The Aditya Birla Education Academy (ABEA), one of India’s leading teacher training institutes under the aegis of the Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET), and The Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development (University of Connecticut), one of the leading centers in the world in the area of gifted education and talent development, have announced a collaboration to offer the Schoolwide Enrichment Program to Indian educators.
The five-minute video Denoya’s students watch is part of a series produced through a new pilot program called Feel Your Best Self, or FYBS. Each video is built around a simple strategy to help kids recognize and manage their feelings – or to help friends who are struggling.
“It’s taking what we know works,” says Emily Iovino, a trained school psychologist who is part of the FYBS team.
In this forum, Feel Your Best Self creators Sandy Chafouleas and Emily Wicks and script writers Yanniv Frank, Emily Iovino, and Sarah Nolen talk about the development of this unique interdisciplinary collaboration between UConn’s Collaboratory on School and Child Health and Ballard Institute to use puppetry to promote emotional well-being in elementary-aged children.
Marjorie “Jean” Romano ’77 (MA) wanted to both honor her late husband and support graduate students conducting summer research. She decided to set up a bequest that will supplement a scholarship that she and her husband, Antonio, a UConn biology professor and CLAS dean, established several years ago. Her planned gift will support the Antonio H. & Marjorie J. Romano Graduate Education Fund.
This past Sunday, Nov. 6, University of Connecticut undergraduate student Brianna Alexis Chance showcased her documentary series, “Housing (In)justice,” to the public for the first time. Held at the Dodd Center, the series focused on the issue of housing insecurity and homelessness within the undergraduate population. Programs were handed out before the screening for further details and information about housing insecurity, as well as the individuals who were involved in the documentary process. The production of Chance’s documentary was ultimately made possible by funding from the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network.
“Mental health issues should no longer be placed on the backburner. All struggles are valid, no matter what generational differences there are. Having conversations and normalizing mental health care within families can help reduce the stigma. Increasing funding and access to mental health resources is a necessary next step, with a focus on hiring better trained staff in a culturally contemptuous background,” says Megan Go, a graduate student studying Higher Education and Student Affairs at the University of Connecticut.
Due to culture, generational trauma, and expectations in relation to mental health, it is difficult for Asian Americans to reach out for help even when needed. Mental health tends to be a taboo topic within the community. Past generations have experienced traumatic historical events such as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, The EDSA Revolution, The Vietnam War, surviving poverty, and on top of that, migrating to a new country.
The tailgate, organized by CEA Communications staff and sponsored by California Casualty, included an all-you-can-eat hot breakfast for CEA members and guests, along with music, a fan photo booth, and games of cornhole, football toss, can jam, and ladder golf. Teachers were also treated to dozens of prizes that included CEA Member Benefits and UConn Neag School of Education swag, as well as raffle prizes donated by UConn, The Bushnell, and other CEA Member Benefits partners.
“Things that public schools focus on, in terms of teaching students about various issues and making sure students are protected, all of those hallmarks of public education are being attacked,” said Preston Green, an education leadership and law professor at the University of Connecticut. “Depending on how the Republicans do, you may see more of it.”
At just 4 years old, Violet Jiménez Sims ’02 (SFA), ’05 MA, ’11 6th Year told her mother she wanted to “be one of the little people that lived inside the television.” Today, she laughs and says she’s learned that no one lives inside a TV, and instead of being an actress, she spends most of her time in front of a different audience: college students.
“Good teachers have to be good actors,” Sims says. “You have to be entertaining enough to capture students’ attention and use improv skills sometimes when things don’t go right.”
