As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

“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.'”

T. J. McKenna’s career revolves around one simple question: how can we make science meaningful, engaging, and relevant to our everyday lives? He began that career as an animal behaviorist and entomologist. But as a grad student, McKenna says, he realized that the audience for research papers is relatively limited and he sought ways for sharing his passion for science with a broader audience.

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.

“As education leaders navigate our emerging new reality, it is critical that their decisions, and guidance that informs their decisions, be effective and usable. The evolving education environment demands nimble decision-making that relies on the best available knowledge,” say Neag School’s George Sugai and Sandra Chafouleas.

Lisa Sanetti said the “levels of heightened stress and waves of uncertainty” adults have experienced during this past year have very real effects on children. “I’d say that it’s not possible to focus on the children without making sure that the adults around them are healthy as well.”