Lori Hatfield, professor of English is the 2023 recipient of the E. J. Shaheen Chair for Teaching and Excellence Award presented by the Glen Oaks Community College Foundation.
Hatfield began her Glen Oaks career in 2010 teaching English Composition and Developmental English classes. Today she teaches English Composition, Creative Writing, and Mythology classes. It is said she allows her students the freedom to choose their topics whether it is creative writing or a research project. Her nominators say she is very understanding, goes above and beyond to help her students and inspires them to work hard and take instruction to heart. She received her Associate of Arts from Kalamazoo Valley Community College, her Bachelor of Arts from Thomas Edison in New Jersey, and her Master of Arts in English from National University in San Diego.
“I’ve always loved words, music, and theatre,” said Hatfield. “Before I had kids, I wanted to go to Los Angeles or New York City to play in theatre pits. But I needed an employable career to sustain my family. I chose English for the love of words, plus, as a young adult, I had thought about teaching, particularly at the post-secondary level.”
She chose the National University graduate school (San Diego, California) for its progressive online offerings. “At that time, online classes were way more prevalent in California as they were much further ahead in educational technology,” said Hatfield.
After graduation, she began teaching English and business for the Professional Development and Training Center in Kalamazoo, a state propriety business school primarily for adult learners to earn business skills. The school was grant funded but closed in 2010.
“I tell my students to always be prepared,” said Hatfield. “I had a good portfolio ready to go when I saw a newspaper ad for an English instructor at Glen Oaks so I overnighted my information to apply for the position.”
She recalls the day of her interview at Glen Oaks – “Although it wasn’t raining in Kalamazoo, I found myself in the middle of a major rainstorm in Centreville.” Upon her entry into the building reception area, her jacket was ‘dripping wet;’ she began thinking she just might want to reschedule, but in the end, the interview went very well.
In the summer of 2010, Hatfield started teaching Developmental English and English Composition I at Glen Oaks – all in person. Soon after, she was able to transfer some of her classes to online formats because of her exposure to the platform.
Since then, she has developed and now teaches Creative Writing I and II in addition to English Composition and Mythology classes. She also founded and served as an advisor to the campus Music Club but had to eventually back off for health reasons.
Being the creative and sort of free-spirited person that she is, Hatfield’s favorite class to teach is Creative Writing. “There are fewer rules, and it’s a lot of thinking out of the box. You can express your voice and hear others’ voices through their writing, as opposed to research writing,” said Hatfield. “I enjoy classes and writing that empowers people, especially women, or works that bring diversity in the content. “
Hatfield allows her students to have the freedom to choose their own topics. She would someday like to offer a larger selection and more diverse literature classes at the college.
Fun fact – One of her favorite pastimes is riding her red Harley Davidson — she occasionally rides it to work from Kalamazoo.
Hatfield concludes, “I look forward to being part of the continued evolution of Glen Oaks as an integral part of the community at large.”