Authentic Eye photo.

An injured ankle may well have been a blessing in disguise for Marjorie King, professor of athletic training. She was a sophomore at UNH, working toward a degree in medical technology and playing on the UNH basketball team, when she injured her ankle. To get a starting position on the team in her junior year, which was her goal, King would have to dedicate the summer between her sophomore and junior years playing basketball and sharpening her skills. Since there were no women’s summer leagues, King and her ankle would be put to the test playing with the men. “I was concerned I’d reinjure my ankle playing the men on outdoor courts—the indoor courts weren’t air conditioned back then,” King explains. “So, I wanted to be able to tape my ankle to protect it.”

She learned to tape from the best: Dwight Altman, the men’s athletic trainer at UNH. But there was a catch: he’d teach her to tape if she’d assist him in preparing the football team for practice each morning during spring semester. King agreed, and soon found herself on the football field at 4:45 a.m., taping the players in preparation for the day’s practice.

As it turns out, she discovered she not only had a knack for taping, but an interest in athletic training. “It’s a skill, but it’s also an art,” King says. “And I loved working with the players. In my major, all my work had been on the cellular level, but this was just so much more human—it was about muscles and function and it was so intriguing to me.”

Despite being one of the few women working with Altman and the players, King took to her new job so much she stayed on throughout her junior and senior years, playing basketball in the winter with many of the football players cheering her on from the stands.

King’s newfound interest in athletic training inspired her to take electives in such subjects as kinesiology and exercise physiology. Halfway through her senior year, she realized her heart just was not in her major. “I didn’t want to be in a lab with test tubes all day, with no interaction with people,” King remembers thinking. Just after Thanksgiving, she called home and told her parents how she felt. Together, they decided that King would complete her degree in medical technology, then reenroll at UNH the following semester and complete her coursework in athletic training.

Armed with board certification in athletic training and solid experience on her résumé, King launched her career in athletic training at Fitchburg State University, where she was responsible for 19 teams. After earning her master’s in exercise science at UMass Amherst—which boasted one of the top exercise science programs in the country—King moved on to a number of collegiate positions and eventually outpatient orthopedics after completing a degree in physical therapy from Simmons College. Shortly after earning her PhD from the University of Virginia, she joined the faculty at Plymouth State in 2003.

In the nearly 10 years since, King has taught in the classroom on both the graduate and undergraduate levels, administered three levels of graduate programs, and worked with clinical staff, coaches, and student-athletes.

King also dedicates a portion of her time to working with students on research projects. One of her current projects is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant-funded study of the risk of balance-related falls to which elders are susceptible. Students in the project tested and studied results from 45 older adults at senior centers and retirement communities across New Hampshire. For King, the opportunity to work side-by-side with her students is especially gratifying. “I love watching the students reach their potential,” says King. “I love the opportunity to say, ‘We can probably improve on that’ and to see what they do with that information. The graduate and undergraduate students are leaving here with professional life skills that will serve them extremely well over time.”

King’s research and scholarly endeavors, her accomplishments as an athletic trainer and educator, and her dedication to advancing women in athletic training have garnered her a national reputation as a leader in the field, as well as numerous awards and honors. She was recently inducted into the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame—the highest honor an athletic trainer can receive—and she is one of only 12 women to have earned this honor. Earlier this year, the Eastern Athletic Trainers Association honored her when they named their annual Research to Reality lecture series for her.

While King is humbled by the many awards and honors she receives for her work, it’s her interaction with people, particularly her students and the student-athletes with whom she works, that means the most to her. “The ability to make a difference in students’ lives is what drew me to athletic training,” she says, noting that lessons she shares with them have value way beyond a semester or a season. “You are teaching them wellness choices for a lifetime.”—Barbra Alan

Cucina (in orange), students, and faculty in the health and human performance department had a ball promoting Project ACES (All Children Exercising Simultaneously) at PSU in May. Now in its 24th year, Project ACES is a worldwide annual event to promote physical activity for children. Kindra Clineff photo.

Professor Irene Cucina has been teaching in the Department of Health and Human Performance since 1998. Prior to coming to Plymouth State, she had a rewarding career as a high school health and physical education teacher and coach in Newton, MA. Her commitment to students and learning has been recognized by her peers through a number of awards including the PSU Distinguished Teaching Award in 2011 and the Massachusetts State High School Physical Education Teacher of the Year Award in 1996.

Her expertise and dedication to teaching health and physical fitness has been recognized with awards at all levels; most recently, she was elected the president of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD), the largest national association representing health and physical education professionals. Cucina, whose research interests include injury prevention, exercise in the treatment of diabetes, and obesity and childhood obesity prevention, is a much sought-after speaker who has presented at more than 95 conferences at the state, district, and national levels.

