Changing Lives at GSC

My name is Alison Cohen. As senior administrative assistant for the Office of Education Programs, I look for better ways to meet the needs of our students, faculty and mentor teachers in the Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Certification Program at Granite State College. I care passionately about putting the best prepared, most gifted teachers in the classrooms of New Hampshire. Our teacher training education program currently offers certifications in General Special Education, a double certification in General Special Education & Elementary Education, Early Childhood Special Education, Reading & Writing Specialist and advanced endorsements in Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, Learning Disabilities and Emotional & Behavioral Disabilities.

If you've ever dreamed of being a teacher or are looking for career advancement education opportunities, our field-based program may be just the ticket for you. If you are already part of our program, I hope you'll find this blog full of helpful information. Along the way, you'll probably learn a whole lot more about Granite State College, its staff, students and faculty and me.

Before coming to Granite State College, I worked in the Special Education complaints office. Prior to that, I spent more than 12 years as a reporter, community editor and freelance writer. I learned that everyone has a story to tell. My job was to find that story and let our readers see the extraordinary hiding behind the ordinary. Now I'll introduce you to the extraordinary people in the teacher preparation program and the program that is changing the lives of school children throughout New Hampshire.

A wise person once said that no one becomes a writer without being a reader first. I can't remember when I learned to read -- it seems like it was just something I could always do. One of the things about my job that gives me the greatest pleasure is the strong focus on literacy and language arts in our curriculum. When a child learns to read, a world of possibilities opens.

Needless to say, you'll probably find me reading when I'm not at work. Since the turn of the year, I've finished three books that I highly recommend: Midnight on the Avenue of Faith by Gina Nahai, The Elephant Keeper by Chris Nicholson and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. A fourth, about an infamous book thief, was fascinating if not as well written by my lights. I'm in the middle of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, my Kindle is stocked with new options and my list of books to be picked up at the library goes on for pages. Life is good!

So here's to our stories and our possibilities -- let the blogging begin!