Melissa Conlon

The story below was written in 2022 for Colby-Sawyer College’s Alumni magazine. You can view the digital version of this story here. You can also learn more about Colby-Sawyer and UVEI’s partnership here.

Since the inception of Colby-Sawyer College’s teaching partnership with the Upper Valley Educators Institute (UVEI) nearly five years ago, graduates of the program have established portfolios – and an outstanding reputation as classroom teachers.

Couper Gunn ‘22 completed his student teaching at Kearsarge Regional High School in Sutton, N.H. Three months into his internship, he was offered a full-time teaching position for the 2022-23 school year.

Gunn is enthusiastic about the opportunity he’s had to work with students, citing the program’s early experiential opportunities as one of its most attractive qualities.

“I could get right into teaching and I wouldn’t have to spend more time than I needed to do an extra semester of school,” he said. “I think the program has shown itself to be really beneficial now that I have a full-time job as a teacher and I’m doing what I love at such a young age.”

The Colby-Sawyer/UVEI partnership is one of the few undergraduate programs that offer students a clear, direct path to becoming a teacher in New Hampshire. In just four years, education minors can earn both a bachelor’s degree in the major of their choice through Colby-Sawyer and a New Hampshire teaching license in middle (5-8), secondary (7-12) and/or visual arts education through UVEI. With mentorship from skills teaching professionals, acquired knowledge and in-class practice, this unique collaboration gives students the opportunity to gain a strong liberal arts foundation with a focus on child development and education and graduate as highly qualified students.

Maddie Johannson ‘21 said the hands-on experience the program provided gave her the opportunity to compare the reality of teaching with her idea of what it would be like.

“I knew I wanted to be a teacher since I was 11,” Johannson said. She also said she knew that testing out her theory was important, adding that she wanted to recognize if teaching wasn’t really for her at an early point in her college career.

Luckily, Johannson said she found that teaching was, indeed, her calling, and that graduating from Colby-Sawyer could make her childhood dream come true a year sooner than traditional pathways. By sophomore year, she had planted her roots just down the road from the college at Sutton Central School where, five years later, she now teaches fifth grade.

“She gained quite the reputation for being an effective, skilled, ‘great team player’ type of beginning teacher,” School of Business & Social Sciences Assistant Professor Amy Lyon ‘85 said of Johannson. “It fills my heart to see her in that room with those students.”

Colby-Sawyer’s education preparation program consists of 3 ½ carefully planned years of training and instruction and prepares students for success in the spring semester as they complete a six-month student-teaching internship and professional study program at UVEI.

“The core strength of this pathway is that aspiring teachers start preparing their freshman year,” said UVEI President and faculty member Page Tompkins. “So, as teachers move from Colby-Sawyer to graduate preparation at UVEI, they have a strong background in their content area and a foundation in teaching from the education minor. When you combine this with the intensive UVEI internship, the results are exceptionally prepared teachers.”

And the program continues to grow. Eleven education minors are expected to complete a bachelor’s degree this December, then complete the six-month student-teaching internship and begin the UVEI portion of the program. In May, they’ll walk with their graduating class at Commencement. For these ambitious new teachers, it will mark the end of their time as students, and the beginning of a career shaping the student experience of countless others.