Recently, Plymouth Magazine spoke with Cucina about the importance of physical activity in childhood, and what she feels needs to be done to abate our country’s childhood obesity epidemic.

How did you become interested in health and physical education?

When I was in the 4th grade, my physical education teacher made me recognize that I was athletically skilled and with that knowledge my confidence soared. I quickly became what was known as a “gym rat” and spent as much time as possible in the gymnasium. This continued in junior high school and high school with the advantage of my becoming a physical education leader. The PE leaders assisted the physical education teachers during their classes. That’s when I fell in love with teaching. I became a swim instructor, coached youth sports, and worked with the Special Olympics. I decided the only career for me would be to teach health and physical education.

The statistics on childhood obesity, one of your research areas, are sobering. One estimate says that one in three children in the US is overweight or obese. What can be done about childhood obesity?

Childhood obesity is an epidemic. Data has been collected through the Centers for Disease Control on obesity trends for over 30 years. During that time, the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2–5 and adolescents aged 12–19.

In the most recent issue of the journal The Lancet, researchers have reported that the problem is not about obesity but the lack of physical activity. In fact, according to one study, it was shown that physical inactivity kills more people than smoking.

I believe that government and private sectors need to work together to mandate and support daily physical education for every child in the US. Children need an hour of physical activity a day to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Schools need to implement a comprehensive physical activity plan and hire qualified physical educators who can teach children the knowledge and skills they need to embrace a lifetime of physical activity. And schools and communities need to create physical activity-friendly environments where children and adults could get their 60 minutes of physical activity every day. If we all work together, we can make a real difference in this epidemic.

In my role as president of AAHPERD, I am working to promote the benefits of physical activity to administrators, parents, and other stakeholders. AAHPERD has launched a national initiative called Let’s Move In School in conjunction with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign. Schools that commit to increasing physical activity before, during, and after school through staff, family, and community involvement can provide a setting that allows and encourages children to get that recommended 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

As a professor of health and physical education, you are teaching the next generation of educators. What are the most important things you want your students to come away with as they embark on their own careers in health and physical education?

I emphasize to all of my students that the future is in their hands. They will be teaching a generation of children that researchers predict will not survive their parents. They must continue to emphasize the importance of physical activity for health and wellness. It is their duty as future teachers to be role models who demonstrate the benefits of movement by practicing what they preach.

My students’ energy, commitment, and enthusiasm for teaching children and young adults gives me the confidence that, over next decade, we can reduce childhood obesity rates, and help children lead healthier and more active lives.

Colleagues called him “T.O.” Students called him “Doctor Schlesinger.” Few knew about the remarkable life experiences that shaped his teaching.

When long-time faculty member and Professor Emeritus Thomas O. Schlesinger died in February, details of an extraordinary life emerged—many of which were news even to his closest former colleagues and students. Schlesinger had arrived at Plymouth State in 1970 with only a few years of university-level teaching behind him. But the life experiences he brought into his history, government, and political science classrooms informed his teaching to a degree that academics alone could match only in theory. Schlesinger remained private about most of those experiences—his approach came from an old school; among students his reputation was that of a serious, stern teacher. “We all knew which professors in the department were soft,” recalled a student from those early days. “Dr. Schlesinger was not one of them.”

But occasionally—in his class on human rights and world order, say, or one he taught on German history—he’d share a personal memory that brought to life the importance of prisoners’ rights or the challenge of creating a foreign policy consistent with a nation’s ideals. He talked about espionage and interrogation in a knowing, almost thrilling, way. His pointed observations came from Nazi Germany, from pivotal World War II battles in Luxembourg and France, from Congressional hearings, from the unstable countries of Latin America and the Middle East—a tinderbox he sensed long before the understanding became widespread. His passion for fairness and social justice seemed, at times, visceral and inseparable from his teaching. It translated.

As it happens, he’d come to that passion not simply from having lived in the wider world, but from having been a participant in some of the major world events of the twentieth century. His life helped shape the education of 25 years of Plymouth students.

Schlesinger escaped Hitler’s persecution in Berlin and fled to Italy and then Switzerland before arriving in the United States in 1940. In 1943, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the US Army and was sent to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, and became one the “Ritchie Boys”—an elite unit of young, mostly Jewish immigrants from Germany and Austria who were trained in counterintelligence, interrogation, and psychological warfare. He helped break German resistance at the Battle of the Bulge and at Remagen Bridge. He interrogated Nazi officials and camp guards in preparation for the Nuremberg Trials. He fought throughout the Korean War; participated in the Operation UPSHOT-KNOTHOLE atomic test in Nevada in 1953; served as interpreter (in German) for Lt. General William Arnold in creating Austria’s peace treaty in 1955 and then as interpreter (in Italian) for Brig. General John “Iron Mike” Michaelis with the Southern European Task Force in northern Italy, helping establish the US Army’s first overseas missile command. He rose to the rank of major and became a Green Beret instructor at the JFK Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg.

