News & Events

We're excited to host a special online event at 7 pm ET on Monday, May 9 on Zoom. Jane Stephenson, founder of the New Opportunity School for Women, will join NOSW program coordinator and graduate Jennifer Walden and other NOSW graduates for a ... [Continue reading]

We're excited to share with you that our founder, Jane Stephenson, will receive the Berea College Service Award on March 24 in a special convocation. Jane and Appalachian scholar and activist Michael Maloney will be honored for creating ... [Continue reading]

Whew! We’ve had a busy week, with four different online programs. Our graduates gathered on Zoom Monday, February 21, for a discussion of the book Dimestore by Lee Smith with our friends from Altrusa. A three-day program February 21-23 ... [Continue reading]

NOSW’s executive director, Sister Robbie Pentecost, shared her passion for this work in a recent interview with Global Sisters Report, a project of National Catholic Reporter. “I have always been drawn to work with those on the margins, whether ... [Continue reading]

Three NOSW graduates joined author Cassie Chambers for a conversation about the resilience of women, what folks get wrong about Appalachia and more on December 6 on Zoom. Raised in Berea and Owsley County, Kentucky, Cassie is the author of the ... [Continue reading]

Women from several classes across three decades caught up with their sisters, reflected on their NOSW experience, played games and received awards at the NOSW graduate reunion. Gathering on Zoom on December 4, graduates shared their reasons for ... [Continue reading]

We're excited to welcome Cassie Chambers, author of Hill Women, for a discussion with NOSW graduates on December 6 on Zoom. Cassie grew up in Berea and Eastern Kentucky, earned degrees from Yale and Harvard, and came back to Kentucky as a ... [Continue reading]

A door closed when we canceled our two-week residential session because of rising COVID numbers, but a window opened for something new. October 11-15, which would have been our first week of the residential session, we brought women online for a ... [Continue reading]

We've made the difficult decision to cancel the Festival of Trees, scheduled for November 12-13. Though it was to be our biggest fundraising event of the year, we've decided it's just too risky to bring folks together when COVID-19 is still affecting ... [Continue reading]

Five NOSW graduates and four staff recently spent a long weekend together near the Red River Gorge, reflecting on where the program has been and where it can go. Graduates Amanda Gadd (2018), Barb Harvey (2018), Tami Gentry (2016), Sarah Rose ... [Continue reading]