“From preschool aged children up to Individuals who are students in graduate or professional schools, if each and every day we could spend time—20 minutes, 30 minutes, or even longer—with the goal of playing of being active, of interacting, the benefits to our physical, our emotional, our spiritual health would be life-changing.”

The nine-year MLB veteran joined SportsJam host Doug Doyle to talk about the new show, his baseball and broadcasting career, social justice matters, and his days at Teaneck High School. The baseball analyst, writer, author and educator who teaches classes at UConn’s Neag School of Education spoke on a Zoom chat from his home in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

Before COVID-19, about 55% of Connecticut students in grades 3-8 were meeting grade-level literacy benchmarks on state assessments — a rate elementary school teachers and education experts worry is dropping due to less instruction time and challenges connecting with students during a disrupted school year.

Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations in the U.S., tied only with nurses, a 2013 Gallup poll found.

As spring arrives, it feels like the storm might be starting to ease up. We should expect, however, that conditions around us will continue to change for some time. It is important that we monitor the weather of our family well-being, now so more than ever. We need to be able to adjust what we do to make sure each family member – young and old alike – has the right gear to support their well-being.

Thanks to 889 individuals, the Neag School of Education garnered more than $50,000 in contributions during this spring’s annual Giving Day at UConn.

The pandemic has presented a variety of different challenges, many of which are exhausting to cope with. The University of Connecticut’s Alumni Relations hosted a panel titled “Not Burnout, Betrayal: The Pandemic’s Impact on Working Mothers.” Panelists, along with an array of other women, discussed various struggles that mothers are facing today.

“As many schools in the U.S. figure out how to safely and fully resume in-person instruction, much of the focus is on vaccinations. But there’s another type of ‘vaccine’ that may be beneficial for some returning K-12 students that could be overlooked. Those are known as ‘behavioral vaccines.'”

“As many schools in the U.S. figure out how to safely and fully resume in-person instruction, much of the focus is on vaccinations,” says Neag School Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Sandra Chafouleas. “But there’s another type of ‘vaccine’ that may be beneficial for some returning K-12 students that could be overlooked. Those are known as ‘behavioral vaccines.'”

Says UConn’s Rachael Gabriel, associate professor of literacy education: “Since schools shut down, students have been called the ‘hobbled’ generation and the ‘Covid class.’ They have been told they have or will experience Covid-related slides, losses, gaps, and other deficiencies that are ‘disastrous’.”

She’s quick to add: “They should be told the opposite,” considering the challenges they have faced and the learning adaptations they have made.