Tracy Minard ’10: Serving the Peace Corps in Bulgaria

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"My third grade class of only six students with their pumpkins we carved. It was easy to have everyone bring a pumpkin to school because the whole village grows them in their gardens! (Typically to use to feed their animals.)" Photo courtesy of Tracy Minard

Most students look for a college that’s far enough away from home, but not too far away. It’s nice to be able to get home for long weekends, or when the laundry gets too piled up. But Tracy Minard ’10 sure isn’t most students. She grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and made her first long trip to Keene when she arrived as a freshman. She studied English and minored in writing, but even moving across a large continent didn’t assuage her wanderlust. She spent a semester abroad in Florence and did an internship with the Center for International Studies in Northampton, Mass.

But distant horizons still beckoned, and she joined the Peace Corps before she’d even graduated from KSC. It must not have been to out of character for her, though. When she told her friends what she’d done, they all responded, “Of course you’re joining the Peace Corps, Tracy!” Now she’s living in a small Muslim village in the Rhodopi Mountains in southern Bulgaria, teaching English to grades 2–8.
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In Memoriam: Professor Kristi Alvarez

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Following a brave fight against cancer, former Associate Professor of Geography Kristin J Alvarez died peacefully in her sleep. Prof. Alvarez started teaching at KSC in the fall of 1999, earning a reputation as an excellent geography teacher and a leader in social science education, committed to broadening the geography education experience for students. She was also recognized for her integrity, work ethic, and indomitable spirit.

Dr. Alvarez left Keene State College in 2009 when she was offered a signature opportunity at the University of Redlands in California that allowed her to work with a local school district and a brand new high school to infuse geospatial technologies and spatial thinking into the curriculum.

Dr. Alvarez and her family maintained a Caring Bridge page for her. Enter  kristinalvarez in the “Visit a Site” box.

KSC Awarded Grants to Protect Valuable Collections

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KSC recently received grants to preserve and protect its most valuable collections and archived material.

The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the College  $5,560 for “Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan and Staff Training to Preserve Special Collections and Film Archives.” The project will help create a disaster preparedness and recovery plan for the College’s archives, special collections, and film holdings; provide staff with training in emergency preparedness and response planning; and prepare disaster supply kits. The College’s holdings consist of over 250 linear feet of archival and manuscript material and over 6,000 volumes of print and bound materials, covering predominantly the disciplines of history, literature, poetry, film studies, Holocaust and genocide studies, and anthropology. The Film Archives holdings include approximately 1,000 color and black & white motion-picture films.
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Women’s Soccer Team Wins NSCAA Academic Award

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The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) recognized the Owl women’s soccer team for their academic achievement. The Owls’ lofty 3.56 combined GPA for fall 2010 and spring 2011 puts them in elite company. Among the 572 teams recognized, including all three NCAA Divisions and NAIA, Keene State is ranked 22nd. The Owls are seventh among the 179 Division III teams honored, and had the second-best GPA in New England behind MIT.  And they’re good athletes, too. They finished the season with a 15-7-3 record, captured the Little East Conference regular season championship and earned a berth in the ECAC New England tournament.

Read more. …

Winter’s Best at Winterfest!

For Parents, Mark Your Calendar, Uncategorized

Some of the warmest memories of KSC have got to involve snow. Come to campus for the weekend of February 3–5, for more memory-making opportunities. We’ve got lots of things planned, including:

  • snow tubing at Granite Gorge on Friday night
  • one of Warren Miller’s spectacular ski films on Friday and Saturday
  • a snow-sculpture contest
  • men’s and women’s basketball (vs USM!)
  • the ever-exciting rail jam
  • KSC ski day at Mt. Sunapee on Sunday!

And that’s just some of the fun! Check out the full schedule on the Winterfest page, and start making your plans.

