Georgette Howell, a Montgomery County Community College associate professor and registered dietitian was recently elected as the new board president of the Foundation for Pottstown Education.     

  

“The former Board president, Tracey Brown, was a friend of mine who had worked at Montco as a psychology professor,” Howell said.    

  

Brown nominated Howell to be a Board member in 2016 and prior to becoming Brown’s successor, Howell served as board vice president.   

  

“It was important for me to be a part of this because I felt I was giving back to the community,” Howell said. “The Foundation does amazing things for the students and the school district that is sorely lacking in resources.”    

 

Seeking a profession

  

With 26 years of professional experience, including 22 teaching in the field of nutrition, Howell was living in White Plains, New York as a single parent of a young child in 1992 when she decided she wanted to make a professional change and become a dietitian.    

  

“At that time, I was working as an admin assistant for the president of a company, and I wanted a job where I did not have to say, ‘I work for,’ and wanted a job where I could say, ‘I am,’ she said. “I wanted a profession, not a job, and something I loved and wanted to do.”   

  

She set off to begin graduate school at Teachers College, Columbia University and four years later she received her Master of Science in Nutrition and Education and completed her one-year internship to become a registered dietitian in 1996.    

  

Determination propelled her forward   

  

Howell credits determination for propelling her forward despite the challenge of managing family life as a single mother and embarking on an unknown journey down a new career path at the age of 36.    

  

“The process to become a dietician is not an easy one, but this is what I wanted to do,” she said.    

  

Prior to beginning her graduate studies, she had to first accomplish many prerequisites in science since a bachelor’s degree in history from State University of New York (SUNY), was unrelated to the field.   

  

“I took courses at community colleges and other colleges or universities depending on what they offered and at times attended two to three campuses in a semester,” she said. “It was quite a juggling act for a while.”   

  

Howell’s interest in being a dietitian stemmed from her firsthand experiences with a dietitian over the course of two years when she was in the process of becoming a vegetarian.    

  

“I was working with her on that, and it was just about getting healthier and eating well,” she said. “I had lost weight and I wanted to fine tune things and make sure I was doing things right.   
   

Newfound interest in food   

  

Howell enjoyed her time with the nutritionist and learning about food. This newfound interest sparked a desire to become a chef, with her sights set on attending the New York Gourmet Cookery School.   

  

“It was a school to train chefs to cook vegetarian food,” she said, adding that due to conflicts with childcare at the time, she decided not to partake in the program.     

  

Not long after, a friend suggested she look at Teachers College, the Graduate school of Education, Health, and Psychology of Columbia University, to see their nutrition education program.    

  

“They were welcoming and amazing,” she said. “I’m still in contact with some of the faculty from there – they gave me complete and total support.”   

  

After graduating and becoming a registered dietitian, Howell worked in various hospitals for four years, where she would also mentor students who came through her department on their rotations. That experience gave her the first taste of teaching.    

  

“I enjoyed mentoring them as they were coming through on their program,” she said.    

  

Teaching nutrition   

  

A friend who worked at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York asked Howell if she would be interested in teaching nutrition to nursing students one summer. This led to additional semesters as her love of teaching grew.    

  

“I liked that I got to spend time with the students and build a relationship,” she said. “In contrast, you don’t form a relationship in a hospital.”   

  

Howell decided she wanted to dedicate herself to teaching full-time and found her first job at Rockland Community College, in Suffern, New York, where she ran a dietetic technician program and taught for three years until the program and the department was dismantled. She moved to PA in 2003 and took on a teaching position with Immaculata University in Pennsylvania.   

  

“That is when I moved out here from New York,” she said, adding she lived in Exton.    

In 2006 she took on a position at MCCC and moved to Pottstown to be close to the Pottstown campus.   

  

“I started as an assistant professor and moved into a coordinator position,” she said. “I was later promoted to associate professor, and I teach basic nutrition and personal health and wellness at the Pottstown campus and online.”   

  

Now 16 years later from when she was first hired, ten of which she lived in Pottstown, Howell has many special memories.  

 

“I loved seeing my students in Wawa, the grocery store and even at stop signs,” she said. “I was able to take them on a field trip to the Pottstown Cluster here in town for a food insecurity group project, and I take them to the Schuylkill River Waterfront when we study nutrition and fitness. It is great having these resources so close by.”  

 

She even attended the wedding of one of her students.  

 

“In one of my early semesters teaching in Blue Bell, I had two students who were dating in my personal health and wellness class,” Howell said. “A few years later, I was invited to their wedding.”  

  

Unique style and flavor  

  

Howell has had the experience of teaching at MCCC’s Blue Bell and Pottstown Campuses.  

  

"Each have their unique style and flavor,” she said. “When given the choice, after my first five years of working at both campuses, I chose Pottstown. I loved being able to see my students often on such a small campus and living in the community, I could relate to them better and on a more personal level.”  

  

Given the length of time she has been teaching at MCCC, Howell said she has had the opportunity to witness positive and significant changes at the College over the years.  

  

“We have a tight knit group of faculty, staff, and administrators here. We are small, but mighty,” she said. “The office in which I work in North Hall is beautiful. To have such a lovely environment in which to work, with warm and friendly people, makes it easy to want to come and stay.”  

  

Personal health and wellness  

  

Today, Howell lives in Trappe and discussed her continued passion for teaching. In addition to teaching basic nutrition, she also teaches a course in personal health and wellness, which she loves.  

  

“It’s always evolving and covers so many different topics from sexuality to psychological health, from sleep to aging – topics science is constantly evolving around,” she said.    

  

Howell appreciates a more recent change that was made in MCCC’s nursing program that addresses an understanding of how nutrition is integral to wellness in relating to people regaining health and maintaining health.    

  

“I love that our college now requires our nursing students to take nutrition,” she said. “If I can give them help with the foundation of nutrition, they can help those who are sick get better.”   

  

Howell, who refers to the College as her “work home” and as a place where she has developed lasting friendships.  

 

“When I was hired, I was asked what I was looking for at Montco, after coming from teaching two years at Immaculata University,” she said. “I said I was looking for a home and that is exactly what I found here.”