After 17 years of service, Jean Olson, has announced she will retire as of March 1, 2010 from the position of Executive Director of The Governor’s Institutes of Vermont (GIV). Olson has spent over 30 years in education from teaching in private and public schools, to a stint teaching English as a second language to mainland Turkish students in North Cyprus, to her most recent role of GIV’s Executive Director.
“I grew up in a small town in Vermont and had a variety of interests coupled with an utter lack of focus or direction. I would have loved to have been able to participate in one of these Institutes as a high school student,” says Olson.
Olson has contributed to the significant “life-changing” outcomes students have received as participants. During Olson’s tenure thousands of Vermont high school students have been able to visual their futures, rehearse their dreams, and experience what it is like to be a College student living on campus in a residential dorm through these 1-2 week summer Institutes.
Olson was the first-generation student in her family to go to college. Her parents agreed college was a good idea but did not know what happened there, and therefore, could not offer much support during her college years.
“While I was pretty secure in my academic skills, but I was shy in college and had no idea why I was there”, says Olson. “I was terrified of living with a strange roommate, finding my way to classes, and determining where I would sit in dining halls. I stayed because my parents thought a college degree would be something good for me to fall back on.”
The GIV Board of Directors are working to complete the final stage for hiring a new Executive Director for GIV – with an announcement to be made soon.