And he was devoted to learning. He was fluent in four languages, struggled nights and worked overtime to earn a high school diploma, then a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, then a master’s and doctorate from American University in Washington. He began work on his PhD even before finishing his 21-year-active-duty military career.

When he became a college professor at the age of 42, it was not to kick back and tell war stories. At Plymouth State, Schlesinger was passionate about making students more aware of the world. He helped shepherd the University’s Model UN Program. He served as a founding chair of the Sidore Lecture Series, which continues to bring leading thinkers to campus to speak on topics relating to politics, social justice, and current events. He served on the board of the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union. He regularly attended conferences and talks on national security, foreign policy, and human rights. Professor Peng-Khuan Chong, a colleague who sometimes accompanied Schlesinger, says, “Even at the conferences he was constantly thinking of his students. Always wondering what he could bring back to the classroom. He’d say to me, ‘Now how can we present this fairly when we go back to teach?’”

“He cared deeply about his students,” says his widow, Patricia Powers Schlesinger. “He was born to teach.”

Schlesinger invited students to his home in New Hampton, to learn more about their lives outside of college. He reached out, in particular, to foreign students, to make them more comfortable in their unfamiliar surroundings. He surprised his advisees at graduation with the gift of a thoughtfully chosen book. He counseled young people to go into the Peace Corps (as his son Peter did), serve in the military (as his daughter Annie, who piloted a Blackhawk medevac helicopter, did), and to be active and engaged citizens. He encouraged them to be life-long learners, and he lived what he preached. He and Pat spent a sabbatical backpacking across Asia and Africa. In retirement, he took an intensive course in Russian in Leningrad before setting off to travel in the country using its native tongue.

In short, Thomas Schlesinger represented the highest ideals of a Plymouth State education: academic excellence, service, civic engagement, global perspective. In part to honor and extend his legacy, and in part to recognize the similar challenge and struggle that today’s students face in affording a formal education, Pat Schlesinger has established an endowed scholarship in her late husband’s name. It is a fitting tribute to a man who devoted nearly his entire life to the cause of understanding our larger world.

In his final days, a nurse at Dartmouth-Hitchcock asked him about his middle name of “Otto,” and—barely able to speak—he gave her a three-minute mini-lecture on the career of Germany’s first chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.

“He was,” notes Pat, “a teacher until the very end.”—Jim Collins

The Dr. Thomas O. Schlesinger Memorial Scholarship in Political Science is the newest of endowed scholarships that honor the memory and legacy of a beloved faculty member. Each year, the fund will provide recognition and financial support to a junior- or senior-level student who is a political science major carrying a minimum 3.0 GPA.

For more information about establishing an endowed scholarship at Plymouth State contact Laure Morris, director of major gifts, at lmorris5@plymouth.edu or (603) 535-2952.

Jim Collins, former editor of Yankee Magazine and author of The Last Best League, is a freelance writer living in Orange, New Hampshire.

Someone Who Had a Profound Influence

In the words of Doctor Schlesinger’s students …

Joe Laturnau ’77
School Renewal Specialist; Hawaii

I had the chance to go into the Peace Corps in Korea in 1977. I wanted to go, because I knew I needed experiences like that in order to become like Tom Schlesinger and the other professors I admired in the Social Science Department. My parents were very opposed and upset. I had a number of conversations with Dr. Schlesinger, and I greatly appreciated his support. With just a few words and a comforting look, he had such a calming effect. I decided to go. I’ve now spent more than 30 years in the Hawaii Department of Education.

I go to trainings/workshops all the time. Frequently a warm-up question will be, “Share a story about your mentor or someone who had a profound influence on your career in education.” I often share that story about Dr. Schlesinger.

Tracy Floyd ’81
Vice President, Health, Financial Services & Technology, Ipsos-Vantis; Maine

Thomas Schlesinger was passionate about his teaching, and this was palpable in his classroom. He had high standards for his students, and this helped me to sharpen the skills I needed in life. To this day I think of the “Schlesinger Strut” — how he determinedly strutted across the front of the classroom to drive home a point.

Evangelia Ifantides ’88
Technology Specialist, Fairfax County Public Schools; Virginia

His was the last political science class I took… and I clearly remember that it was difficult. But it prepared me for the start of my Soviet Studies degree at American University, Dr. Schlesinger’s alma mater.

Richard A. Coutermarsh ’85
President & CEO at InnerLoc, Inc.; Texas

I will be forever grateful to Tom for taking the time to guide me during my time at Plymouth State College, and for sharing his wisdom about the world. One of the first things I did after hearing about Dr. Schlesinger’s death was to go to my study and pull down from my bookshelf the book that he gave to me as a graduation gift, Ike’s Spies, by Stephen E. Ambrose. I remember when I told him that I had narrowed down my choice of careers to either becoming an Army Officer or FBI Agent, he looked at me and said, “Interesting choices, the profession of arms or knocking on doors.” From then on it was go Army!

