In the hallway of Old Town High School sits Tori Hildreth’s biggest professional pride and joy: rolling racks of used clothes.

It’s a free thrift store where anyone, students or staff, can shop.

She cherishes the moments that students find something there, and she spots them later, strutting with confidence down a hallway, their personal style on display.

Hildreth, 31, is a teacher with the Jobs for Maine Graduates program at Old Town High School, where she helps students find pathways to meaningful careers. She grew up on nearby Indian Island, the Penobscot Reservation, and was the first person from her eighth grade class to graduate from college.

A few months after she earned her degree in speech pathology from the University of Maine, she realized it wasn’t the career for her.

“I guess I kind of stumbled into this field because I myself didn’t have the support that I should’ve had when navigating what I wanted to do after high school,” she said.

Hildreth will meet students wherever they are — including at a Dunkin’ donuts shop for help on a job application, said Mark Pullen, her supervisor at Jobs for Maine Graduates.

“She’s somebody that sees needs and takes action,” he said.

Hildreth, who is Penobscot, also works with educators to implement the state’s Wabanaki studies law, which mandates that public schools teach students about Indigenous people in Maine.

Growing up, she was steeped in the pre-colonial contact history of her people. But that wasn’t the case in high school.

“I went to Old Town High School, and I realized how real stereotypes are and how loud ignorance is,” Hildreth said.

She’s working with a group of Penobscot high school students to create short-form vertical videos to make Wabanaki studies more accessible to their peers.

At the ideological core of Wabanaki studies is the idea that Native people still exist and are active, critical contributors to society. That’s something Hildreth not only teaches, but lives.

Reuben M. Schafir is a Report for America corps member who writes about Indigenous communities for the Portland Press Herald.

Maine State Credit Union is dedicated to supporting the people, traditions, and communities that keep our state strong. Learn more at mainestatecu.org.