John Lunt Friend of Technology Award

The John Lunt Friend of Technology award was established by ACTEM in 2006 as a way to recognize individuals who have made a significant contribution to education and technology in Maine. 

The ACTEM Board has a test for the John Lunt award based on the Crystal Priest rule. Crystal is a former ACTEM President and conference chair. The basis for the rule is when a person retires and a name is presented to the ACTEM board, the response needs to be “Of Course”.  The ACTEM Board said “Of course” to the following two retiring educators for 2026.

The Inscription on the Award Reads….

“For your many years of outstanding service, dedication, and support of Maine students and educators, resulting in the advancement of teaching & learning with technology.”

David Trask

Will Bachman, a colleague from David’s district presented the following about David Trask at the annual fall conference:

How might one distill 40 years in education down to the simple essence of a career? I would go with “relentless optimist.”  Driven by a true tinkerer’s mindset, they have always been the quintessential
early adopter.  Let’s face it, new initiatives and new technology come at us with a relentless pace. We’ve always needed someone who is willing to jump in feet first, figure things out, and then share the tips and tricks along with the disasters and surprises.  This year’s recipient gladly adopted that role, and throughout those four decades, they’ve made it their mission to spark enthusiasm for technology among students and fellow educators.

If you’ve spent any time in our community, you know their work well. They’ve been a prodigious contributor to the ACTEM listserv and frequent presenter at our conferences.  For fifteen years, they poured their energy into organizing the Free and Open Source Software in Education conference, advocating for free software while bringing teachers and tech staff together over the summer to share and collaborate. In 2007, they were named the Maine Technology Educator of the Year.

At heart, David is an unrepentant tech nerd, and instinctively and irrepressibly a teacher.  I can’t count the number of times they have greeted me from behind a pile of computers and robots, with an enthusiastic “check this out!”

Please join me in recognizing an incredible educator, colleague, and friend as we present the John Lunt Award to one of this year's recipients: David Trask.

Rachel Guthrie

Gary Lanoie, ACTEM Executive Director and colleague of Rachel Guthrie from our mutual old district, (Cape Elizabeth) presented the award at ACTEM’s annual fall conference:

Rachel Guthrie was born and raised in Texas, where she spent the 50s and 60s learning more about ranching than shoveling snow. She moved to Maine at around age 10, and she always stated that the four seasons inspired her creativity. 

Rachel earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drawing from the University of Southern Maine, a certification of Higher Education in European Studies from Institute for American Universities in, France, and a master’s degree in education from Goddard College in Vermont.

Rachel had a successful career for about 20 years in the Graphic Design field, working for companies such as LL Bean, Cuddledown, Tom’s of Maine, UNUM, and Burgess Advertising.  These experiences, along with inspiration from a few amazing educators, led her to change careers and pursue education, where she has worked for the past 20 years, from K-12 to Higher Ed.

I first met Rachel Guthrie back in 1999 when she was hired as a teacher and Ed Tech for the computer lab at the Middle School in Cape Elizabeth.  At that time, I was the Technology Coordinator in Cape.  Rachel managed the lab and helped the staff feel comfortable in the early stages of having computers in schools.

Rachel worked for several years at the Middle School, then move to Cape High School and eventually was offered a position at Southern Maine Community College  as a Professor in Communications & New Media.  Because of Rachel’s skills and talents, she was just offered the position at SMCC and never was asked interviewed for it.  

Rachel states her favorite part of working at SMCC is the students. “Even today, when a student thanked me (profusely!) for helping them, I thought to myself, it's my job! And it is honestly so rewarding,” she said. “Sometimes the days are long, and yet, I don't feel taken advantage of, because helping students reach their goals, and even sometimes accomplish a lifetime dream ... it's what we do!”

Rachel's contributions to ACTEM have also been tremendous! Rachel has been involved  with ACTEM since around 2006. Whenever ACTEM needed a design for conference programs, posters, logos, swag, or anything, Rachel was always willing to help.  Rachel also does all the design work on ACTEM’s quarterly newsletter to this day.  Fortunately for ACTEM, she plans to continue doing this work even in her retirement.

Thank you, Rachel, for all you have done for ACTEM and the many Students plus Educators of Maine!