Last week's announcement that Salem State College will play host to one of the state's six new "Readiness Centers" offering innovative programs in teacher training, represents a return of sorts to roots established more than 150 years ago.

The Salem Normal School for "young ladies who wish to prepare themselves for teaching," opened on Broad Street in Salem in the fall of 1854. It was, according to SSC's official history, only the fourth such institution in the commonwealth and the 10th in the country.

A century and a half later, it remains the foremost training ground for teachers and school administrators here on the North Shore. But its physical plant now encompasses multiple buildings spread out over four campuses in South Salem, and its mission has broadened — prestigious nursing and geography programs, a new business school — to the point it is on the verge of being recognized as a state university.

Yet the task of training qualified teachers has never been more critical than it is today given the rapidly changing pace of our society and highly competitive nature of our economy.

Providing educators with the latest information on effective teaching strategies and techniques for assessing student performance, is the goal of the Readiness Centers which are being established as part of Gov. Patrick's Education Action Agenda.

"These Readiness Centers will ensure that our teachers are well prepared, fully supported and actively encouraged in their daily work to inspire, educate and cultivate the imaginations and minds of students across our commonwealth," Patrick declared during a visit to Salem last Friday.

SSC President Patricia Maguire Meservey stressed that this will be a collaborative effort involving other public and private institutions of higher education in the region.

"At Salem State we pride ourselves on helping our students attain the knowledge and aptitude necessary to help them prepare future generations of students across Massachusetts," she noted. Ask your child's favorite teacher where he or she studied, and likely as not the response will be, "Salem State."