.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona praised new University of Connecticut graduates for their work in helping to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and urged them to use their uniqueness as their “superpower” to accomplish their career and life goals, in a recorded speech played Saturday at a virtual 2021 commencement. Cardona, Connecticut’s former education commissioner who earned graduate degrees at UConn, taped the speech Friday at UConn’s football stadium in East Hartford, the site of Saturday’s ceremony. The school awarded nearly 8,200 degrees.

Watch the virtual 2021 UConn Commencement ceremony, featuring remarks from four-time Neag School alumnus and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

From college football to the NFL to principal to superintendent of schools, Uyi Osunde has had quite the journey.

Ball State University has hired Neag School alumna Erin Mason in the newly-created position of university registrar. She most recently served as associate registrar at the University of Connecticut.

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.

One school district’s loss is another’s gain as Killingly’s assistant superintendent prepares to take the top education spot in Plainfield later this year. The Plainfield Board of Education this week unanimously voted to appoint Paul Brenton as its new superintendent of schools effective July 1.

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.

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.

Weston High School Principal Lisa Wolak has been selected to take the reins on July 1 as Superintendent of the Weston Public School District. She completed her superintendent certification program at the University of Connecticut and remains in the doctoral program.

Uyi Osunde, principal of Windsor High School since 2016, has accepted the position of school superintendent in Stratford. A former defensive end and co-captain for the UConn football team in 2003 who played briefly in the NFL, Osunde earned a bachelor’s in psychology from UConn, then later earned a master’s in educational psychology and a doctorate in educational leadership. He is also a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program at UConn’s Neag School of Education.