Real-world learning opportunities at Keene State are neither new nor fleeting.
Brett Vance ’94 is a reminder of that.
Twenty-seven years into his teaching career, the Owl grad says a Keene State student exchange at the Belgorod Pedagogical Institute in Belgorod, Russia, cemented his career ambition.
The then-teacher training institute is now Belgorod State University, home to 23,000 students from all regions of Russia, and features nine educational and research innovation complexes.
“There I visited local schools with cooperating teachers and officials,” Brett recalled. “Being the first American that these individuals had met built an awareness for me about the responsibility to present myself well for my country.”
He returned knowing that he wanted to be a teacher.
“It was a different place and time; however, I’ve never forgotten the learning and the level of student engagement. It was truly inspiring.”
I have had the most amazing career that has allowed me to apply my passions to hook kids to appreciate history.”
– Brett Vance
Brett majored in history at Keene State and earned a minor in sociology. He lives in Hollis, N.H., with his wife, and they have one child. Brett is in his 25th year as a social studies teacher at Alvirne High School in Hudson. Remarkably, nine of Brett’s current teaching colleagues at the 1,008-student school are Keene State alums.
More than not, Keene State alums, such as Brett and his colleagues, stay close to the area or in the state to teach. According to Educators Rising, nationally 60 percent of teachers are in classrooms within 20 miles of where they went to college. Educators Rising supports students interested in education-related careers.
Brett is the current president of the N.H. Council for the Social Studies. A primary goal of the Council is to increase pre-service teacher membership, he said. At the Council’s annual conference, Brett spoke about the need to inspire the next generation of teachers to “stick it out in this difficult yet rewarding profession.”
“Idyllic setting” and “proximity to nature” were qualities Brett liked about Keene State. Social science academic offerings, especially the humanities, were also big draws for him. During his Keene State years, a team of caring faculty skillfully guided him in his education.
He didn’t declare his major right away; rather, Brett selected a range of courses based on his interest. “My life experience and sociology study have taught me to keep an open mind toward learning, and view almost any issue from multiple perspectives.”
“I have leaned on my Keene State education in my teaching over the years. Some of my best lessons include historical anecdotes learned from Professor Carl Granquist. The amazing thing is that I can still recall every detail, including Carl’s voice intonation from his lectures, some 30 years later.”
Among other influential faculty, he also singled out Dr. Charles Hildebrandt and Dr. Valentin Doborovich, for whom Brett worked as a language assistant.
In 2006, Brett’s AP European History class interviewed Dr. Sergei Khrushchev, virtually, about the Cuban Missile Crisis. At the time, Khruschev, the son of former Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev, who succeeded Joseph Stalin, was living in Rhode Island, where he arrived as a visiting scholar at Brown University.
As part of a current statewide project that Brett is helping to lead, seven teachers were chosen to coach seven students to read The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens and interview Dr. Bill Haas, former U.S. diplomat, and N.Y. Times best-selling author. Hass will lead a panel discussion with the students as part of this New Hampshire civics collaboration.
Opportunities like these, Brett said, make his profession fulfilling.
“I have had the most amazing career that has allowed me to apply my passions to hook kids to appreciate history. Teaching is the most challenging profession and the most rewarding at the same time. The longer you teach the more rewarding it becomes.”
