Mrs. Young spent most of her life growing up in New York State and moved to New Hampshire as a young adult to study Liberal Arts at Magdalen College (Northeast College). She then moved to Rhode Island where she worked for several years with young girls, ages 4-12, at Overbrook Academy (International Boarding School), focusing on their human, intellectual & spiritual formation.
Seeking to further her education, she returned to New York to attend Dover Technical School, obtaining certification as a Medical Assistant and a Phlebotomist while working at an adult home caring for the elderly. Upon graduation, she entered the medical field by assisting private medical doctors in patient care, medical procedures, and lab work.
Mrs. Young once again desired to work in the education of children and took a job as a full-time nanny, homemaker, and teacher of 5 homeschooled children, ages 1-9. She kept this position until she was married and began to raise a family of her own. She then focused her acquired education experience on homeschooling her five children over the course of 15 years. It was during this time that she and her husband relocated to Berlin and became a part of the Good Shepherd and Holy Family Parish community. She immediately expressed her support of opening a Catholic School in this community.
My name is Sister Mary of Confidence Etheridge. I entered the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara on July 14, 2018 after teaching for over thirty years as a Physical Educator in Baldwin County Alabama. I also had the privilege of teaching Catechism and working with the youth of Christ the King Catholic Church in Daphne, Alabama.
The Lord called me to religious life after my husband, Doug, passed away from cancer. We were married for twenty nine years. The Lord blessed my husband and I with two wonderful boys. Our oldest is Father Christopher Etheridge, a priest in our Religious Family of the Incarnate Word and Cody Etheridge, who is employed at Catholic University of America in the Marketing Department.
One of the blessings I have received from entering religious life is that I have been able to grow in a greater love of the Eucharist, Our Blessed Mother and the Cross. It is my desire to help my students to grow closer to Christ through these loves.
Mrs. Brasil has dedicated her time to teaching children how to read and write and has been a private tutor for kids with educational needs, autism and learning disabilities for several years. She studied Early Childhood Education at Cape Cod Technical Vocational school in Harwichport, MA. There she focused on learning the basic principles of education and attaining skills for the psychological development of children from birth to age 8. She also learned how to provide developmentally appropriate educational activities for various age groups. Mrs. Brasil is a certified catechist, through the McGrath Institute for Church Life at University of Notre Dame. Mrs. Brasil has two adult sons and is married to the Grand Knight for the Berlin Knights of Columbus chapter, Joe Brasil. Mrs. Brasil generously gives so much of her time she could be deemed a professional volunteer. She is part of the Vocation Ministry team at Good Shepherd and Holy Family Parish. Melissa enjoys exploring planets and stars alongside cooking and learning different regional cuisines--Italian and French are her favorite.
Regina Hayes graduated with a BS in Education from Franciscan University of Steubenville in May 2022. She is originally from Sutton, NH, and lived in several places before moving to Gorham in 2020. She enjoys reading and language arts the most, but she can also get excited about math. One of her favorite hobbies is Irish dance, which she has been doing since she was seven years old. She learned from field experiences during college that she would greatly prefer to teach at a genuinely and faithfully Catholic school and is very excited to complete her first year of teaching at Salve Regina Academy.
Mrs. McMeeken was born and raised in San Diego, CA. She attended the University of Redlands in Redlands, CA as a Voice major in the College of Music. During her time at university, she was able to study abroad in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Mozart, and travel throughout Europe, including to the Vatican. The experience of living in a Catholic nation and visiting so many beautiful Catholic churches and religious sites contributed to her journey of conversion to the Catholic faith. After graduating college with a BA in Music, she joined the RCIA program at her local parish, and was confirmed in the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil in 2009. Later that year, she married her husband Sean, also a musician, and they have continued in
music ministry together. Mrs. McMeeken spent the next 11 years raising their 3 sons, while working and volunteering in her parish in the music ministry, youth ministry, and VBS programs. She also put in many hours of volunteer work in Mr. McMeeken's classroom. In the summer of
2021, it became clear that God was calling Mr. McMeeken to leave his 17 year career as a public high school band teacher. The family was ultimately led to come to the greater Berlin, NH area, to join the Good Shepherd and Holy Family parishes, with Mr. McMeeken as a parish
organist, and Mrs. McMeeken being called to teach at SRA. The McMeeken family arrived in late November 2021, after a 3,000 mile cross-country road trip, and now lives in Gorham.
Mrs. McMeeken has found a new passion in teaching, and is continuing her education as a teacher. She is also one of the cantors for Good Shepherd and Holy Family parishes. She enjoys reading, hiking to waterfalls, gardening, and making things. She is grateful for the
opportunity to teach at an authentically Catholic school, where the expression of faith is not suppressed, but an integral part of the school, and Christ is present in every classroom.
Mother Apostle of Joy entered the Institute Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of
Matará on June 25th , 2012, one month after graduating from Benedictine College
with degrees in Elementary Education and Special Education. She made her
perpetual profession of vows on September 14, 2019. During her time as a
religious missionary, she has been blessed to serve in the houses of formation for
the Institute and to be the Director of Religious Education for three years in one of
the Parishes run by the priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (priest of the
Religious Family of the Incarnate Word of which the sisters belong to).
Mother Apostle of Joy is looking forward to her first-year teaching at Slave Regina
Academy. Following the example of St. John Bosco, she hopes to create an
environment where her students can grow in virtue and a personal love of our Lord
Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother while having fun at the same time!
Karin Puiia is a wife and a mom of three biological children; Amelia (13), Oliver (10) and Sawyer (8) as well as two bonus daughters; Angelina (12) and Rosaria (10), from West Paris, Maine.
Karin brings almost a decade of classroom experience between being a substitute teacher and then a full time classroom teacher. She spent the last six years teaching second and third grade at Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris. Classroom management and technology use are strengths she will bring to our school.
Some of Karin’s favorite subjects to teach are Reading, Social Emotional Studies, and Social Studies, but teaches across the curriculum.
Karin has a variety of hobbies she enjoys between teaching and raising her family. Karin is an avid baker of sweet treats like cakes, cheesecakes, cinnamon rolls and bagels. She also enjoys reading, walking on the beach, swimming and traveling to the Caribbean.
Karin is excited about joining our school and embracing the new journey ahead of her!
Ben Robertson has been a part of Salve Regina Academy since the days when it was just an audacious dream. From choosing paint colors for classroom walls to teaching 5th & 6th grade Math, Science, and History, he has been a part of the SRA family both behind the scenes and at the front of the classroom from day one. In addition to getting to know our students at school, he has formed relationships with many of our students and parents in his role as Director of Faith Formation at Good Shepherd & Holy Family parishes, overseeing family Faith Formation, RCIA, youth groups, outreach, and lifelong adult formation. Originally from Columbus, OH, Mr. Robertson came to us by way of the Bronx, NY where he served the Archdiocese of New York as Young Adult Outreach Coordinator. He holds a BA in Philosophy with a minor in Music, and has been heavily involved in the catechetical, social, and liturgical ministries of the parishes since 2016. Mr. Robertson has a passion for the Truth and Beauty of the Catholic Church which he entered as a convert at the Easter Vigil 2013, and loves to engage young people and adults who want to dig into their Faith and seek answers to the most important life questions. He is fortunate to have been blessed with the greatest wife and children in the history of wives and children: Clara, Bonaventure (age 1), and Chiara (age 4), who attends PreK at SRA. His interests include Tolkien, classic film, anime, cosmology, theology, board games, and bizarre food. He is also a self-confessed music and coffee snob.