Suzanne Charles, adjunct faculty of modern languages, was recently named the New Hampshire Association of World Language Teachers‘ 2011 Teacher of Excellence, which also qualifies her as the Teacher of the Year for World Languages. Charles teaches at Keene High School and has supervised methods students at KSC for 11 years. As part of Keene State College’s “Global to Local” Symposium in November 2009, she presented, with two other KHS modern-language teachers, on a panel about the school’s innovative exchange program.
Cambridge Who’s Who has recognized KSC chemistry professor Dr. Jerry P. Jasinski for demonstrating dedication, leadership, and excellence in chemistry and research management. His primary teaching interests include general chemistry, inorganic chemistry, physical chemistry, X-ray crystallography, and biochemistry. The president of the American Institute of Chemists, Dr. Jasinski was honored with a Distinguished Scholarship and Research award in 2001.
Our hero, Catherine Jennison (photo by Bill Jennison)
A KSC senior’s quick thinking and heroic action saved a woman from drowning in Lake Winnipesaukee on July 17. Catherine Jennison of Belmont, N.H., a 21-year-old art major working as a lifeguard at Ellacoya State Park in Guilford, was off duty but still at the beach when a park visitor told her that she’d seen a woman go under the water but not come up.
Catherine grabbed her rescue buoy and hit the water. Two other on-duty lifeguards soon joined her. The trio found a Barrington woman under water and were able to get her to the surface and to shore, where they got her breathing normally.
The state parks system, the town of Gilford, and the Gilford Fire-Rescue Department presented the lifeguards with recognition awards.
As Catherine told us, “I’m so thankful for all the training I have had. Lifeguarding year round has made me such a better lifeguard, and it keeps my skills honed. I’m glad that I have a job at the Keene State pool.” Looks like anyone swimming in the Spaulding pool is in good hands.
Changed jobs lately? Gotten a promotion? Taken a cool vacation? Acquired a new family member? Presented at a conference? Done some community service? Be sure you keep us in the know! Alumni tell us all the time that they really want to hear what their former classmates (that would be you) are up to. We publish that news in the “Class Notes” section of Keene State Today (your alumni magazine) and lots of people (us included) love reading it.
So, what’s up? It only takes a minute to let us know. Write a few lines and send them to your class secretary or use our handy online form. We really do want to know!
To help Keene State students develop a sense of belonging and connection with our college community, a diverse group of KSC administrators, faculty, and staff have created a program aimed at helping our students’ college years serve as a positive rite of passage into healthy adulthood.
The Keene State College Rite of Passage Initiative will begin in August 2010 as a campus-wide effort to engage first-year students and their families, student leaders, administrators, staff, and faculty in conversations, trainings, and presentations on creating an environment that fosters meaningful life choices.
Through the support of a strategic prevention grant from Monadnock Voices for Prevention, we’ll develop and deploy comprehensive strategies to guide students’ natural impulses to invent rites of passage experiences to test and affirm their transition from adolescence to adulthood. The focus is to guide those impulses towards safe, productive leisure-time activities.
If you have insights that might contribute to the success of this program, please give us your comments.
The summer issue of Keene State Today, your favorite alumni magazine, is now online, offering you fascinating stories and a few bonus tracks that enhance the print edition.
Read all about how a boulder from Mt. Ascutney, in Vermont, hitched a ride on a glacier all the way to Keene. Last spring, thanks to travel arrangements coordinated by Class of ’56 alum John Summers, the boulder made the final (we hope) leg of its journey to a grassy area on the west side of the David F. Putnam Science Center.
Or about four projects that integrate KSC’s values of citizenship and academic achievement with opportunities for service in the city of Keene.
Or about the incredibly rich and varied lives of Bruce ’64 and Joanne ’66 Smith, who maintain High Hopes Orchard in Westmoreland, enjoyed successful teaching careers and a flourishing pie-baking business, and have been traveling the world. How do they do it all?
Or about Dave Wenhold ’90, who came to KSC an introvert and graduated to become a leading and compassionate lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He’s developed an advocacy campaign for Keene State to help secure funds for the Monadnock Biodiesel Cooperative and the Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing.
Or about Dr. Larry Benaquist, who came to Keene State to teach Renaissance lit. But then a student asked him a simple question, and he ended up creating the Film Studies program. How does that happen?
Or about siblings Samantha, Riley, and Jackie Benson, who all play sports for KSC and keep their best fans – their parents – running all over to games.
If you’re a runner, you’ll definitely want to read track coach Peter Thomas’ advice – and the advice from some of his top runners – about what makes a good runner.
But wait, there’s more! Just check out the online issue to see it all – and once you’ve delved into these thought-provoking articles, we welcome your online comments.
This summer, the Chemistry Department is hosting its first Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) program on campus, offering five top students the opportunity to do original research under the direct mentorship of a faculty member. During the eight-week SURF program, students have completed research projects ranging from crystal X-ray analysis of pharmaceutically significant molecules (under Dr. Jerry Jasinski) to investigations of lichens as bioindicators of environmental change (Dr. Jim Kraly) and research into green alternative solvents for organic reactions (Dr. Denise Junge).
