Women to Be Honored at KSC Awards Banquet
KEENE, N.H. 3/16/02 Four women will be recognized at the 2002 Presidents Outstanding Women of New Hampshire awards ceremony on Thursday, March 28, at the 12th annual Womens History Month Banquet at Keene State College. KSC President Stanley J. Yarosewick will present awards to women representing the Keene State student body, the Keene State faculty and staff, the Monadnock region, and the state of New Hampshire.
The theme for this years event, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Mabel Brown Room of the Student Center, is Women Sustaining the American Spirit. Tickets for the banquet are $15. Reservations are required. For additional information and reservations, call 603-358-2850.
The Presidents Outstanding Women of New Hampshire Awards are based on outstanding service and leadership, especially in the area of equality for women. This years recipients:
Celena Chickering, daughter of Carl and Paula Chickering of Keene, N.H., will receive the award for a KSC student. Chickering, an English major, has distinguished herself for her campus leadership, athletics, and commitment to diversity education. According to her nomination, Chickering has visited KSC education classes to address the importance of having compassionate teachers. She is an active member in KSC PRIDE, an organization that supports gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and their supporters, and she performed in last years production of the Vagina Monologues. Chickering also plays for the KSCs womens soccer team.
Dr. Jan Youga, professor of English, will receive the award given to a College faculty or staff member. As co-chair of the KSC Presidents Commission on the Status of Women, she created the column Consider This, which addresses issues that affect women on college campuses. In cooperation with the KSC Womens Studies Council, Youga contributed to the development of courses for the Womens Studies minor. A member of the writing task force and co-chair for the general education committee, Youga has been involved in improving the quality of teacher education at Keene State. Youga earned her bachelors degree from Northern Illinois University and her masters degree and doctorate from the University of Iowa.
Jean Nelson, Keene State supervisor of student teachers in music, will receive the award for a woman receive the award for a woman from the Monadnock region. Nelson, who has taught music in numerous states throughout New England since 1963, including 23 years at Keene High School, is being honored for dedication to music education in New Hampshire. She currently directs the Keene Pops Choir and the Chamber Singers of Keene. Nelson was awarded the N.H. Music Educator of the Year in 1994, the Keene Rotary Club award for community service in 1994, and the Swift Water Girl Scout Council Hidden Heroine Award in 1997. She participates in church work and theater activities and First Night, Pumpkin Festival, and street festival planning.
Debbie Carluccio, former executive director of the Cheshire Coalition for Tobacco-Free Youth, will receive the award for a woman representing the State of New Hampshire. In 2001, Carluccio headed efforts to make Keene the first city in New Hampshire to enact smoke-free dining legislation. She is currently the head of the Smoke-Free New Hampshire Alliance. In this position, she worked to make Keene State the second college in New Hampshire to have all buildings smoke-free. Carluccio is a former member of the Surry school board and is an active member of the Surry Players theater group.
