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Making a Difference, 1 Class at a Time

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Kelly Rowles '12
Kelly Rowles '12

It’s no surprise that a young alumna who was the recipient of the Community Service Nutrition Scholarship is beginning a career that combines service and nutrition – teaching elementary school health.

“I felt like the scholarship was made for me,” says Kelly Rowles ’12, a health science major with a nutrition focus who also earned a Senior Service Award for outstanding contributions to the campus and/or community while at Keene State.

But it is surprising to learn that it had never occurred to Rowles, while a student, that she might one day land in front of a classroom. Teaching was initially a side job. After graduation, she landed a fellowship with the Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University, where she worked four days a week. On the fifth day, she substitute taught at the elementary school she’d attended as a girl.

The research internship? “I absolutely hated it,” she remembers. Subbing at her former school? “I really loved it.”

She got more teaching experience through substitute and paraprofessional jobs, then earned a preliminary license to teach health/ family and consumer sciences in Massachusetts, after which she was hired at a New Bedford middle school.

She followed that with her current job as a health teacher at Brookfield Elementary School in Brockton. “It’s been amazing,” she says. “I teach grades one through five, all different units—social and emotional health, nutrition, substance abuse prevention, body systems, personal health, illness prevention.”

Teaching wellness early is essential, she notes, at a time when childhood obesity is prevalent and some youngsters don’t learn at home about eating right, exercising, and staying safe.

“I fell into teaching,” she says, “but I think this is what I’m meant to be doing. I’m making a difference in the area in which I studied, which is where my passion is.”

Earning the Community Service Nutrition Scholarship was a real honor, says Rowles. It helped propel her education and her future, in addition to reducing the amount of student loan debt she had to take on. It wasn’t the only scholarship she received, but it was a favorite, she notes, because it was granted for “the two things I was really focused on in college—nutrition and community service”—two things she’s still focused on.

To learn more about donating to help current Keene State students follow their passions and go on to change lives, visit our giving page.

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