Canton's Unexpected Teacher Stays for Decades

He may not have ever intended to teach but once truly entrenched, Steve Messier never left the classroom.

Now, however, he is moving on, retiring after being a fixture at Canton High School since 1986.

“I came into teaching unexpectedly,” Messier said. “That was the last thing I thought I could be.”

In the early 1980s Messier was in Newfoundland studying bog ecology. He had obtained a degree in biology from the University of Connecticut and a master’s in botany.

He loved Newfoundland but encountered a slight problem.

“I ran out of funds and needed a real job,” he said. 

Messier found himself in Oregon, struggling to find work when he received a call from a friend at Beckett Academy in East Haddam. The school needed someone to guide kids for 500 miles on the Appalachian Trail.

Messier, now 60, needed the money and the outdoors was where he wanted to be so he went. After the trip, they wanted he to staying on so he did, teaching  outdoor education in the summer and then math and science. He also got to lead more of the AT hikes. 

Along the way he also discovered he loved teaching.

“I found I was really a teacher at heart,” he said. “I enjoy seeing the kids do things.”

After four years that school’s headmaster suggest Messier become certified.

Messier obtained that certification from Central Connecticut State University but before returning to work, took a year to hike to Continental Divide.

Upon returning, Messier applied to Canton High School, landed the job and never left, teaching courses such as environmental science, AP physics, AP biology, botany and zoology.

The school may not sponsor 500-mile hikes but Messier said he found the flexibility to often bring his students outdoors and use the area around the high school as a natural lab.

“I felt I had a lot of autonomy,” he said.

Messier also had the chance to participate in some adventures during his time in Canton, such as a trip up Mount Washington and participating in search programs through what is now the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Messier said discipline problems in his classes were few and far between.

“I felt the kids were respectful of me,” he said.

High School principal Gary Gula, who is also of course retiring, pointed to Messier's quiet strength at a recent staff recognition reception.

“They respect his breadth of knowledge, the humbleness which permeates each of his actions, his willingness to devise a grading system in which every student can be successful, his creativity, and his willingness to listen and to compromise when necessary,” Gula said. “Steve is a teacher who never raises his voice and who never gets rattled, and yet, at all times, remains in control of his class.  Students wouldn’t dare misbehave in Steve’s classroom, not because he has a commanding presence, but because they would be perceived as jerks by their peers.”

Messier lives in Unionville with his wife Mary and son Miles. He said he plans to spend more with family as well as gardening, fishing and bike riding. He hopes to do some traveling as well, hoping to go to Kilimanjaro.

He was also involved in the CT Botanical Society and others.

It’s what he loves to do but one aspect of school will be most absent.

“What I'll miss the most is the laughter,” he said.