Rebecca Michelle Cuevas De Caissie is an award-winning poet and editor, a celebrated teacher in Florida’s Citrus County School District, and a research and development expert at the University of New Brunswick-Canada, where she is an English literature doctoral candidate and earned her diploma in university teaching and a Bachelor of Arts in English literature. She also holds a Master of Arts in medieval literature from Acadia University and has received some of the highest honors throughout the last two decades for her academic and writing prowess from the University of New Brunswick Saint John, the Canadian Federation of Poets, the Golden Key Honor Society, Poetry.com, and the World Famous Poet Society, along with being selected by the Cormorant Reader as a former Poet Laureate of Blue Cottage Nova Scotia.
The author of such acclaimed titles as “Fire and Ice: Darkness and an Arcadian Love’s Song”; “An Arcadian Love Song”; “Echoes of the Caves”; “Lamentations of the Caves”; as well as numerous journal articles, papers, and presentations, Ms. Cuevas De Caissie, in parallel, is a lead teacher of students who test consistently above the national average. Yet her most personally meaningful claim to fame is when she succeeds at convincing students who initially lack confidence that they, too, can accomplish whatever they set their minds to do. Attributing her success to loving people and her professions and surrounding herself with good individuals, the dedicated educator—and a former longtime retail manager early on—has enjoyed an extensive and stellar career that includes her current roles as a teacher at Crystal River High School and a senior invigilator at the University of New Brunswick.
Ms. Cuevas De Caissie’s many previous positions were, yet not limited to, stints as a reading teacher at Labelle Middle School in Florida and as a stipend instructor, research assistant, student accessibility coordinator, and teacher apprentice of English literature, all at the University of New Brunswick Saint John. Her goal in the coming years is to publish research that is useful to people outside of the academic world. She also wants to develop very clear, back-to-basic ways of teaching young people how to read.
A sought-after authority in all her spheres, Ms. Cuevas De Caissiestays abreast of industry developments and shares her knowledge as a lecturer for the Humanities Education and Research Association and as a member of the Canadian Applied Literature Association, the Canadian Society of Medievalists, and the Atlantic Mediaeval Association. Her prior memberships and other relevant connections were with the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Film Studies Association of Canada, and as a fellow with the Urban and Community Studies Institute at the University of New Brunswick, area chair of the Canadian Federation of Poets, and the youth director and editor of the Anthology for The Poetry of Children.
Having a track record of being committed to serving her community as a volunteer, Ms. Cuevas De Caissie has worked civically for decades to help to foster positive change in people’s lives as a primary graduate student representative on the Teaching Excellence and Policy Committee at the University of New Brunswick, a needle exchange worker at AIDS Saint John, the host of her own talk show titled “Rebecca on Your Radio,” a participant in the annual Fete en Blanc event, supporter of the Saint John Loyalist House Restoration Project, a venue captain for three years at the Fundy Fringe Festival, founder of the Help Harold Campaign, and founder of the Kent-Albert County Chapter of Coats for Kids. She continues to donate her time and expertise to community events that are close to her heart. The mother of five children, Ms. Cuevas De Caissie cherishes time with her family and enjoys nature, hiking, epicurean delights, and learning about the culture and passions of others.
