Prof. Howard Receives President’s Good Steward Award

Associate Professor of Music Sandra Howard received the President’s Good Steward Award, one of the Campus Compact for New Hampshire’s President’s Awards, given to an employee who has contributed his or her professional expertise in service to the wider community and who has significantly advanced public service on the campus. Dr. Howard was nominated for her impressive work using music to engage Keene State students in meaningful community partnerships and to strengthen the cultural life of the larger Keene community.

Campus Compact for New Hampshire is a statewide consortium of college and university presidents and private sector partners who are united in their commitment to the civic purposes of higher education.

Each semester for the past four years, Dr. Howard and her students in the KSC Chamber Singers choose a local non-profit to support. They pitch in to help the non-profit and then hold a themed performance based on the nature of the organization. Twenty percent of the proceeds from the performance go to the non-profit. So far, they’ve helped the Hundred Nights Shelter, Stonewall Farm, the Monadnock Conservancy, Phoenix House, The Community Kitchen, Monadnock Family Services, the Monadnock Humane Society, and RISE for Baby and Family.

“Over the last eight semesters, the students and I have shared in the excitement, energy, and commitment to collaborate with and learn about non-profit organizations,” Dr. Howard explained. “I feel a great sense of pride in the work that our students contribute to the volunteer efforts, and in the preparation and presentation of repertoire that links and celebrates the missions of these local partner organizations. I am grateful and humbled by the recognition for something that feels like an inherent responsibility that every human, community member, and teacher of young learners should be engaging in to help promote and sustain the common good.”