John Anderson photo.

“It was like moving to a foreign country with a completely different culture,” says PSU student Patrick O’Sullivan. The 26-year-old veteran isn’t referring to his time in Iraq as a motor transport operator in the Army Reserve. He’s talking about coming home.

O’Sullivan joined the Army Reserve right out of high school, at an age when most Plymouth State students are packing for school and attending orientation. He served two tours of duty, for a total of six years of military service. Like many veterans, he was surprised to find that readjusting to civilian life was a challenge.

“When you’re that young, having experienced war, you get used to it,” O’Sullivan says of his years of service. “When you come home, you have to be a ‘normal Joe’ and go on with your life.”

O’Sullivan decided to go on with his life by enrolling as a business major at PSU. Campus life was a culture shock: The camaraderie and esprit de corps of the military—where everyone is working together, toward the same goal—was gone. Now he was surrounded by other students, most of them younger, with different goals, motivations, and levels of commitment. He wondered how he would ever feel part of university life.

Then, on his first day on campus in the fall of 2010, O’Sullivan learned that PSU’s motto is Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). “I guess I really did end up in the right spot!” O’Sullivan recalls thinking. “I joined the military to serve my country, and when I got out, I decided to serve people who need my help.”

He started by joining the Student Support Foundation, helping to establish a student food pantry on campus. He also began working at the PSU Veterans Service Center, which assists veterans and their dependents with any concerns regarding benefits.

“When I first got to Plymouth State, I felt like I was the only veteran here,” says O’Sullivan. But through his work at the Veterans Service Center, he learned that there are actually around 80 veterans at PSU. Like him, most live off campus, many with full-time jobs and families. After dealing with years of military paperwork, many enrolling veterans couldn’t quite believe that the university application process was comparatively simple—they wondered if they were missing something. O’Sullivan was able to give them the benefit of his experience with the application and enrollment process.

But, as it turns out, something was missing—a place where student-veterans could get together and talk, sharing experiences with others who had been through the same things. “A lot of veterans come home feeling alienated,” O’Sullivan says. “Often, they’re just happy to know that there are other vets around.” He had found some sense of community in an online forum and wanted to help provide something similar to veterans at PSU, so they could share their experiences and feelings in person, and nobody else would feel like “the only veteran here.”

O’Sullivan also wanted to build relationships between veterans and traditional students. When he first came to campus, he found that it took a while for the other students to warm up to him, to see him as a regular person, just with different experiences. But they also admired him and were curious about his military background. “There doesn’t have to be a wall of misunderstanding between students and veterans,” O’Sullivan says. “Some students have family members in the military and they’re looking for a better way to relate to them.”

His solution? The Plymouth State Student Veterans Organization, which exists “to aid veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States in fully integrating themselves into the student life of the University and to raise awareness within the student body of veterans’ issues and causes, and to involve the University population in these issues and causes.”

Over the past two years, O’Sullivan has been going through the arduous process of putting together an official student organization, including writing a constitution, gaining approval by the Student Senate judicial committee and the PSU Student Senate as a whole, finding an advisor (Professor of English Robin DeRosa), and seeking and receiving approval from President Sara Jayne Steen. In April 2012, the Plymouth State Student Veterans Organization became official.

O’Sullivan looks forward to being a welcoming presence on campus for new student-veterans and helping traditional students understand veterans better. His service to his country may have ended, but his service to campus has just begun.—Marcia Santore

Marcia Santore is an artist and freelance writer and editor living in Plymouth, NH, with her husband, Jonathan, and sons Peter and Thomas. From 2000 to 2006, she served as editor for Plymouth Magazine.

President Sara Jayne Steen

WELCOME TO THE FALL ISSUE of Plymouth Magazine.

Plymouth State University is a regional comprehensive university, incorporating both liberal arts and professional programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. PSU emphasizes academic excellence through innovative teaching, informed by first-rate research and creativity, and characterized by engagement with our community—locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. As a comprehensive university, we are “stewards of place,” caring about partnerships with businesses and schools, research that connects with real-world needs, arts and cultural outreach to our wider communities, and the economic development that higher education brings. Our region should be better for our presence in every area from academics and workforce development to focused research and community service.

PSU is what Executive Director of University Relations Steve Barba likes to call higher education with its feet on the ground.

