Catherine Johnson

Mother, daughter meet in college class
Springfield Republican, December 10, 2003
By Lisa Roberge
Montgomery

When Catherine Rocheford Johnson returned to school this fall for the first time in 25 years, there was a familiar face in two of her classes - her younger daughter.

"I hesitated about attending Mount Holyoke because of Kara," Catherine Johnson said. "I wanted to do what was best for both of us."

"Originally, I wasn't too crazy about the idea," said Kara Johnson, a first year student at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley. "It's interesting though. I like it a lot. I think it's good for us to support each other through the college experience."

Unintentionally, the mother and daughter found each other in two of the same classes. "We'd both signed up for anthropolgy and ballet class, but it was sort of like, 'oh well, they're both required, we both need them,'" said Kara Johnson.

Catherine Johnson is a dance instructor at the Dance Arts Studio in Westfield. She studied dance since childhood and received an associate's degree from Lasell College in 1977. She applied to Mount Holyoke through the Frances Perkins Scholar Program, and Smith College through the Ada Comstock program, but decided on the former because she already knew its dance department through her older daughter, Krista, who graduated from Mount Holyoke in May. Both programs offer women over the age of 25 a traditional liberal arts degree.

"Krista was a bio major and had a dance minor. She had choregraphed a family piece which involved her, Kara and myself, called 'Trio.' We performed it for the Spring Dance Concert and again for Family Weekend," Catherine Johnson said. "I felt that because dance is such an important part of what I want to do, and I was more familiar with the dance program here, that Mount Holyoke would be a better fit."

Catherine Johnson, who is contemplating a biology major and dance minor herself, attributes Krista as a big influence on her decision to return to school.

"When she first came to Mount Holyoke, she came home after the first week and handed me the Frances Perkins application," Catherine Johnson said. "She was always telling me that I should enroll and that I could do it. She would tell me about the Frances Perkins students in her classes and how great they were."

After her position as a paraprofessional at the Powder Mill Middle School in Southwick was cut due to budget cuts, Catherine Johnson decided the time had come for her to return to school. She hopes to use her degree to go into some aspect of science, perhaps education or genetics. She said she is amazed by the focus and drive of Kara, who may pursue a double major in English and dance.

While Kara made Catherine agree to strict visitation guidelines - Kara lives in a dorm on campus, while Catherine commutes from home - Kara came up with the idea of taking a statistics class together. "We're both afraid of math, and we thought it'd be a good idea. That way we could help each other out," Kara Johnson said.