Conni Crittenden: A Life of Science, Kids and Teaching

Conni Crittenden moved from Ann Arbor to East Lansing to attend Michigan State University in 1969. Nearly a half-century later, she’s still in town, propelled down the path she charted from her first year on campus.

“The logical thing in the late 1960s was to move to East Lansing to get away from mom and dad,” says Crittenden, who chose green and white over maize and blue. “Even though my dad had his degree from U of M, they were happy anywhere I wanted to go.”

Crittenden was happy, too. She was pleased by the strength of MSU’s College of Education, and set about pursuing multiple fields of study to build her teaching credentials—including math, science and fine art. She earned her undergraduate degree in elementary education, and then a master’s in fisheries and wildlife.

She also met her husband while representing MSU as a Big Ten student-athlete. Conni was a diver, Richard a swimmer. They got along swimmingly, got married, and raised three boys in the heart of the Glencairn neighborhood.

Crittenden’s longevity as an East Lansing resident is nearly matched by her longevity as an elementary school science teacher. At the end of the 2017-18 academic year, Crittenden will have marked her 43^rd year teaching fourth- and fifth-graders in Williamston Community Schools. She’s been in the same building and the same classroom throughout those four decades, and has worked under fourteen administrators and five superintendents.

“I’m number one in seniority in the whole district,” she says. “It’s great to say you’re number one, but really, it makes no difference to me.”

As Crittenden winds down the year of teaching a multi-age classroom, she’s simultaneously ramping up for the summer when she’ll apply her teaching formula to the Kids’ College—a program at MSU sponsored by the Ingham ISD’s Offices of Gifted and Talented Programs.

For more than 20 years, Crittenden has overseen the two-week Kids’ College science program for fourth- and fifth-graders that runs each July. Children from Eaton, Clinton, Ingham and Shiawassee County schools come to campus to engage in scientific exploration. Crittenden continues to be a key player in setting and guiding the curriculum facilitated by certified teachers.

“We’ve tried to develop a program that we tweak every year that has experiences students wouldn’t get in their regular classrooms,” she says. “We start with a concept on a small scale and make it gigantic. For instance, one unique project is building a trebuchet. Students get to fling milk jugs full of water and an occasional cantaloupe, while figuring out the relationship between mass and distance.”

Blinded by science

Science, kids and teaching have always been a way of life for Crittenden. At the time she earned her master’s degree from the College of Natural Science in ’75, she was the only woman in her graduating class. She immediately immersed herself into science education, creating classrooms that engaged kids, other teachers and parents. She joined various professional groups and ventured into leadership roles—and has served as the regional director of Michigan Science Teachers Association since 2002.

Along the way, Crittenden got noticed. She received a 1995 Christa McAuliffe Fellowship Award and a Presidential Award for Elementary School Science in 1998. Instead of opting for sabbaticals, Crittenden applied her awards toward funding an expanded lab for teachers and children in her district.

“I wanted to make it easier for elementary teachers to teach science,” says Crittenden. “And we began integrating math, science and art—so it was STEAM before STEAM was even cool.”

Crittenden’s achievements symbolize her devotion to kids, and to teaching science in a manner that connects with a child’s point-of-view. Her love for ecology, as well as acquainting students with biology has also wound its way back into her home life.

Her boys, while growing up, enjoyed a menagerie of animals—some their own, others on vacation from the classroom during long breaks or long weekends. Hissing cockroaches, pigmy hedgehogs, a Peruvian rose tarantula, a hermit crab and an aquatic frog named Speedy were among the creatures that kept the family dog company in their Glencairn home.

While her children have grown and moved away, Crittenden says she will continue to surround herself with children for as long as she can. She says she has been teaching so long she’s seen generations of families, and suspects she’s teaching some of her first students’ grandchildren by now. Retirement isn’t on the horizon, and when it is, she hopes to stay in East Lansing—the place she and Richard call home despite the fact they both came from other cities.

“We both came from places with lots of trees,” says Crittenden. “My husband is from Palo Alto, California, and I’m from Ann Arbor. Glencairn is just what we’re looking for. We also love the fact that we are in a place where people still value being in a neighborhood. East Lansing has always been a great community to be part of.”

You may also be interested in the story of Conni and Richard Crittenden and their fight against BWL over tree cutting:

BWL Easements Missing

New Yard Sign Campaign Questions BWL’s Right to Cut

BWL Sues EL Homeowner Behind Tree-Defense Yard Sign Campaign

Judge Hears BWL Arguments Under Disputed Maple Tree

Judge's Decision Likely to Decide Fate of Thousands of East Lansing Trees

Judge Rules Against BWL in Tree Trimming Case

Couple Relieved Lawsuit Is Over, But Warn Others

Ask ELi: BWL and Your Trees—What Are Your Rights?