“Sport teaches us unity when we see teammates striving together for a common goal. As a global community, our common goal now is to defeat the coronavirus by working together,” says Eli Wolf, an academic technician with the Neag School of Education.

We are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2020 graduating seniors. Click each student image below to read a Q&A with each individual.

We are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2020 graduating seniors. Click each student image below to read a Q&A with each individual.

Former UConn women’s basketball player and recreational therapy graduate Bert Wachtelhausen ’81 (ED) has shaped a thriving career combining skills she honed as a Division I athlete with her longtime interests in physical health and helping others. Climbing the corporate health insurance ladder in what for many years remained a male-dominated industry, Wachtelhausen has long since shattered the glass ceiling to excel as a senior executive who now serves as president of startup WellSpark Health.

“The move to online instruction brings hope that we can emerge on the other side of the unexpected
with not just good but with better options for enhancing students’ learning,” says Barry Sheckley, a retired faculty member and former department chair. “Online instruction may foster innovations that enhance all students’ post-pandemic achievement.”

“This is essential work for the country: It will help us understand whether technology-driven, evidence-based learning can reduce the harm of this awful pandemic,” says Devin Kearns, associate professor of special education at UConn’s Neag School of Education, and a research scientist for Haskins Labs.

The use of technology, particularly the internet, to support remote learning is nothing new.

Alumna Jessica Stargardter ’16 (ED), ’17 MA, a gifted and talented educator for Norwalk (Conn.) Public Schools, shares four tips for educators to serve gifted learners through remote instruction.

“Schools everywhere have closed their doors, and many gifted students find themselves without rigorous work and the camaraderie of their peers,” says Jessica Stargardter, a gifted and talented teacher at Norwalk (Conn.) Public Schools. “It is up to us to continue to nurture the development of our brightest young minds with learning opportunities, and it is time to collaborate, especially given our social distance.”

“Thank you to those out there who are working diligently to help put an end to this pandemic. And thank you to those out there who are staying committed and putting forth effort to stay home,” says Neag School graduate student Montara Tomasetti. “You are making a bigger difference in this world than you may realize. You are appreciated, you are loved, and you are not alone in this.”