Say Goodbye to Margaret Collier

It’s difficult to gauge the impact that Margaret Collier has had on people’s lives – not only with colleagues and students, but the countless children that benefit from her efforts. Collier is retiring after more than 30 years of teaching at Cuesta College.
Collier has been described by colleagues as an “invaluable asset” to Cuesta. Collier has been instrumental in developing Cuesta’s current Early Childhood Education (ECE) program, which is recognized as one of the strongest ECE programs in the state. She became division chair of human development in 1983.

Her accomplishments are almost too numerous to list. Collier has been deeply involved in the design and planning of the new Children’s Centers on the San Luis Obispo and North County Campuses, even writing a mini-grant for new playground equipment (funded to the tune of $31,000, with $5,000 coming from faculty and staff donations). She has written and published three textbooks on early childhood education. She accepts no royalties from these books, which are highly prized by students when they enter the workforce. In the classroom, Collier is known for her dedication in helping students achieve success.

Collier earned her master’s degree in education from Cal Poly, and her bachelor’s in speech arts from Fresno State. She resides in Arroyo Grande.