Katelyn Costello

Conway, New Hampshire

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What has been your favorite class at COA? Why?
The Maine Woods Monster course. It sort of speaks for itself. A 'Monster' course at COA consists of the three full-time credits where three or more teachers of different study areas collaborate under a unifying theme. This Monster course included Experiential Education, Environmental Law and Policy and Applied Amphibian Bio all related to the Maine Woods. There was a two-week hiking and canoeing expedition in the North Woods the students had control of planning. We collected data on Salamanders for the state. We learned about our personal leadership styles. We tried to define 'Wilderness'. This class was really intense and even though it replaced my social life, I loved every minute of it.

What classes have you taken at COA?
Changing Schools, Changing Society
Articulated Identities
Edible Botany
Four-Dimensional Studio
Writing Seminar
Contemporary Culture of Maine Organic Farmers
Theory and Practice of Organic Gardening
The Maine Woods: From Thoreau to Plum Creek
Experience and Place in Education
Race and Gender in Southern Africa
Secondary Methods: Social Studies
Intro to the Counseling Process
Debate Workshop
The Cold War
Contemporary Culture and the Self
Lincoln Before the Presidency
City/Country: Literary Landscapes 1860-1920
Feminism and Fundamentalism

What is your favorite discussion at COA? Why?
The All College Meeting (ACM). I think governance and getting involved is really important and it's fun to watch teachers who have been here forever argue about the good old days.

What is your dream occupation?
I'm a dreamer, so I dream of doing everything. Mostly, I want to teach.

Do you work on or off campus? If yes, where?
On campus ' I'm a Resident Advisor.

What do you see yourself doing after COA?
I want to start an experiential school where I can take rural kids to the city and city kids in to the woods, and teach them there is another world out there. I want to help kids with fewer opportunities gain access to better education and pursue goals beyond high school.

Where would you love to live?
I'd love to live in Illinois circa 1858 so I could follow the Lincoln and Douglas debates, then I can have an accurate account of what actually happened.

What is happiness to you?
A nice cup of coffee

What are your plans, if any, for your internship?
Next summer, I want to intern with Outward Bound Minnesota, they were one of the first outdoor schools to have a program specifically for youth-at-risk. Then switch and intern at UNH Upward Bound, a summer school for potential first generation college students. I can't pick one, so I want to try for both. Outward and Upward?

What are your ideas for your senior project?
I've thought about designing a curriculum for high school social studies/history that is actually relevant and interesting to adolescents.

What is one of your favorite childhood memories?
Riding my bike everywhere

What is your favorite food to eat? What is your favorite thing to cook?
I like to eat back-country food in the front-country, like dry hummus or 'drummus'. Pita Pizzas are really good too.

What do you like to do when you're not doing school work?
Play 007 for Nintendo 64, especially in the lecture hall on the projector.

What are your favorite colors?
I don't have a favorite, they're all nice.

What is your favorite animal?
Right now? a Corncrake. Look it up.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?
I'll tell you when you're older.

What is the motto you like to live by?
"Do the best you can in the place where you are."

Why did you choose to come to COA?
One of my teachers in high school went to COA, she was the most radical person I had ever encountered and her influence was strong enough to bring me here. She told me how COA was a 'teachers college' not just because they have an education studies program but because you learn a lot just from observing the way teachers teach.

What do you like to study?
I like to study all kinds of social histories through narratives and story telling.

Who are your favorite writers? Poets?
Tom Robbins never ceases to amaze me.

Who are your favorite artists? Musicians?
I learned everything I ever needed to know from They Might Be Giants

Who is your favorite fictional hero?
I like the Boxcar Children.

What historical figure do you most admire?
Emma Goldman

What do you value most in your friends?
They're weird, funny, and down to earth, and tolerate my flaky social habits because I'm never on time.

What do people say is your most marked characteristic?
The faces I make when I'm thinking

What talent do you wish you had?
Nice handwriting

Do you have anything cool or unique you would like to share?
I just researched and found out the COA kitchen produces 30,000 lbs of food waste for compost per school year, that's 15 tons.