MADSEC is the professional association
for administrators of special education in the State of Maine.
Cynthia Tuck
MADSEC Special Education Advocate of the Year
Award 2007
The Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities (MADSEC) recognized Cynthia M. Tuck as the Special Education Advocate of the year. MADSEC is the association of Special Education Administrators in Maine’s local public schools, private special education schools, and Child Development Services (preschool) sites.
Sharon Brady, Special Education Administrator of Union #87 introduced Cynthia and presented her with the award at the MADSEC Awards Dinner held at the Atlantic Oakes By-The-Sea in Bar Harbor, June 25.
In 1977, Cynthia M. Tuck graduated with highest distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Maine. She has a B.A. in history, with a minor in English and Political Science. She has a teaching certificate in Social Studies and Language Arts. Yet, Cindy followed a varied career path, which not only included education of youth and disabilities at Bangor and Brewer High School, the Training & Development Corporation, the Penobscot Job Corps Center, and as the Coordinator of Transitional Employment & Job Placement at Amicus’ Phoenix Employment Services. In addition, she has worked as the Historic Preservation Consultant for the City of Bangor, the Assistant Curator for the Bangor Historical Museum, and received her Associate Broker’s license in real estate.
Since, August 2003, Cindy has been employed as the Transition Coordinator, for Region 3 (Penobscot & Piscataquis Counties), of the Maine Transition Network. As the Coordinator, she has set up several programs to assist youth with disabilities, their families, teachers, and other support workers, to prepare them for the transition from high school to the adult world. Two of the programs that have been most helpful to special needs youth and their families have been the "School To Life" Transition Planning Series and the Youth Leaders” Club group activities.
The Transition Planning Series is a sequence of eight forums on important topics of interest to youth and their supporters on complex transition topics, such as guardianship, employment, housing, social security, post-secondary education, and community participation, to name a few. The second program, Youth Leaders’ Club, came about after assessing the need for an after-school program for youth in the region. This is a series of monthly activities, where students from eight local high schools get together not only to have fun and enjoy companionship, but also to learn some important skills such as team-building, self-advocacy, and leadership techniques. Cindy coordinates both of these programs, by lining up the speakers, renting and setting up the locations, promoting the programs through a variety of media, and through an out reach effort to the schools and communities.
Besides, the above mentioned programs, she coordinates other transition activities, including day-long transition forums for Northern Penobscot and Piscataquis counties; meets with parents, youth, and teachers, to offer suggestions on transition issues; conducts a monitoring process at local high schools, called the :Transition Outcomes Project”, that looks at the transition records of its youth; speaks at area non-profit organizations about the importance of assisting students in the process of transition; offers several workshop curricula to schools and youth, such at The 411 on Disability Disclosure, The Transition Planning Process: Building a Framework for the Future; and Developing Realistic Transition Plans; and each year escorts a group of fifteen youth to the statewide Youth Leaders’ Retreat.
Cindy is very dedicated in assisting young people and their families with the transition to the adult world. She is committed to being a resource for school personnel in this process. She loves her job, for a variety of reasons, but mainly because of its important mission to the youth with disabilities.
Cindy resides in Brewer, with her husband Charlie, who teaches physical education to elementary students in Brewer. She has two children, Alexander, a senior at the University of Maine, and Carolynn, a junior at Brewer High School. Cindy enjoys singing with her church choir, visiting museums, watching old movies, and decorating her house with second-hand furniture.
