Retired English teacher puts language to work
By LORI STABILE
Staff writerSPRINGFIELD - Susan B. Kline brings her passion for language to area companies, helping employees improve grammar and business writing.
For 30 years, the Longmeadow resident taught English at Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham. She retired in June. Now, her full-time job is her consulting company, Business Communications.
Kline, 57, recently taught a class called "Grammar Basics for Business" at MassMutual Financial Group. You could tell she used to be in a classroom.
Kline enthusiastically talked about grammar, which, she admitted, can be a dry topic. Participles, misplaced modifiers and punctuation were some of terms she discussed.
Eighteen MassMutual employees from various departments attended her seminar. They were all given workbooks. A few said they felt like they were back in high school English class.
She challenged the class with a brainteaser, a sentence without punctuation. At first blush, the sentence - It was and I said not but - seemed nonsensical. After punctuation was added, its meaning became clear. It was "and" I said, not "but."
After the class, Kline talked about how she started teaching at local companies.
In 1982, she was asked to teach a course at Western New England College about business writing. One student said she should bring her presentation to his workplace. She quickly realized there was a "whole world of people out there" who could use grammar refresher courses. In addition to MassMutual, she has also made appearances at Big Y Foods, Monarch Life Insurance Co. and Smith College.
Besides "Grammar Basics for Business" class, she also teaches e-mail and business writing classes. Her husband, Edward M. Kline, is treasurer at MassMutual. But he has yet to take one of her classes.
What irritates her most?
"Between you and I," Kline said. That is incorrect, she said. It's "between you and me."
Accommodate is often misspelled. And, it's "in regard to," not "in regards to," she said.
Jennifer M. Cawley said she took Kline's class to brush up on grammar. She works in the life new business department and spends a lot of time e-mailing.
"It's been years since we've all been in high school," Cawley said.
Cawley's colleague, Anne L. Hawley, a case consultant in the life new business department, said she enjoyed Kline's class.
"I'm grateful to the company for allowing associates to refresh, relearn or even grasp for the first time basic grammar skills," Hawley said.
Employees have "unlimited" access to professional development opportunities, said Warren T. Erickson, MassMutual's vice president of corporate human resources. They can pick from day and night classes, he said. Kline's classes, he said, "always get high marks."
"I feel so good about the work I do," Kline said.
She encourages those who attend her classes to send documents to her for review or to contact her if they have grammar questions.
Lori Stabile can be reached at lstabile@repub.com
Springfield, MA04/11/2003
