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Eckstrom enjoys small town living |
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Written by Publisher
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Monday, 23 November 2009 |
Photo submitted
Stephanie Eckstrom enjoys the woods with her two sons.
Stephanie Ecksrom, a 12-year resident of Mt. Jewett, said she loves the beautiful area and the safe, small-town atmosphere as well as caring for her two boys and helping others. Eckstrom currently serves as president of the Kane School Board.
Eckstrom grew up in a small town, Gathersburg, Md., which is located in a forested region outside of Washington, D.C. She grew up with the Seneca Valley Spring Park in her back yard.
Eckstrom grew up in the woods, being the youngest of three. She had two older brothers. She recalled building forts and walking down to the creek, where she would spend all day. She remembers going tent camping in the middle of nowhere for days at a time. She would dig into the cliffs with her brothers and shoot BB guns.
“I have always felt a strong connection with the outdoors, with rivers an forests.” Eckstrom said, “Pete (her husband) feels similarly. Living here we hope to instill the same connection with our boys.”
“I love to take the kids to Rim Rock as often as I can, and we also go camping outside of State College.”
It was her love of the outdoors that would later draw Eckstrom to this area and to her husband, Pete Eckstrom. During high school, she worked as a counselor at a church camp, Camp Glennkirk, in Virginia.
She graduated from Seneca Valley High School in 1986. It was a large high school, and her fondest memory was of a “wonderful” sociology professor that she had her senior year.
Eckstrom attended Montgomery Community College for two years. She graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She went to the University of Maryland at Baltimore for graduate school.
Helping others is not for everyone, but this local woman realized it was what she wanted to do, while volunteering for AIDS/HIV victims.
It was in college that Eckstrom volunteered as a HERO, in the D.C area.
HERO is an organization that helps people living with AIDS/ HIV. The organization would drive the people to their appointments, take them to get groceries and basically anything else that the ill people needed.
Eckstom had met the volunteer coordinator involved, who was also a social worker. Eckstrom said she thought, “She had the neatest job, and the coordinator was “wonderful.”
Eckstrom said she had previously wanted to work in health care and hospice, but the woman coordinating the HERO organization helped Eckstrom to change her mind. So, Eckstrom went into social work.
“You treat all people with dignity and respect, and you look for the strengths in others,” Eckstrom said. “To me, being a social worker means having hope.”
Eckstom has mostly worked with families and children, but she has done some work in geriatrics. She was a candy striper for a few years at a local Lutheran home. Eckstrom had always worked one or two jobs since she signed working papers when she was 15-years old.
Eckstrom moved to Gettysburg after grad school and began to work in a nursing home/rehabilitation facility. She later moved to Gettysburg’s historical district and worked with boys between the ages of 6 and 11 at Hoffman’s youth home.
While still in the historical district, Eckstrom became the second professional story teller ever in Gettysburg. She told ghost stories at the Farnsworth House before story telling was a tourist attraction,
Eckstrom said. She enjoyed this job because she is a Civil War historybuff. Eckstrom said she really likes to learn about the Revolutionary War and World War I.
When Eckstrom was living in Gettysburg she wanted to spend some time in the woods and see the autumn colors. Stephanie recalled walking into the West Line Inn, and the only person she could find to talk to was the bartender, Pete. They got married on October 11, 1997.
They have two children. One is in fourth grade and named Nathaniel John.
The second boy, John Willetts, is 5-years-old. Eckstrom said she enjoys watching the children grow up and being able to learn through their eyes.
She said they have taught her so much.
Her mother, Harriet, moved in 7 years ago.
Eckstrom said. “I am blessed to have such a supportive family. I wouldn’t be able to do the things I do if not for them (her mom and husband). It is important to role model for the kids to be involved.”
Eckstrom has been the president of the Kane School Board for two years, and was the vice president for two years. Before that she was appointed to fil vacancies on the board for five years. She enjoys working on the school board she said because she gets to advocate for the children who are inadvertently our future.
Eckstrom is also involved in the steering committee for Leadership McKean.
Leadership McKean is a 9-month series of workshops designed to promote a new generation of leaders.
Directors take turns planning and coordinating a workshop. Eckstrom graduated from Leadership McKean’s first class. The program has been running for 3 years. Eckstrom said that she was impressed with the commitment and talent in the region.
Eckstrom also has been on the advisory council at the YWCA, for victims’ resource for two years.
“Being successful means figuring out what you are good at, what you enjoy, and sharing that with others,” Eckstrom said.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 December 2009 )
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