitts was incredibly involved in both athletics and the arts. She played basketball for four years and softball/tennis for two years each, while also participating in concert and jazz band all four years and concert and jazz choir her last two years. For Fitts, that first year at MCI is what really brought her friends and fellow classmates together.
"When we got to MCI, my classmates and I really solidified as a group," explained Fitts. "Once we got here and really started to interact with each other though things like Homecoming and Winter Carnival, the things that had been differences in middle school kind of just disappeared… we saw each other much more as a class and were inclusive of everybody."
Teachers like Ron Bessey, John Payelian, Ed Miller, Dean Neal, Earl Anderson, and Anita Wright really had an impact on Fitts and her education at MCI. She was excited for every challenge around the corner, whether that was the Manson Essays, Senior Projects, or any other assignment. As a private day student, Fitts saw it as a privilege to attend MCI and go to a small school with that her family had a rich history with.
After graduating from MCI in 2002, Fitts knew that she wanted to attend the University of Maine at Orono like her father. Spending five years at UMO, Fitts earned her Bachelors degree in history and Master of Arts in Teaching, all while continuing to be involved in her campus community through pep band or as a resident assistant. After graduating from the University of Maine, Fitts took her first job as a longterm substitute at Nokomis, which eventually came to a close as the teaching landscape in the area continued to grow more competitive. Fitts' application picked up interest overseas with a teaching job in Singapore, and after traveling to New York in a snowstorm to interview for the position, Fitts' career would jumpstart into a new and exciting chapter.
Fitts taught at the Saint Patrick's School, an all boys Catholic school in Singapore, from June of 2009 until June of 2016 where she taught history and social studies. Along with learning to teach newer disciplines like the history of Singapore, Fitts had to adapt to the very different teaching styles compared to the U.S. The education system in Singapore is all based around the national exams and the pride that comes with that, which was a challenge for Fitts, but not one she wasn't up for. After all, it's all about making sure the students receive a well-rounded education, no matter the method.
"I really loved the people, that’s why I stayed so long," said Fitts. "The work was hard, it was good work, but very different… here there is a lot more freedom with how you can teach and what you teach… I was teaching writing styles and examination styles I wasn’t used to, so it was a learning curve to be able to teach the skills they wanted their kids to have. It was a really good experience, and I also got to travel and learn so much."
Erin Fitts '02 pictured with her family including Lewis "Ross" Fitts, III '78, Kelly Breau Fitts '79, and Lewis Fitts IV '08, as well as pictured with her former class at St Patrick's School in Singapore.
While living in Singapore, Fitts got to widen her own breadth of knowledge through travels to Malaysia, Bali, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and even China for a day. She described how the experience of being a minority was extremely eye-opening for her own worldview, and how some of her past students from St. Patrick's still keep in touch. Just this past Thanksgiving, a previous student of Fitts' stayed with her after wishing to reconnect while studying in Florida.
While teaching in Singapore was an incredibly impactful experience for Fitts, she knew it wasn't home, and it was only a matter of time before a job opened up at her dream destination as an educator: Maine Central Institute. As fate would have it, a history position opened up for the Fall of 2016, and Fitts jumped on the opportunity in a heartbeat. "It felt like coming home, it was where I wanted to be and had always wanted to be... it was time and the stars just aligned,” explained Fitts.
Over her past seven years at MCI, Fitts has grown into one of the finest educators we have in our humanities program. From her first years teaching alongside her previous teacher Steve Peterson, to her time now as part of a growing and evolving humanities curriculum, Fitts teaches with the same enthusiasm for MCI and its history that she had as a student wandering the halls of Founders. For Fitts, being able to celebrate and teach her own passions with the community has always been the dream.
"History has always just been so fascinating to me, I think by the time I was 10 I already knew I wanted to be a history teacher," said Fitts. "You have to understand where we’ve been to get to where we’re going, you have to be able to empathize with the situations of other people to know where their mind is, why they believe certain things or behave certain ways... knowing the common history shared by groups of people is how you do that.”
In reflecting upon her time at MCI, both as a student and as a teacher, Fitts hopes that the student population continues to explore and recognize how they fit into the story and history of MCI. Going to MCI was something that Fitts had to fight for when she was a student, and the more that our current MCI students are able to realize how special their education is, the better.
"No school is perfect, but some of the traditions we have are so unique with the community we try to build, I want students to value that while they’re in it and not just look back on it," said Fitts. "I want them to look around and think, 'Hey this campus is really pretty,' and value that as they get the fresh air walking between classes... I just want students to recognize and appreciate what they have, it’s not like this at other schools, this is a special place.”
To read more of our monthly Alumni Profiles, head to our Featured Alumni page at https://www.mci-school.org/alumni/featured-alumni