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Karen Henry
After a COVID-fueled year dramatically changed the way students can attend school and the way educators can teach, many educators are deciding to turn in the drawing board for the retirement life. Some of these educators are those who have offered many years of their life to teaching and sharing their expertise with others. One of those educators is Karen Henry, a professor at NMSU-Grants for eight years and a citizen of Cibola County for 33 years.
Henry and her family moved to Cibola County from the Akron, Ohio area in 1988. They established themselves in Cibola with a chainsaw repair business. That business soon became a Stihl dealership when loggers began harvesting trees in the Zuni mountains, said Henry. Henry and her husband homeschooled their five children and operated their business up until 2003, during which Henry started taking college classes alongside her daughters at NMSU-Grants.
Henry completed her associate degree and graduated with her daughter from NMSU-Grants. She then continued her education at NMSU in Las Cruces and proceeded to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Information and Communication Technology. Upon completion of her bachelor’s degree, Henry started a career as the Technology Director for the Grants/Cibola County School District and continued with that position for five and a half years. Finally, Henry decided that she wanted to teach at the college level and pursued a Master’s degree of Information Management in order to make that happen. The final destination of Henry’s occupational journey was at NMSU-Grants, where she became a professor, training students to be computer technicians.
“From the time that I took my first college class, I wanted to teach at the college level. The thought of preparing people for high-paying jobs excited me,” said Henry. Over the last eight years, Henry has taught all of the computer technology and creative media courses, however, according to Henry, her strength is in computer repair and networking.
Not only has Henry been involved as an educator, but she has also been involved in initiatives beneficial to the community as well. “I have written many grants for the college and quite a few of them have been funded. This gave us the opportunity to do special things that benefit our students and the community,” said Henry. “Our campus has recently been awarded a [New Mexico] Workforce Solutions grant to be able to offer Fiber Optic Termination Training for the community for free. These trainings will be in July and September and are open to anyone who is interested in running fiber cabling. There are many jobs in this field.”
Henry also worked together with Dr. Harry Sheski to establish a partnership with the New Mexico Corrections Department Recidivism Program which offers college classes for inmates at the Western Women’s Correctional Facility and the Springer Women’s Correctional Facility. The classes are provided through an online format and according to Henry, this partnership has produced positive results so far. Many of the inmates have earned certificates and the program will continue to better equip them to enter back into society and the workforce when they are released.
NMSU-Grants celebrated Henry and all of these contributions with cake, snacks, and a party on June 10. “We had a great time celebrating the retirement of Mrs. Karen Henry,” said an NMSU-Grants Campus Facebook post featuring the celebration. “She has been an amazing asset not only to our campus, but our community. We wish you the best!”
Henry reflected on her years as an educator at NMSU-Grants, saying that her favorite part about it was building relationships with her students that would last for years, allowing the students to update Henry on their lives and how she made a difference in them. “I have students all over the country working in IT jobs and doing fantastic work. It is satisfying to know that I made a difference in their lives and families,” expressed the NMSU-Grants retiree.
Now that Henry is retired, she looks forward to spending more time with her kids and grandkids, settling down, working on their house, swing trading the stock market, and getting stronger in mind, body, soul and spirit. “I am so thankful for the opportunity to teach at NMSU-Grants and grateful for the support of the administration, faculty and staff. NMSU-Grants is truly an untapped resource with the power to transform lives, families and the community. I would encourage everyone to take just one class. It might just change your whole future, just like it did mine. God Bless you all.”