This issue of Plymouth Magazine beautifully captures how PSU does its work today, through creative people developing vibrant programs. TIGER (Theatre Integrating Guidance, Education, and Responsibility), for example, is celebrating its 10th anniversary bringing performances on topics such as bullying to regional and international audiences; now, through a television program produced in partnership with New Hampshire Public Television, TIGER may reach even more children. The transdisciplinary Museum of the White Mountains brings together teaching and research, providing hands-on learning for students, digital collections that can be used worldwide, and curricular materials to make available the unique history and culture of the White Mountains. Courses like the Community Research Experience offer students experiential learning opportunities, uniting undergraduate research and community engagement of benefit to our partners.  As Vice Provost for Research and Engagement Thad Guldbrandsen notes, “The campus is becoming more connected to our broader region, and that creates so many opportunities for students.”

Extraordinary students, faculty, staff, and alumni are making a difference. You see that authenticity and excellence in faculty members Irene Cucina and Marjorie King, national leaders in their field; in Barbara O’Brien, whose doctoral research is impacting New Hamp-shire’s classrooms; and in Patrick O’Sullivan, an undergraduate veteran who is stepping up to create a student veterans organization. You see it in the achievements of PSU alumni.

This is an uncertain time, requiring innovation and a willingness to take appropriate risks, to find new ways to accomplish old and new goals and to acquire new partners. Within all of that challenge and change, however, is and must be a core of educational mission, a certainty of what PSU offers students, of our commitment to them. This autumn, PSU again was recognized by the Chronicle of Higher Education as a great place to work, and one of the reasons was the teaching environment, including both educational innovation and commitment to student success. You see that innovation and commitment in the people profiled here.

As you read this issue, think of what PSU is today: distinctive in niche and distinguished in performance.

Sara Jayne Steen, President

Gene Savage ’58, Governor John Lynch, and Joan (Doyon) Savage ’56 at the dedication of PSU’s Savage Welcome Center. John Anderson photo.

On May 14, 2012, New Hampshire lost a gifted educator, respected leader, and devoted friend. From his earliest days in education as a high school teacher, coach, and director of guidance, through his post as director of admissions at the University of New Hampshire, and later through his various administrative positions within the University System of New Hampshire, including vice chancellor, Eugene “Gene” Savage ’58 had a profound effect on so many in our state, including longtime friend Governor John Lynch. The piece that follows is from Governor Lynch’s remarks at Gene Savage’s memorial service.

Gene Savage’s devotion and generosity to Plymouth State University ­and the entire University System of New Hampshire helped ensure countless young people had access to a quality education.

As he did for thousands upon thousands of young people, Gene helped to shape my life.

It is because of Gene Savage that I fell in love with a state from which I would never leave.

Gene has helped me many times over the years.

He was a trusted friend and advisor to me as I served on the UNH Alumni Board and the University System Board of Trustees. When I was the newly elected chair of the Board, Gene taught me how to navigate my way around the state house, introducing me to legislative leaders. I didn’t understand it, but he always had a good word to say about everyone, even legislators who were not particularly supportive of the University System.

He would say, “Oh, they can be brought around.” Gene always had confidence in his ability to influence people in a positive way and that was why he was always able to bring people around.

If it hadn’t been for Gene, I might not have run for Governor. When I first thought about running for Governor, most people counseled me against doing it, questioning the timing, the money, and the history.

Gene took the opposite approach, because Gene always looked on the bright side of everything. Instead of seeing the negative, Gene looked at the possibilities and the opportunities, seeing things in ways most people could not.

Gene’s optimism and belief in me gave me the confidence to persevere.

As Governor, there have been times when you need someone to pick you up, someone you trust without question.

During these times, in addition to talking with my wonderful wife, Susan, I would call Gene. He loved to talk about how great his Florida softball team was doing, a team he was very proud of, but the conversation always quickly turned to Plymouth, USNH, and the State.

After hanging up, I just felt better, re-energized, and ready to get back to work.

Gene’s glass was always more than half full. In fact, it was filled right to the top.

That was a great thing about Gene. He didn’t keep that optimism to himself; in fact, it was a contagious condition, which spread to all of us who knew him. He could lighten up a room from the minute he walked in and immediately make everyone feel comfortable no matter the situation. Another part of what made Gene so special was he invested his time and his personal energy into people, which is a rare quality these days.

As I have talked to people about Gene one thing is very clear—everybody knew Gene and Gene knew everybody. That’s because he treated all of us like we were his best friends.

While his roots were in his beloved North Country, Gene had a deep love for all of New Hampshire.

From his service at the University System, to his service on various boards and commissions, Gene dedicated himself to his work, his community, and his state. He had a passion for helping people, for improving higher education, and for bettering his community.

And of course, Gene was half of a tremendous team. Gene, along with his wonderful wife, Joan, were active in the Durham community for many years, and they were both ardent supporters of UNH and Plymouth State. That is why it is so fitting that Plymouth State named the welcome center after Gene and Joan.

