On Tuesday, May 24, the Prince William Sound College announced Alyssa Kleissler will be the new Cordova Extension Site Coordinator, a position held by Susan Harding for 21 years until her retirement. The director of PWSC, Dan O’Connor, made the announcement and thanked Harding for her contributions, “After 21 years of commitment to Cordova, we’re so thankful to you.”
In attendance were members of the community and students of Kleissler’s Spanish classes. O’Connor expressed confidence in Kleissler taking over the responsibilities.
“She’ll do great, she’s been teaching for us for a number of years and done a great job,” O’Connor said. “I think she has a lot of excitement and enthusiasm.”
Harding echoed the sentiments about Kleissler.
“She’s gonna be great, it’s going to be a good thing,” Harding said.
With 24 years of teaching experience, Kleissler knows what she’d like to focus on.
“I would like to work with some students that aren’t necessarily college bound students, but would like to get their associates degree, or would like to open up their own business,” Kleissler said. “I want to support the entrepreneurs.”
According to O’Connor, he sees tremendous opportunity in Cordova because of the different communities here and PWSC strives to serve and have a broader impact on the community. With community interest programs, enrichment classes, Alaska Native Arts, teacher training programs and education related to the fishing industry, he thinks a variety of offerings will serve the community of Cordova well. The mission of the Prince William Sound College is “to use its unique resources and magnificent landscape to enrich the lives of our students and our communities.”
