Kathryn Long ’23 admits that she may carry the teaching gene. After all, her grandmother was a music teacher for more than 30 years, and her mother was a math teacher for more than three decades until her recent retirement.

It’s inspirational to count among her most-valued mentors close family who were teachers, Kathryn, who is from Sanbornton, N.H., says. “They are the best support. They are there for me through the good and the difficult that teaching brings.”

But for Kathryn, who earned bachelor’s degrees in elementary education and studio art at Keene State and who is enrolled in the College’s one-year master’s of special education track, the good far outweighs any difficulty.

Her real drive for wanting to be a special education teacher is more intimate. Through her methods and student teaching experiences, Kathryn saw first-hand students struggling and was confronted with the challenge of figuring out how best to help them. “That,” she said, “solidified for me how I wanted to move forward after getting my undergraduate degrees.”

Special education is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. Kathryn, and all Keene State graduates, are uniquely prepared to enter the classroom and be the next generation of teachers. They are hired quickly and enjoy rewarding careers. They can be found across the country and abroad, but many of them stay in the region and the state to do what they’ve trained for and love, which helps to address to sustain a homegrown workforce pipeline that has been an integral part of Keene State for its 114-year history.

Keene State practices what it preaches to its education students. By that I mean what the department teaches as best practices for students, they hold themselves to that as well. They do not just throw their students in a classroom and expect them to be able to teach. Instead, they take you through the lesson-planning process, research projects, best practices of teaching and they scaffold the support so by the time you are ready to student teach and then teach on your own, you feel ready.”

– Kathryn Long

Graduate students like Kathryn exemplify many of the most favorable qualities the college wants from its pre-service teachers, Lance Neeper, a professor of education at Keene State, says.

“Kathryn has a growth mindset,” Neeper said. “Her coursework reflects her drive to better understand and implement research-based practices, and she is well prepared and is willing to ask questions and take risks to push her understanding and ability to make connections.”

The intangibles, he added, do not go unnoticed, and are not necessarily inherent in teaching candidates.

“Being quickly able to bond and build a trusting foundation with students who may lack confidence in their abilities, that’s one of those intangibles,” he said, “and Kathryn has that. She also has high expectations for her students and views her students who have reading or math support needs as capable and needing an effective teacher.”

“She has shined in so many ways.”

Kathryn made taking initiative within her school community and becoming a trusted team member look easy, Neeper said.

Endorsed by the N.H. Department of Education, Keene State’s master’s program features a yearlong intensive internship in a public school setting and 27 credits of licensure courses scheduled for after-work hours, late afternoons, or weekday evenings.

“I knew pretty quickly that Keene State was a place where I could blossom and reach my potential,” Kathryn said. “My first year was when the pandemic hit. Those impacted classes, dorm living, and friendships. After returning to campus my sophomore year, the College did a wonderful job continuing with life as normal…or as normal as it could be.”

Kathryn began her undergraduate teaching placements in Keene-area elementary schools during the fall of her junior year. She was first assigned to a split-grade classroom, for 5th- and 6th-graders, for two mornings a week in which her teaching focus was English language arts and social studies. In the spring, she was placed in a 1st-grade classroom for two full days a week and her focus was mathematics and science.

Her student teaching began in the fall of 2023 in a 2nd-grade classroom for five days a week, with a focus on all subjects. She ran the classroom at Franklin School on her own for two weeks, mentor-free, and prepared all lesson plans.

“During those two solo weeks,” Kathryn said. “I was exposed to the ‘real life’ of a teacher and it helped prepare me for teaching as a profession.”

She added: “Keene State practices what it preaches to its education students. By that I mean what the department teaches as best practices for students, they hold themselves to that as well. They do not just throw their students in a classroom and expect them to be able to teach. Instead, they take you through the lesson-planning process, research projects, best practices of teaching and they scaffold the support so by the time you are ready to student teach and then teach on your own, you feel ready.”

It’s a deliberate, highly methodical process, and there are no shortcuts.

She said she is eager to make her full-time classroom impact, ready to be a change-maker, and glad to have her Keene State education and the lessons and wisdom of her mentors to lean on.

“In a perfect world, I would be a 4th-grade special education teacher or general education teacher. I have also considered middle school teaching, whether that be special education or general education.”