Gene Savage was a rare, special person and I am honored to have called him a close, personal friend. The University System, higher education, and the state would be very different right now if it weren’t for Gene Savage.

We could say that New Hampshire today is worse off because of Gene’s passing—that as a state, we have lost a little bit of what makes this such a special place. And that would be true.

But if I look at it the way Gene would have—optimistically—I can say New Hampshire as a state and we as a people are so much better off because of Gene Savage.
—Governor John Lynch

Jon Gilbert Fox photo.

It didn’t take too long for Jim Hundrieser ’90G to feel at home in his new role as vice president for enrollment management and student affairs. That’s because in the late 80s, he was an admission intern and residence director at Plymouth State while he worked on his master of education degree, which he earned in 1990.

In the interview that follows, Hundrieser shares his vision to help build an even stronger university and enhance the student experience.

What inspired you to return to PSU as VPEMSA?  

My degree from Plymouth State was the launching pad to a career I love. It opened my mind to opportunities I never thought were possible as a first-generation college student. To return to PSU in this role provides me with the opportunity to give back to the University.

What is different about PSU today versus when you were a student here 22 years ago?  

There is an incredibly positive vibe when you walk around campus and downtown. The students today are even more engaged, more committed, more dedicated to excellence, more willing to serve.

I think today we better understand the valuable and vital role the towns of Plymouth and Holderness play in building our student experience. Our partnerships and relationships with local organizations including Speare Memorial Hospital, the Pemi Youth Center, the Plymouth Area Senior Center, and the Bridge House Shelter, just to name a few, are mutually beneficial: our students get invaluable real-world experience and a chance to serve and improve the community.

What do you hope to achieve as VPEMSA?    

I want to create genuine and active engagement with every prospective, admitted, and enrolled student. As a university, our efforts motivate students to define and fully participate in their educational experience. We set our sights on helping every student prosper in a community where all are welcome and talent is nurtured through collaborative and integrated dynamic partnerships. Our end result is graduates who leverage their academic and co-curricular experiences to make a positive impact on the world.

As VPEMSA, what are your goals for PSU’s enrollment?  

The first goal is to focus our efforts to reach our enrollment goals for fall 2013. Next is to streamline and expand our transfer student enrollments. We have numerous agreements with other institutions and community colleges, but we need to focus our efforts to further attract and enroll this group. The admissions team and financial aid team have significantly increased their application processing and now we need to tweak our systems to streamline our efforts and collect data to further focus our efforts.

We are also expanding our out-of-state markets and working to make more international connections. We will continue to push on these fronts. We also need to expand our marketing efforts. Plymouth State is a great institution and many people know of us, but they don’t know of the quality and genuine engagement that is going on here. We need to do more to get the word out.

How do you plan on improving the student experience?  

In residence life we are looking at new models to build a more vibrant and dynamic community. Given that 95 percent or more of our first year students live in University housing, I want to expand our thinking as to how we help new students not only acclimate well within their residence halls, but also understand the role they play within the local community and that attending PSU means you are a member of a residence hall, university, and local community. They are not mutually exclusive and the more we seek integration, I think the more dynamic the student experience will be.

And now, for some fun stuff …

Who was your favorite professor when you were a student?

It’s hard to pick a favorite; so many of my professors provided a quality educational experience. I do have many memories about Mike Fischler‘s class, in particular his weekend retreat style group therapy class: it was a powerful experience. Connecting with Mike again has been a bit surreal and delightful to see his energy and commitment to students continue 25 years later.

What was your favorite hangout as a student, on campus or off?

Biederman’s Deli was (and continues to be) a fun hang-out spot. And my newest favorite spot is on Lake Winnipesaukee on our boat.

What is your best Plymouth State memory?

My second year we had an RA banquet that was so very powerful and confirmed that this career path was the right one for me.

What are you reading now?

Right now I am reading Inside of a Dog. We rescued a dog and I just can’t figure out what or how they think.  It’s pretty interesting.

Favorite musician or band, and why?

At the moment, I am really liking Train. “Marry Me” is definitely one of my favorite songs.  I like songs that tell a good story. As far as my favorite, I guess I would say it is Dolly Parton. My dad loved her when I was a kid and now I love her for her music, her giving, her literacy program, her sense of humor, and her appreciation for the mountains.

by Emilie Coulter, John Anderson photos

A group of men and women pop out from behind a wall, singing, dancing, chasing each other with kitchen utensils, laughing. A new man feels his way into the scene, belting out a catchy tune with the others, pretending to stir strange ingredients into a soup pot, always just a fraction of a step behind everyone else in the action, but catching up fast. The song and dance routine ends. Everyone cheers.

It’s audition time at TIGER.

