The New England Green Pastures Committee recently awarded Taylor Brothers Farms, run by Rob Taylor ’93 and his brothers  Jim and Bill, the 2012 New Hampshire Dairy Farm of the Year.

Long-time NH Commissioner of Agriculture and University System of New Hampshire board member Stephen Taylor (recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from KSC in 2011) and his wife Gretchen started the farm in Meriden, NH, in 1970

Read all about it in the Union Leader.

Here’s the Nelson Town Library when Kristine Finnegan ’91 became library director 20 years ago. The photo (right) doesn’t show that the library had moldy books, no water, no bathroom, and the windows were nailed shut. Each of the granite steps leading up to the library was a different height and they were treacherous, especially in winter. A number of patrons would phone ahead and tell Kris what books they wanted, or they would ask her to select something for them. Then they would drive to the base of the hill below the library and Kris would go down and meet them with their books. The library definitely had a problem with accessibility.

Here’s the Nelson Town Library today (photo below), after Kris marshaled her limited resources to advocate for a new building:

As a result, the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association chose a very deserving Kristine Finnegan to be 2012’s Library Director of the Year. The award is given for professionalism, leadership, and outstanding performance to a library director who offers programs which enhance the quality of life in their community.

Continue reading Total Library Makeover (and other impressive accomplishments) Wins Kris Finnegan ’91 Library Director of the Year →

The New Hampshire Department of Education recently named Heidi Welch ’96, director of music at Hillsboro-Deering High School, the state’s Teacher of the Year. According to the Department of Ed’s website, “The selection committee recognized her passion for education, the excitement she brings to the classroom, and her ability to reach every student. She possesses boundless commitment to support and guide the successes of her students. She realizes that literacy is the key to being truly free and strives to engage students in this pursuit through music. Literacy through music means that her students study American history in the context of the music of people’s lives and the times, that students read the plays to which they are performing the scores, and that reading is fundamental but literacy means so much more.”
Continue reading Heidi Welch ’96: NH Teacher of the Year →

Jonathan Cooper ’97 was recently promoted to Vice President Media Relations & Employee Communications at Digital First Media, which jointly manages the Journal Register Company and MediaNews Group (offering more than 800 print and online products). Before joining the corporate staff at Digital First Media, Cooper held several positions with the Journal Register Company, including leading the Ben Franklin Project, an experiment to publish 18 daily websites and newspapers using free, web-based tools, and he began work on Project Thunderdome, the company’s digital content operations center. He also launched the Journal Register Company’s Media Labs (community-focused media training centers) as well as the open-to-the-public newsroom as part of the Company’s growing audience-focused engagement strategy.

“I made the move to digital while working in New Haven, Conn., at The Register, because I saw a way to tell stories in different formats—especially video,” Cooper explained. “The ability to create and edit video was no longer reserved for television, because the tools and equipment needed were available to everyone—including our audience. Now, there is even the ability for our newsrooms to livestream news without the cost of a TV station’s satellite truck.
Continue reading Digital Journalist Jonathan Cooper ’97 Sees Opportunities for Current Students →

Born in Nashua, Maggi Blanche Parker ’48 taught in New Hampshire and on Cape Cod after receiving her degree in education from what was then Keene Teachers College. But soon the big world beckoned, and the Air Force hired her to run schools in Japan and then in Madrid, Spain, and Mallorca. After that, she married and moved to Hawaii in 1964, where she co-founded the Parker-Ames Center in Honolulu, which offered psychological and educational services to emotionally disturbed children and young adults.

She also pursued her love of acting. “Love of the theater made me a good teacher.” she claimed. She excelled in both careers, landing the role of May, a secretary to Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett (played by Jack Lord), in the popular Hawaii-Five-O television series. She also appeared in the TV show I Dream of Jeannie; several movies, including I Sailed to Tahiti with an All-Girl Crew, Hawaii, and Paradise Hawaiian Style; and other television and radio spots.

She continues to travel the world, and her itinerary still includes New Hampshire and Keene State—she says she was last on campus in 2008.

Read more about her in Cow Hampshire: New Hampshire’s History Blog.