SURF provides students a means to delve more deeply into chemistry and rack up some impressive experience. The Chemistry Department is seeking funding to continue the program in the years to come.
Abe Osheyack ’06 recently landed a position as sports information director at Smith College. A journalism major, Abe worked with KSC sports information coordinator Stuart Kaufman from 2003–2006, when the seeds for success were planted.
“Working at Keene State opened my eyes to a field that I never knew existed. It’s a field that combines my two loves: sports and writing,” says Abe.
Chelsea Converse ’08 has hired on as communications samurai at North Star Marketing, a marketing and public relations firm in Providence, R.I. She was a communications major with a minor in studio art at KSC.
Chelsea Converse ’08
What’s a communications samurai? According to the company’s press release, Chelsea will lay the groundwork for North Star’s campaign strategy development and implementation – problem solving and contributing creative ideas while managing myriad moving parts on behalf of the firm’s account-service team.
Here’s a special weekend for parents and family to enjoy KSC with their student(s). So mark your calendar and come on over to experience our stunning campus and a full slate of special entertainment, including magician Jay Mattioli and comedian Jeff Dye. Cheer for the women’s volleyball and men’s soccer teams, meet informally with College leaders, and have a blast! Check out the schedule.
Is there a more beautiful time on campus than the fall? Keene never looks better than when she’s wearing her autumn colors. Miss it? We thought so, so we’re giving you the perfect excuse to come back and enjoy KSC at her best. More than just a homecoming, the Alumni Fall Festival & Homecoming will feature opportunities for you to meet with old friends and current students who are members of campus clubs and organizations. You can also look forward to some great entertainment, tailgaiting, and KSC pride competitions out at Owl Stadium. Relive the excitement of cheering on the men’s soccer team under the lights Saturday night. Look for more information in August on our website.
Though June’s Reunion Weekend was over a month ago, people are still talking about the great time they had. Everyone seems to think it was one of the best Reunions ever. No doubt, the new Alumni Center made people feel especially welcome. This magnificent building clearly states that KSC values and welcomes its alumni. You met the same cherished old friends, enjoyed the same great food, and had a great party in your new Center – no wonder everyone was so happy.
So how do we build on that momentum and make next Reunion even better? The Alumni Reunion Weekend Committee will be getting together soon to review the event and make plans for 2011. If you attended Reunion 2010, please help us plan for next year by filling out our brief survey. Tell us how you liked the events, venues, schedule, food, etc. Your opinions matter! We make adjustments each year based on the feedback we hear from participants.
You can even sign on for a seat on the 2011 committee and really make a difference!
Do many of your fond memories of KSC involve the time you spent as a member of a student club or organization? Wouldn’t it be a blast to meet up with the old group again? Well, here’s your chance – the Alumni Fall Festival Weekend is coming up in October, a great excuse to get the old gang back on campus. The Alumni Office will be happy to help you organized a gathering and can help you coordinate with current student groups, arrange a meeting place, plan for refreshments, and get the word out to your special affinity club or group.
Sound good? Email the Alumni Office, or give them a call at 603-358-2369.
Three years in the making, the long-awaited film, Enter to Learn, Go forth to Serve: the First Hundred Years of Keene State College, will premiere at the Colonial Theatre in Keene on Friday, October 1st, kicking off the Alumni Fall Festival & Homecoming weekend. Emeriti faculty member Larry Benaquist and a host of talented production staff have spent countless hours creating this wonderful documentary chronicling the history of Keene State College. He has researched college documents, ancient film footage, slides, yearbooks, and ephemera and interviewed more than 100 alumni, former and current administrators, faculty, and staff.
Dr. Benaquist showed part of the film to a packed house last year during the centennial Reunion.Tickets for the big event will be available in September. You’ll definitely want to mark this one on your calendar!
New KSC alumna Kristine Trutor has been named the 2010 Little East Woman of the Year. The LEC also nominated her for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award, which honors graduating student athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service, and leadership.
After her remarkable success on the Owl swim team this past winter, Trutor was selected as the top swimmer in the Little East for the second-straight season. She also made her second-consecutive appearance at the 2010 NCAA Division III Championships, where she became the first Keene State swimmer to earn All-America honors in an individual event. The film production major made her second appearance on the Little East All-Academic Teams this past winter and helped Keene State raise the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association Championship (NEISDA) trophy for the third year in succession.
OBTS: the Teaching Society for Management Educators, an organization “dedicated to innovative teaching and learning in the organizational and management sciences,” recently named its Distinguished Service Award for Susan Herman, KSC professor emerita of management, who died last year in June.
In 2006, Prof. Herman received the OBTS award, which will now be known as the Susan J. Herman Distinguished Service Award.
Joan Weiner, Chair of the OBTS Awards Committee, said that “as new people come into the organization, Susan’s story will continue to celebrate her life as well as share the values represented in the Award.”
