Patrice at the registration table of STEMGirls at BCCC

On Wednesday, April 15, I had the pleasure of interviewing Patrice Pladsen. (Because of the coronavirus, we had to do this over the telephone without having ever met.) Patrice is fascinating. She is retired now, has many interests, and maintains a very full schedule. She has a Masters in Reading and a Masters in Educational Administration. She was born in Northeast Philadelphia and grew up there. She and her future husband, Keith, were in elementary school together. In eighth grade, Keith’s family relocated to Boston. In an April, many, many years later, they both attended the same reunion. They were married four months later.

Patrice and Keith have two children, a son and a daughter. The daughter is married and the son is not. The daughter has three children, two sons and a daughter. Patrice and Keith provide after school care three days a week until their parents get home from work. She describes this as a “part time job” that they both adore. Patrice doesn’t have any pets, but when the children were young, the family had an adorable, albeit naughty, beagle dog.

Patrice has many interests, three of which keep her busy all the time. She is a fitness fanatic who loves walking and going to the gym to exercise. She has always been interested in learning and especially in how children learn. She is an avid reader who belongs to several book clubs. She also enjoys working with her hands, doing puzzles and traveling to many different countries. Her passion is literacy. In a way, that interest in literacy is what introduced her to AAUW. She happened upon an article in the Newtown Gazette about Cops & Kids. In the same publication, there was an AAUW article describing their work with students and STEM programs. Fascinated by what Cops & Kids was accomplishing and intrigued by the STEM initiatives, she had to investigate and then joined the organization responsible for Cops and Kids.

When Patrice was asked what general wish she would wish for, she replied “the redesign of the K-12 educational system in the U.S.”

Patrice and Keith have traveled to many countries, European and elsewhere. When Keith’s Financial Services job transferred him to the U.K., they lived there for three years. They have been to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland, but her two most favorite trips were to Israel and Ireland. She related how when her plane landed in Ireland and set down on the tarmac, right at that moment a rainbow appeared and she saw a butterfly. She just knew that it was there especially to welcome her to Ireland. Israel was another trip she raved about for the kindness of its people, their intelligence, the agriculture, the safety precautions in effect, etc. Of particular interest was her comment that security was primarily in what you didn’t see as opposed to what you did see.

At the end of the interview Patrice was asked the special meal question. She stated that she’s not much of a “foodie” but that she absolutely loves cookies. When pressed for the menu she would choose, she stated that she’d start out with shrimp cocktail, followed by a garden salad. Then there would be Chicken Marsala, steamed rice and spinach. Dessert would consist of an assortment of cookies. (I asked, “No cake, pie, ice cream? Just cookies?” She vehemently answered, “Just cookies!”)

When Patrice has free time, besides going to the gym and babysitting her grandchildren, she belongs to the Delaware Valley University Center for Learning in Retirement. One of her favorite “courses” is an Art class where artists come and lecture on a variety of the arts (sculptors, painters, pastels, photographers, theater actors , etc,)

It was very enjoyable chatting with Patrice. I hope someday to meet her.