TIGER, or Theatre Integrating Guidance Education and Responsibility, is as alive and sinewy as its moniker implies. Originally developed in 2002 to help schoolchildren, families, and communities deal positively with social concerns, TIGER performances are based entirely on anonymous writings of New Hampshire children, and cover such topics as bullying, friendship, and the environment. Using actors, puppets, music, dance, and skits, TIGER allows audience members to discover and galvanize their own power in resolving difficult issues.

Now, after ten years of reaching more than 300,000 children in more than 1,000 performances in hundreds of schools, TIGER has branched out to a new medium, reaching an even broader audience with its NH Public Television special, “TIGER Takes On Bullying,” which premiered in September.

A TIGER Is Born

Ten years ago, Professor of Education and Integrated Arts Patricia (Trish) Lindberg had a brainstorm: she wanted to launch a theatre company that would address social issues facing children in school today. A great believer in the power of the arts to effect change in people’s lives, Lindberg hoped to inspire audiences to think in new ways about challenging topics.

She sought out Gail Mears ’76, at that time a professor of counselor education, and Gary Goodnough, professor of counselor education and school psychology, to provide the solid base in social issues of childhood, bullying, and exclusion research and practice that Lindberg was looking for. They established their roles and quickly became a team: Lindberg as artistic director, Mears as executive director and data manager, and Goodnough as business manager. Lindberg’s graduate assistant Kate Lynch was tour manager.

Mears and Goodnough trained the actors on bullying issues, helped create parent- and teacher-training workshops, evaluated the content of the shows, and consulted on elements in the show that could be considered too provocative or inappropriate. “Trish relied on Gary and me to be guides in terms of how to attend to the emotional aspects of bullying,” Mears says.

"TIGER Takes on Bullying" premiered to a packed house at the Flying Monkey in Plymouth.

Once the framework for the TIGER program was in place, Lindberg and her team came up with writing prompts to send to New Hampshire elementary and middle schools, asking students questions such as “Have you ever experienced bullying? Have you ever witnessed bullying? How did you feel?” Responses poured in. After sifting through the often poignant writings, the newly recruited TIGER actors created the first show with a title taken directly from one young child’s writing: “A Bully Isn’t Your Friend … Yet!”

Schools around New Hampshire quickly embraced the concept of a theatrical production addressing bullying problems. In fact, the first tour was sold out before TIGER had finished creating the show. Early on, Alex Ray, founder and owner of the Common Man family of restaurants, became an ardent and generous supporter of TIGER. Gifts from Ray and others were instrumental in TIGER’s foray into television as well as general program support.

TIGER actors

Lindberg says TIGER has been “a collaborative effort from the beginning. Everybody brings their own stories, their own talents, their own special energy, and when a new person comes in, it changes and evolves and grows again.”

The professional actors in the TIGER troupe—Chris Gonzalez ’99, Cait McKay, Colleen (Coco) Eliason ’05, Richard Moses, and Brandee Peglow ’11—are passionate about their roles. “What TIGER does is put the ideas and information right on the kids’ doorstep,” says Peglow. “We make it personal.”

TIGER veteran Gonzalez agrees: “We get the great opportunity not only to perform for the schools but to go into the classrooms to reinforce the concepts and skills with our workshops. We can talk to the kids, we get to know them.”

Lindberg turns the personal aspect of this kind of theatre work to the audience’s advantage. “Our actors all have felt marginalized at times, so part of the heart of the show comes from the fact that every single one of them knows what it’s like to be bullied,” she says. For the actors, knowing they have an impact on children’s perception of a situation, and on their ability to find help, is tremendously important.

Being a TIGER actor is not just another theatre job for McKay. “As much fun as it is to sing and dance and act all day as your job, it’s so much more fulfilling to know that we have a chance to make a difference,” she says.

And TIGER does make a difference. Moses says, “We’re entertaining them, they’re laughing and having fun, and then we slip in some really potent ideas about how people are affected by our behavior. Kids learn the lesson and it’s all wrapped up in something they’ll remember for years.”

TIGER EVOLVES

Over time, the troupe has developed additional shows, including “Just Between Friends,” “Let Your Star Shine,” “TIGER Teen Theatre,” “Green TIGERRRR,” and “Bullies and Bystanders Be Aware (Everyone Everywhere Needs to Care).” In 2011 TIGER premiered “Transitions,” a musical designed to help young people adjust to life in college. TIGER has performed at the state level for the NH Department of Education, regionally for the New England Theatre Conference, nationally for the American Alliance for Theatre and Education in Utah, and internationally for the National Drama International Conference in England and the International Festival of Children’s Theatre in Egypt. With each new show Lindberg turns the TIGER name into a new acronym based on the targeted skills of the show. For example, the cornerstones of “Bullies and Bystanders Be Aware!” are:

Tell an Adult

I say NO! to bullying, in person
and online!

Get help—don’t be a bystander!

Exit when necessary!

Respect yourself and others!

