North Country Teacher Resource Center
“Teacher centers are the lifeblood for professional development for teachers,” — Kathleen Fessette, Center Director
The North Country Teacher Resource Center, located in the center of Sibley Hall, is an independent organization that assists faculty from 19 area school districts as well as SUNY Plattsburgh and Clinton Community College by providing professional development resources including a computer lab, workshops, journals, periodicals and courses.
The center’s location in Sibley, the same building that houses the college’s teacher’s education unit, has been beneficial to students and faculty alike.
“The relationship we’ve forged with the college has been growing,” Fessette said. “We’ve been in this space since teacher centers became funded in the mid-1980s. Now we have faculty in here every day.”
Fessette said that the college’s education faculty schedule classes in the center’s computer lab to teach students how to use the center’s SMART Board software before they implement it in their classrooms.
An Ellison die cut machine with dozens of dies is made available to teachers and students for bulletin boards, projects and classroom decorating.
“The North Country Teacher Resource Center is not just about our teachers but our educational community,” Fessette said, however.
Community members and organizations also make use of the center, from the Battle of Plattsburgh Committee to the Transportation Museum.
In addition, the SUNY Child Care Center and clients from the Third Age Day Care Center — part of the Center for Neurbehavioral Health — visit the facility for books and story time.