HOULTON, Maine – As part of an ongoing celebration of providing educational opportunities to the residents of southern Aroostook, western New Brunswick, and northern Washington and Penobscot counties for more than 20 years, the Houlton Higher Education Center is placing a spotlight on another local graduate.
This feature will spotlight members of the local community who were able to start, work on, and/or complete their degrees by using the educational resources at HHEC, showing the connection of education and community success.
This next spotlight focuses on Michael Dobbs, a 1995 graduate from Houlton High School. After graduating high school, he spent 20 years in the military as an Indirect Fire Infantryman. Upon retirement, he made the decision to return to Houlton to be close to his family and finish his college education.
Dobbs enrolled with the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) through the Houlton Center, where he attended several of his required courses.
“Being able to finish my degree so close to home was extremely important to me as I was adjusting to life after the military,” he said.
In 2017, Dobbs graduated Summa Cum Laude with his bachelor of arts in history and political science. After graduating from UMPI, Dobbs began working as a substitute teacher and, eventually, as an Ed Tech with RSU 29. During this time, he decided to continue his education and obtain his master’s degree in instructional technology with the University of Maine, which will be completed in May of 2022.
In March of 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, Dobbs began working at the UMPI campus as an instructional technologist. In this position, he assisted the faculty at the university with the transitioning to a new learning management system.
In March of 2022, he was promoted to the role of instructional designer, and works with faculty on their competency-based courses. With his duties, Dobbs can be seen at the Houlton Center at various times assisting faculty, staff, and students.
He has also been known to help out on different Houlton Center-based projects, always with the “giving back to community” mindset.
Additionally, he is also active in the Houlton Community by serving as the current Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus Houlton Council and is one of the assistant coaches for the Houlton Shires Varsity Football team.
