The Rome Commons Ballroom at UConn’s Storrs campus was filled on Saturday evening with Neag School of Education Alumni Board members; Neag School faculty, staff, and administrators; friends of the University; and guests honoring seven distinguished Neag School alumni at the School’s annual Alumni Awards Celebration.

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.

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.

“I hope to be able to someday marry what I’ve learned at the Women’s Center with my teaching,” Grace explains. “At the Women’s Center, we’re constantly working on taking articles that we read, or videos that we watch, discussing them, and learning how to become people who can create a better world. This is a lesson I hope to apply to my own teaching practices!”

“I really love our philosophy at the center: to create better writers, and not just better writing,” says Schweitzer. In the future, Schweitzer would like to take that approach in her own classroom, encouraging her students to develop their writing skills and understanding of the writing process.

Thanks to a newly announced investment of $240,000 from the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, the Neag School will be able to support further efforts to diversify the teacher workforce of tomorrow.

Claire Smith, an African-American female, grew up in a time when both of her underrepresented identities first made their breakthroughs. She told of how both her parents grew up as big Jackie Robinson fans and how that had a trickle-down effect on her. In a time where blacks in America faced oppression in a multitude of areas in society, every breakthrough was of major significance.

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

“When I first started my student teaching, I understood that all of my students would have specific learning needs that must be addressed throughout the school year,” writes Caroline Galeota. “As a teacher with dual certifications in elementary education and special education, I knew I would need to support students with a wide range of talents and abilities. Yes, it was tough learning how to identify and implement supports that ensure academic growth for students, but with proper training and time in the classroom it became second nature.”

Emily Tarconish is a Ph.D. candidate in Neag School’s educational psychology program with a concentration in special education. She is a survivor of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) she endured at the age of 15. With years of hard work and rehabilitation, Tarconish has relearned how to walk, speak, and regain basic life functions. Once she completes her Ph.D., she plans to pursue research focused in part on improving access to higher education for college students with TBIs.