A young girl’s love for horses and FFA was the impetus for a rewarding career teaching agriculture. Sarah LaRose’s passion for all things equine began at age 10. Her military family moved to Virginia, where she began riding lessons at a local stable.

“When we moved to Connecticut, my guidance counselor at Ledyard High School said in passing, ‘Oh, we also have an agriculture program,’ and passed me a brochure with a horse and rider on the front,” she recalled.

The members of the Class of 2023 arrived at UConn as part of a diverse and academically accomplished cohort, determined to make their mark on the state’s flagship public university. They did that and more, navigating the challenges of an unprecedented global pandemic while setting new standards in sustainability, entrepreneurship, activism, and student scholarship. And, on their way to their next adventure, they got to celebrate the first NCAA men’s basketball national championship in nearly a decade.

Join us in the UMC Glenn Miller Ballrooms on May 1, 2023 for the Best Should Teach Lecture and Awards Ceremony followed by Keynote Alyssa Hadley Dunn, Director of Teacher Education and Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut.

Amanda Slavin is the co-founder of CatalystCreativ/CatalystU, a creative agency that empowers brand success by forging deep audience engagement. Slavin’s work has merited Cannes Lion Awards, and the business of such clients as Google, the New York City Ballet, NPR, the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL, and more.

The New Haven Board of Education has appointed Dr. Madeline Negrón as superintendent of schools, effective July 1, 2023.

“Dr. Negron knows New Haven and its schools very well,” said Board President Yesenia Rivera. “At the same time, her experience in Hartford has encompassed many of the same issues we face here in New Haven. She can bring a fresh perspective and a strong leadership voice to our ongoing conversations about strategy in all aspects of our mission.”

UConn Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Sandra Chafouleas of the Neag School of Education then got the crowd going with audience volunteers as she led a hands-on discussion of how students can feel their best.

Carole (Vestali) Neag, a philanthropist and retired registered nurse whose generosity transformed UConn, died Sunday, April 16, at age 80. Neag, the widow of philanthropist Ray Neag ’56 ’01 H, is survived by her son David Hogan and his wife Heidi, her daughter, Elizabeth Lamoin and her husband James, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and extended family. A native of Torrington, Conn., Carole spent her later years in Wyomissing, Penn.

What defines a mortifying moment? “There is a potential window where you might or might not have the resilience to withstand criticism,” says Beghetto, who was also influenced by James C. Kaufman, author of the forthcoming book The Creativity Advantage. “What I found in the initial exploratory study is a particular shame, which is really an indictment of the self coupled with the belief that you can’t get better.”

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will deliver the 2023 Commencement address for the 148th ceremony, which takes place June 10 at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium.
Prior to his time in Hartford, Cardona worked for years in the same Connecticut school system he attended as a child. He started as a classroom teacher and then served as a school principal and assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. He is the recipient of the 2012 National Distinguished Principal Award for the State of Connecticut and the Outstanding Administrator Award from the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education.

The symposium was titled “Are We at a Fork in the Road?” and explored implications and opportunities for AI in evaluation. It was hosted by Dr Sarah Mason of the University of Mississippi and Dr Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead of the University of Connecticut, co-editors of New Directions for Evaluation, a publication of the American Evaluation Association.