Remarkable Women 2019 | Saturday, November 23, 2019
FINALISTS | NON-PROFIT LEADER AWARD
Susan Kessler
Assistant Executive Director, Kurn Hattin Homes for Children
Recreation & Parks Director, Town of Brattleboro Carol started at the Brattleboro Recreation and Parks department in the fall of 1986 as the Program Director, after graduating from Lyndon State College with a B.S. in Recreation and Leisure Studies in the spring of the same year. She continued in this capacity until the spring of 1990 when she succeeded Frank H. Dearborn as the third Recreation and Parks Director in Brattleboro’s history. Carol is responsible for the fiscal management, planning, organizing and directing of recreational activities and special events for the citizens of Brattleboro. Additionally, she is responsible for the oversight of the maintenance of parks and cemeteries. Her other responsibilities include organizing community-wide special events like the Brattleboro Winter Carnival, the July 4th festivities and the Last Night Celebrations. Carol has been a Steering Committee member of the Brattleboro Winter Carnival for 33 years. She is also the only person to have been a three-time President of the Winter Carnival, in the years 1993, 2011 and 2017. She is Vice President this year and is in line to be President in 2021. In 2007, Carol was awarded the Theresa S. Brungardt Award. This is the highest honor bestowed by the Vermont Recreation and Parks Association. This award was established to recognize recreation pioneer Theresa S. Brungardt, and is given annually to the outstanding Vermont Recreation and Parks professional of the year. The crowning achievement of Carol’s stewardship has been the purchase and development of West River Park, which opened in May of 2013. Carol lives in Brattleboro with her husband Bud and has raised two children, Sara of County Cork, Ireland and RJ of Worcester, Mass.
The Brattleboro Reformer | Reformer.com
Susan Kessler is proud to be part of the Kurn Hattin Homes community in Westminster, Vermont. Kurn Hattin offers children a safe home and quality education in a nurturing environment. Over Susan’s 25-year tenure her responsibilities have steadily increased, from Admissions Coordinator, to Director of Admissions, and most recently with her appointment as Assistant Executive Director. She oversees all direct student services including admissions, the school, residential life, counseling, nursing, food services and volunteers. Susan is involved in all aspects of each student’s life at Kurn Hattin, from enrollment to graduation and beyond. When students walk across the graduation stage each year, she loves to watch and reflect on each one’s individual transformation during their time at Kurn Hattin. She also remains deeply connected to Kurn Hattin alumni and their families. One of the first women admitted to Colgate University, Susan majored in social relations and graduated from Colgate with honors, then went on to earn her master’s degree in education from Syracuse University. She taught in public and private schools in upstate New York and in her home state of New Jersey before moving to New England with her husband Steven in 1982. She belongs to the Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine School Counselors’ Associations and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Susan has been a school board member for the Surry Village Charter School since 2017, and has also done extensive work with environmental education initiatives, service learning and school to career programs. In all her endeavors, Susan strives to establish and nurture positive, productive relationships between individuals and groups no matter how diverse, including students, teachers, administrators, college faculty and staff, and business and community leaders.
Carol Lolatte
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