Come to Work at KSC

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KSC is a great place to work, and we’re always happy to hear from alums or others in the extended KSC community who have the skills and experience we can use. We have several faculty and staff positions open. Here are a few:

  • Experimental psychology, tenure-track assistant professor
  • Political science, tenure-track assistant professor
  • Health science, tenure-track assistant professor
  • Safety and Occupational Health Applied Science, industrial chemist, tenure-track assistant professor
  • Physical education, tenure-track assistant professor
  • Teacher education-elementary education, tenure-track position
  • Teacher education-early childhood education, tenure-track position
  • Advisor, Academic and Career Advising
  • Construction Specialist, NH OSHA consultation program
  • Campus Safety officers

Find out more, and apply online on the Employment Opportunities page (updated regularly). For more information, contact Heather McGreer, assistant director of Human Resources, at 603-358-2471 or hmcgreer@keene.edu

Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through MIT’s Male Math Maze

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Continuing its 30th anniversary season, the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College (KSC) will present a hilarious solo show in which algorithms and sexism collide. Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through MIT’s Male Math Maze will be performed on Thursday, February 2, at 7:30 p.m. Inspired by the actual experiences of actress-playwright and recovering mathematician Gioia De Cari, this comical one-woman play follows De Cari’s misadventures as a female PhD candidate in the elite boys club of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s math department in the 1980s.

Tickets range from $10 to $25 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office, 603-358-2168 or ordering online.

More information. … 

Maureen Ahern’s Artwork at Derryfield School

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"Brush By," by Maureen Ahern, 14" x 10" mixed media with interference paint on cradled board.

If you’ll be in Manchester from Jan. 9–Feb. 10, stop in at the Derryfield School’s Lyceum Gallery to enjoy Occular Rhythm: Two Views, an exhibit of artwork by Thorne Art Gallery Director Maureen Ahern and Paul Cooper. There will be a closing reception on Friday, Feb. 10, from 5:30–7 p.m. (before the Upper School Musical).

Gallery Hours: 8 a.m.–4 p.m. (schooldays).

Where’d I See That?

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OK, after the holidays, everyone needs a break. So this one’s soooooo easy. Where is it, and what’s it about?

If you think you know the answer, please write it legibly on a slip of paper and stick it inside a 1947 King 3B trombone and mail it, in the trombone’s original case, to Newsline, Alumni Center, 229 Main St., Keene, NH 03435. Or use the “comments” link, below.

KSC Film, Enter to Learn … Go Forth to Serve, Now Available on Amazon!

For Parents, Uncategorized

The remarkable film by Larry Benaquist and Lance Levesque (and a wealth of film students), Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve: The First Hundred Years of Keene State College, is now available at the KSC Bookstore, and on Amazon.com. That makes it easy for anyone to get a copy of this excellent record of the historic events that led from a normal school established in Keene in 1909 to train good teachers to the development of New Hampshire’s premier public liberal arts college. The film aired on New Hampshire Public Television several times this fall.

Sing in Dr. Lehman’s Final KSC Concert

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Dr. Carroll Lehman

Good singers take note: You’re invited to join in a special performance on April 28, 2012, as Dr. Carroll J. Lehman, professor of music, conducts his last concert with the KSC Oratorio Society, which he formed in 1985. The Oratorio Society will perform Dvorak’s very beautiful Stabat Mater, and KSC faculty, staff, and Keene community members are invited to participate. Rehearsals will take place on Monday evenings from 7:30–9:30, beginning on January 23, 2012. The orchestra will consist of faculty, students, and professional musicians. KSC alumni who have gone on to distinguish themselves in academe and on the stage will sing the solos. Interested singers who have sung this work with Dr. Lehman should contact him (via email or phone: 603-358-2179) about the number of rehearsals you need to attend. Let him know of your interest and if you have a score.

KSC’s New Owl and Image

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KSC's athletic owl

As part of a larger effort to let people know that there’s a new energy on campus, KSC has designed a new logo and owl. We talked to a lot of people—students, faculty, staff, alumni, and neighbors and friends—and developed a redefined image that accurately captures what Keene State is all about. That’s reflected in our new guiding principle, “Wisdom to make a difference,”  which builds on the longstanding “Enter to learn … Go forth to serve.”

As we created the new KSC owl, we asked for your input in the process. We received thousands of votes and comments—thank you, everyone who pitched in. We got lots of great input, and we listened to what you had to say. We learned that we didn’t communicate with you as effectively as we could have; please accept our apologies for that. Specifically, we did not make it clear that, while there will be only one Keene State owl, that owl can appear in more than one pose, depending on the situation.
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