Becky Cournoyer, class of 1985, runs a small farm in West Tisbury with her husband, Mark; they have chickens, goats, geese, visiting oxen and cows, and a huge garden. This is along with many other tasks such as beekeeping, mowing acres of land, chopping wood — and raising three boys.
Becky remembered how difficult it was to be in an open classroom at West Tisbury, and so the small, structured classes at the high school worked much better for her. She was happy with her teachers, and especially liked English classes, where she enjoyed writing. She was not a fan of math, but that changed when Lou Toscano became her math teacher — all her anxieties left. During high school, she worked at the up-Island supermarket (Cronig’s today) and was able to squeeze in one extracurricular club: hiking. Through her high school years, her mom was sick with cancer, and she died in Becky’s senior year. That was a powerful blow to Becky, who decided to take a break after high school. Today, perhaps it would be called a “gap year,” but in her case, she needed to catch her breath and figure out the next chapter.
During that year, Becky drove a cab and also babysat, and by the next fall, she decided that she would go to Cape Cod Community College. Some friends were doing the same, so she had a place to live and could avoid the daily commute. After completion of her associate degree, she transferred to the co-op program at Northeastern University, entering the business program with a dual major in human resources and entrepreneurship. Becky remembers that a major requirement of that program was creating a business plan. She focused her plan on natural foods as the product, and a model for hiring practices.
After graduation, Becky came home to the Island and worked in human resources at Martha’s Vineyard National Bank for a few years, until it merged with Compass. She didn’t like the larger corporate world, so she moved over to Dukes County Bank, working as a teller and eventually branch manager for 15 years. Again, in response to a corporate merger, Becky left the bank. By this time, she and Mark had the three boys, and also a relative who needed caregiving. Becky had plenty to do as well as managing a small but very busy farm.
During our interview, Becky shared with me some of the history of the land their farm is on. She is quite a local historian. I truly hope that she will use her love of writing to put some of that history into stories for all of us to read and enjoy. Kudos to you, Becky!
Marge Harris was a teacher at MVRHS for 27 years. You can contact her at margeharris@comcast.net. This column appears twice a month.