When Alexandra Eckhardt ’11 (ED, SFA) was in elementary school her dad taught her to play Earth, Wind & Fire tunes on a four-string, junior-sized electric bass. He also taught her the acoustic bass because she loved low-noted instruments — but even the mini version was a stretch.

Congratulations to our Neag School alumni, faculty, staff, and students on their continued accomplishments inside and outside the classroom. If you have an accolade to share, we want to hear from you! Please send any news items and story ideas to neag-communications@uconn.edu.

Alan Addley is in his 11th year as the superintendent of Granby (Conn.) Public Schools. A native of Northern Ireland, Addley started his career as a professional soccer player and mathematics teacher. He has 34 years of administrative and teaching experience in private and public schools in the United States and Ireland. Addley completed a Connecticut Superintendent Certificate through the Executive Leadership Program in 2007 and earned his Ed.D. in 2014, both at the Neag School.

Sandi Hastings ’89 MA, ’94 Ph.D. began to contemplate the kind of relationship she wanted to have with her graduate school alma mater after her son was involved in a serious car accident.

Ashley Robinson, a third-year doctoral student studying learning, leadership, and education policy in the Neag School, and Tashua Sotil ’17 (CAHNR), ’18 MA, a sixth-year graduate student in its educational psychology program, have been named the recipients of the Neag School of Education Alumni Board Scholarship for 2019.

“It’s great to be back. This is and will always be home for me,” Elliott says. “I came here to Storrs when I was 18 years old, wet behind the ears as a freshman coming from the inner city of Washington, D.C. I owe a lot to this place.”

“My project will be focused on human rights and social justice and kids can choose a topic they’re interested in and that impacts their lives,” says Jessica Stargardter. “They’ll document an issue they see in their own community and hopefully be inspired to take action.”

Alumna Jessica Stargardter ’16 (ED), ’17 MA has been named by the Neag School of Education as the recipient of the 2019 Rogers Educational Innovation Fund award. Stargardter serves as a gifted and talented educator for Norwalk (Conn.) Public Schools.

Congratulations to our Neag School alumni, faculty, staff, and students on their continued accomplishments inside and outside the classroom.

As part of an international partnership that began two-plus years ago, Neag School Dean Gladis Kersaint and Yuhang Rong, UConn’s associate vice president for global affairs, traveled this past fall to the Middle East on behalf of the University to connect with educators, administrators, students, and even royalty, in a country where one Neag School program has been making an impact.