TIGER actor Coco Eliason says, “Every year there are new bullying trends. With this kind of show, we can take the basic scene and input the different trends and make it relevant to what’s happening now.”

TIGER Today

As educators, the TIGER team has always recognized that a stand-alone performance is not enough to “take on” bullying and other social issues, which is why they work with schools on integrating bullying prevention into existing curricula. “A performance is not an intervention; a performance is a piece of intervention,” Mears says. In addition to performances, TIGER offers professional development on bullying, as well as student workshops following performances. Pam Irish, the current tour manager, sends participating schools a resource manual of materials they can use throughout the year, and a monthly online curriculum of activities, book ideas, and tips to keep topics fresh in the classroom.

Filming a scene at Plymouth Elementary School.

Following September’s television premiere of “TIGER Takes On Bullying,” the show was sent  to national public television stations and other national markets. If the show is picked up for national syndication, TIGER and PSU will work with NHPTV to generate funding for additional episodes. NHPTV has also developed a “TIGER Takes on Bullying” website with resources for teachers, children, and families to help avoid and overcome bullying.

“I am proud of our partnership with Plymouth State, of how we can combine the academic and creative strengths of TIGER with the production talents of NHPTV,” says Peter Frid, president and CEO of NHPTV.

Dawn DeAngelis, NHPTV’s chief content officer, adds, “The creative forces of Trish Lindberg at PSU and Carla Gordon Russell (creative services manager at NHPTV) have made one of the toughest issues facing kids today approachable and entertaining.”

Meanwhile, the stage shows continue, with another busy year of school performances under way. Lindberg is tireless in her commitment to getting the TIGER message to children. “Through technology we have more of an ongoing presence in the schools,” she says. “And we’re hoping with this TV project that the kids whose schools can’t afford TIGER can go home after school, turn on channel 11, and there it will be with the very same messages for them.”

Sharon Parish with James R. Clapper Jr., director of National Intelligence. Photo courtesy of Carleton Parish.

Carleton R. Parish ’71 pays tribute to his wife, Sharon, and her extraordinary career in intelligence

When Sharon Parish tragically died in an automobile accident in February of 2011, Carleton Parish ’71 of Spotsylvania, Virginia, lost his beloved wife and best friend of 35 years. The CIA lost a compassionate and innovative leader who was among the first women to break the executive glass ceiling at the agency, and the country lost a devoted civil servant and vocal advocate for the American taxpayer.

Now with a $50,000 gift to endow a scholarship in her name, Parish is memorializing the role Sharon played in his life and her remarkable accomplishments as a senior intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

As in life, where she was often commended for exceptional performance during her 40-year career, Sharon is being honored by the intelligence community in many ways, including the posthumous awarding of the CIA’s Distinguished Intelligence Medal, and the NGA naming its Woman of the Year Award and a new conference center in her memory, among others.

Carleton Parish '71 and Sharon, his beloved wife and best friend of 35 years.

When considering his own memorial, Parish turned to Plymouth State and established the Sharon Rebecca Parish Memorial Scholarship in Business. “I chose Plymouth State because her two alma maters don’t need it like students at Plymouth do,” he said. “Sharon came from a humble background in Appalachia and went to college at night while working. I struggled financially as a student, too,” he said, recalling his college years, funded in part by the GI Bill after a four-year stint in the US Navy.

Parish credits his Plymouth State education with shaping him into the person and professional he became. “Plymouth’s caring and understanding faculty taught me life’s most valuable lessons,” he explained. “Things like perseverance, working through a problem from more than one angle, how to be diplomatic, respectful, and courteous—Plymouth made me a gentleman.” An officer, too: Parish’s law enforcement career with the US Marshals Service began shortly after graduation in 1971 and culminated with his serving as the worldwide logistics coordinator for the Service.

Now retired, Parish recently returned to campus to meet the first Sharon Parish Memorial Scholarship recipient, Jake Harris ’15, and share with him information about the scholarship’s namesake.

“Sharon was a leader in every sense. ‘Mission first. People always,’ was her credo. She was one-of-a-kind,” he reflected. The endowed fund he has created at Plymouth State assures his wife’s compelling life story will not only be remembered, but will be an inspiration to bright and ambitious business students now and for generations to come.— Laure A. Morris

To memorialize a loved one through an endowed fund at Plymouth State, contact Laure Morris, director of major gifts via e-mail or phone at (603) 535-2952.

Photographers
John Anderson
Authentic Eye Photography
Mark Bogacz
Kindra Clineff
Peter Finger
Jon Gilbert Fox
Kaleb Hart ’11
John Hession
Ian Masse
Kristen Reimold

Plymouth Magazine is published by the Plymouth State University Office of Public Relations. ©2012, Plymouth State University. Printed by Penmor Lithographers, Lewiston, Maine.

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