By Kalvin D. Perron
Staff Reporter
BAY MILLS — There is one thing the new principle of the Bay Mills Ojibwe Charter School Nadine Cain is not good at — retirement! Two years after her retirement from Cedarville Schools, Cain received a phone call from former OCS Principal Diane Benjamin too see if she was interested in taking the helm of the charter school. The former teacher, principal and superintendent decided retirement was not for her and is now back to doing what she loves.
“I tell people I flunked retirement,” she joked. “Diane did a really good job of talking me out of it.”
Cain can now add chief administrative officer (CAO) of Bay Mills Ojibwe Charter School to her already-impressive resume, which includes teaching special education, teaching middle and elementary school gifted and talented students, consulting for gifted education for Montcalm Intermediate School District (ISD). The educator also served as a school board member, elementary principle, middle school principle and superintendent, as well as writing grants for the Michigan Department of Education. She taught for 12 years, and was elementary principle for 17 years.
Cain's academic accomplishments are equally impressive as her job resume. She graduated with a Bachelors Degree in English Literature, and obtained her Masters degree in Reading and School Administration from Central Michigan University, as well as a specialist degree in School Administration.
Her dedication to academics and hard work rubbed off on her two children, Scott and Mary. Scott graduated from weapons school in the Air Force Academy and will be attending Test Pilot School to become an astronaut. He is currently serving in the United States Air Force as a Stealth Fighter Pilot. Her daughter, Mary, is currently the administrator of a cardiology practice in San Francisco.
Cain was born in Alma, Mich., and was raised on a small dairy farm. From an early age she loved the outdoors. As a child, she would travel to a small lake north of her hometown with her grandmother and watch her make reed mats. Her appreciation for art and nature is something she has carried with her throughout her life.
“I have a great respect for our environment and its importance in our lives,” she said, adding that she spends a great deal of her free time working hard to preserve the environment.
Cain began visiting the Upper Peninsula in 1989. Her early visits led her to Lime Island on the St. Mary's River where she spent long hours restoring an old schoolhouse. After frequent visits to the area, Cain decided she wanted to make the U.P. her new home. She went back to her job as principal in Holt, Mich., and told the staff she was moving to the Upper Peninsula.
“I just fell in love with this area,” she said. “I really feel at home up here.”
When she's not working, Cain likes spending time outdoors. She enjoys snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing, and hiking. This summer she will be constructing a five-foot birch bark canoe, a trade she is learning from an elderly man in Cedarville.
Cain said the Bay Mills Ojibwe Charter School is everything she envisioned an ideal school should be.
“If I were to start my ideal school, it would be what we have here,” she said, “The curriculum and cultural emphasis are great aspects of the school.”
Cain recently wrote a Michigan Humanities Grant to bring local artisans to the school each week to showcase their talents.
“I want to plant seeds in the children's minds so they will learn to appreciate art,” she said.
Cain said she is excited to be working with the extraordinary staff at the charter school and that people can expect her to be effective and efficient in her job.
“It's all about the children. I love children,” she said. “It's the twinkle in their eyes when you teach them something new. That's why I do what I do.”
