The Neag Foundation has provided the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH) with a two-year grant to facilitate work in the Think about the Link Project. The project builds from the CDC’s Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model to fully acknowledge the many interrelated components involved in supporting student well-being. The Think about the Link Project offers practical tools to help schools enhance their work by incorporating the WSCC model in decision-making across academic, social, emotional, behavioral, and physical supports.
Graduation, prom, banquets, trips. Our teenagers are lamenting so many lost milestones. My daughter, a high school senior, recently summed up her thoughts about graduating amid a pandemic: “It feels like the light at the end of the tunnel was just snuffed out.”
Each of us is processing what is happening in the world right now on our own terms. Some of us prefer to do this alone, reflecting inwardly. Initially, I was one of them. I avoided talking through my feelings with anyone else. I did not consider myself prepared to help other people feel better. I put on my figurative protective armor and took some time to try and catch my breath. I did this despite knowing that, given my position and my race, people might want to hear from me. Despite their needs, I had to take care of self, first.
Our hearts ache. George Floyd’s life matters. Breonna Taylor’s life matters. Ahmaud Arbery’s life matters. Black lives matter.
We are reaching out to share resources that we believe might be helpful as you reflect on the current and ongoing racism in our country. We hope that these resources will help you reflect on and process the current moment. Of course, this list is not exhaustive, as there are so many dynamics, so many theories, so many histories to grasp in order to do our work of understanding anti-racism. We hope it will, though, provide a place for you to start or some new directions to go. As you find useful resources, please continue to share and learn together.
”We need to get ahead of this crisis to survive and thrive together. It is time to provide alternate options in education preparation so we can continue to prepare high-quality leaders and teachers within this ‘new normal,‘” says Patricia Virella.
Students need to feel safe and have supportive relationships for their social, emotional, and academic learning to be optimized. Students experiencing trauma, such as from public health crises, weather disasters, or other upsetting events, may have been exposed to unpredictable schedules, inconsistent supervision, or food insecurity and desperately need school to be their safest, most predictable, and most positive setting, especially if they have been displaced or are without utilities or basic comforts.
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.” They have been told that they are frying their brains by using phones, tablets and other devices to stay connected to friends, culture and a sense of normalcy, and that they are learning less than they should or close to nothing at all.
They should be told the opposite.
The Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut offers a 4-course, 12-credit 100% online graduate certificate designed for practicing educators who wish to hone their skills in order to better support English Learners in schools. Apply by May 15.
With school closures announced across the country, Neag School faculty, alumni, and students share resources and expertise on teaching, learning, homeschooling, and parenting during the pandemic.
