https://www.pressherald.com/2026/03/25/how-to-chip-away-at-ice-in-our-communities-opinion/ I circle the room, peeking over my students’ shoulders to check on the progress of their assignments. They are brainstorming careers that they might want to job shadow. I come to a group of boys who are laughing loudly but whispering quietly under their breaths in that cagey way teenagers are good at when they want you to know they are probably doing something they’re not supposed to, b

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/21/opinion/chapel-woods-maine/ We stow all our gear in fanny packs and day bags and head into the woods. I am 8 years old and my brother is 11. It is summer break, and we are headed out once again into the sprawling woods that is our backyard in New Gloucester, Maine.  The forest starts in a dense grove of hemlocks with dappled sunlight creeping through the overstory. A stream cuts through the stand, opening up the canopy and allowing the s

As we close out the school year, graduation events and parties abound. I attended the Gray-New Gloucester High School graduation as a teacher, where I had the honor of seeing six of my seniors, who have overcome unimaginable odds to finish their high school experience, walk across the stage. Many of them would not be graduating at all if it were not for the tireless dedication of the teachers, guidance counselors, social workers, and administrators who gave countless hours be

https://www.pressherald.com/2024/12/29/opinion-do-not-give-up-on-your-neighbors/ When other systems fail, I hold onto the hope that our shared humanity will save us. I am engaged in an unspoken sign war with a neighbor. In 2020, we put up a Black Lives Matter sign at the end of our driveway; our neighbor responded by promptly putting out a Trump sign. After Jan. 6, he took it a step further and crossed out “Pence” on his sign with spray paint. A few years prior to this, he ha

https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/21/opinion-consider-motherhood-by-the-numbers/ 15: Number of minutes that my boss talks during an...

https://maineea.org/maineeducatoronline/summer-23/perspectives-what-raising-a-toddler-has-taught-me-about-teaching-high-school/ Give them choices:  People like to have choices in order to feel in control. Toddlers have a lot of their lives dictated to them so they want to assert their independence whenever they can. Giving them choices allows them to feel in control even if the end result is the same. We always give my daughter the choice of her blue jacket or her black jacke

https://www.pressherald.com/2023/11/14/maine-voices-shootings-cannot-be-separated-from-the-state-of-our-state/ Like most other people in the state of Maine, I was glued to the news in the days following the mass shootings on October 25, trying to manage the waves of grief, shock, fear and heartbreak that came in their wake. How do I explain to my three year old why her halloween party at daycare was canceled? How do I explain why we couldn’t go outside for two days while the

https://www.sunjournal.com/2023/04/15/laura-fralich-a-response-to-the-burning-of-a-pride-flag-in-new-gloucester/ The burning of a pride flag  in New Gloucester recently is symbolic of the daily physical and emotional threats that our LGBTQ neighbors face. We as a community must do better to create a welcoming, safe, and inclusive environment for all our residents. Our town government and residents need to actively work to create the community that we say we stand for. The sta

https://www.sunjournal.com/2022/05/28/laura-fralich-the-confederate-flag-is-a-symbol-of-hate-and-should-not-be-in-the-new-gloucester-memorial-day-parade/ As Memorial Day approaches, we honor those who have died  for the freedoms that we as Americans enjoy every day. Current world politics shows us that democracy is fragile and should not be taken for granted anywhere. Many people throughout our history have fought for this freedom, including many people in my family and I am

New Gloucester Selectman George Colby’s comment  at the December 3rd select board meeting has recently raised the question of what it means to be racist and what qualifies as a racist comment. There is often a misleading and false rhetoric that in order to be racist, someone has to explicitly espouse racist views, slurs, or comments. This narrative leads to the mentality that we can easily categorize people, comments, or ideas as racist or not racist. This oversimplification