Bemidji State News Reporting S'11: Meredith Kehoe: Professor, Reading Specialist, Mother, Coach

Many different aspects of one woman

By Jillian Gandsey and Raielle Peterson

BEMIDJI, Minn. – Bemidji State’s ESL (English as a Second Language) professor, Meredith Kehoe, plays many other roles than just a very helpful professor. She is also a reading specialist, a mother of five, and was once a well-known basketball coach. She has opened up her home to her students and welcomed them as family. “She is more like a big friend than a teacher,” said Junior Political Science major, Fang Fang.

Kehoe was born in St. Paul, and moved around a lot because of her father’s job. As a result, she went to three different schools. She attended grades first-third in North Dakota and fourth-tenth in Barnesville, MN. Just before her junior year of high school her parents made her move to Bemidji. “I was a cheerleader, editor of the yearbook and all that.” Kehoe said jokingly, “I still haven’t forgave them for that and I’m 62!”

After she graduated from Bemidji High School in 1966 she began attending BSU. It was a rough beginning; she was placed on academic suspension after her third quarter. (BSU had a quarter system at that time.) “I did all the things you weren’t supposed to do – got pregnant, drank, and all that stuff,” claimed Kehoe. She did eventually graduate and earn degrees in Physical Education, Health and English.

As a mother she has raised one son and four daughters. “We have yours, mine and ours,” said Kehoe. Her only son ended up being a special education teacher and the girl’s basketball coach at Bemidji High School. Two of her daughters became nurses and one is a Biology/Chemistry major and another is a daycare worker. Out of her five kids, four of them graduated from Bemidji State.

Coaching girl’s basketball and track was a significant chapter of Kehoe’s life as well. She started every girl’s sport at Barnesville High School including basketball, track, volleyball and softball. “It was a big deal when I was paid just as much to coach volleyball as the football coach was to coach football,” said Kehoe. She coached there for twenty years before returning to Bemidji.

She now works as a reading specialist for the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade at Bemidji Middle School during the day and converts to a professor for ESL on Monday and Tuesday nights for BSU. “My favorite is enjoying the kids,” said Kehoe. She has worked both jobs for 15 years.

Kehoe didn’t exactly have to apply for her job here at BSU. In fact, she doesn’t even have an ESL degree. An old college friend of hers, Jon Quistgaard, offered it to her the day before the position started.

Kehoe thought that the ESL program wasn’t going to make it through Bemidji State’s recent budget cuts. “I thought the program would be gone,” she said, “but I’m an adjunct professor.” An adjunct professor is someone who isn’t promised a permanent position at an institution and primarily works part-time.