10 Questions With Alexandra Lamb, Dean’s Doctoral Scholar

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In this new series, the Neag School will be catching up with students, alumni, faculty, and others throughout the year to give you a glimpse into their Neag School experience and their current career, research, or community activities. 

Incoming Ph.D. student Alexandra Lamb will join the Neag School this fall as part of the second cohort of Dean’s Doctoral Scholars. The program provides full tuition for four years plus a stipend to promising Ph.D. candidates. Dean’s Doctoral Scholars have the opportunity to conduct interdisciplinary research with leading experts in the field of education while earning a doctoral degree from UConn in curriculum and instruction, educational leadership, or educational psychology. For more information about the Dean’s Doctoral Scholars program, visit s.uconn.edu/neagdds.

DDS; Dean's Doctoral Scholar; Neag School of Education at UConn; Ph.D. Student Alexandra Lamb
Alexandra Lamb will pursue a Ph.D. in the Learning, Leadership, and Educational Policy Program with a concentration in leadership and education policy beginning this fall. (Photo courtesy of Alexandra Lamb)

Hometown: I am proudly from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Where were you working previous to Neag School? I was a middle school humanities teacher and technology integrator at the Berkeley Carroll School, an independent school in Brooklyn, N.Y. I was also the director of the Creative Arts Program, a summer arts camp at Berkeley Carroll.

What appealed to you about the Neag School and/or the Dean’s Doctoral Scholar Program? The Neag School offered an opportunity to reflect and think deeply in a community of dedicated and creative scholars about leadership and the organizational systems in American education. UConn shows its dedication to growth and developing a community of preeminent thinkers in the world of education through its Dean’s Doctoral Scholars Program. That was something I very much wanted to be a part of.

What are your research interests and what will be your specific Ph.D. area of study at the Neag School? I am in the Learning, Leadership, and Educational Policy Program with a concentration in leadership and education policy. I believe that one of the core challenges in the current American educational system is a crisis of leadership. I am looking to research how we can better select for leaders and put them in positions to effect change.

What do you hope to ultimately achieve in pursuing your doctoral research into these particular areas of focus at the Neag School? I hope to change the leadership structures and pathways in urban schools to allow for stronger, more supportive, and more successful educational communities.

“The Neag School offered an opportunity to reflect and think deeply in a community of dedicated and creative scholars about leadership and the organizational systems in American education.”

What does it mean to you to be named a Dean’s Doctoral Scholar? It’s a great honor. It’s exciting to be recognized for my past, current, and future contributions to the scholarly and K-12 educational communities.   

Describe your proudest career moment. Launching and sustaining a successful and fully integrated 1:1 iPad program at my current school. Coaching teachers, students, and families to use technology in meaningful and diverse ways has been a great challenge and an important achievement.

What are your hobbies? I love getting outside, riding my bike, and running. I love a new challenge!

When do you find yourself at your happiest? When I’m with my family and friends celebrating holidays and milestone moments.

What is something that most people don’t know about you? As an undergraduate student at Bowdoin College, I studied abroad in Dunedin, New Zealand, at the University of Otago.

Read other installments of the 10 Questions series here.

10 Questions With Kelsey Karp, Aspiring Agriculture Educator

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Kelsey Karp at Spring Valley Student Farm at UConn; now earning Teacher Certification through TCPCG
Aspiring agriculture educator Kelsey Karp ’16 (CAHNR) spends time harvesting produce at UConn’s Spring Valley Student Farm. Today she is enrolled in the Neag School’s Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates (TCPCG). (Photo courtesy of Kelsey Karp)

In this new series, the Neag School will be catching up with students, alumni, faculty, and others throughout the year to give you a glimpse into their Neag School experience and their current career, research, or community activities.

Here, Kelsey Karp ’16 (CAHNR) — an aspiring agriculture educator currently enrolled in the Neag School’s Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates (TCPCG) in Waterbury, Conn. — shares insights into her time at UConn, where she was an animal science major with a minor in food science. She spent her last year as an undergraduate living and working at UConn’s Spring Valley Student Farm, a community that provides UConn students with the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge and skills in organic farming — planting, growing, and harvesting produce for UConn’s own Dining Services.

Through TCPCG, an 11-month program designed for college graduates looking to earn teacher certification, Karp is getting one step closer to fulfilling her ambition to become an educator.

Learn more about TCPCG — as well as dates for upcoming information sessions — here.

Hometown: Newtown, Conn.

When I graduated from UConn: May 2016

The best part of being a student working on the farm: We are like a little family. All of the student farmers are like siblings to me. It is a great support system, and we all enjoy working with one another. As student farmers, we reach out to the UConn community by tabling different events, such as spring fling, fresh check day, involvement fairs, etc. We all are passionate about sustainable farming and love to communicate what we do at Spring Valley Student Farm.

What surprised me most about farming: You would think that there is nothing for farmers to do in the winter time; however, the amount of time and thought that goes into seed orders and crop rotation will blow your mind!

“Being an intentional teacher is a teacher who accommodates and challenges all of their students. A great teacher should ignite a passion for learning and foster new interests in their students.”

Best part of TCPCG so far: I’ve just completed the first of four sessions and already feel so much more prepared to become a teacher. It has been a lot of work but completely worth every bit. The Waterbury [campus] cohort is only 15 students, and we all have become very close. We communicate and work well with each other. Having such a supportive and encouraging group of classmates and professors is amazing.

Kelsey Karp; TCPCG; Spring Valley Student Farm at UConn
Kelsey Karp, far left, currently a TCPCG student at the Neag School, spent a year living and working at UConn’s Spring Valley Student Farm, where UConn students gain firsthand knowledge and skills in organic farming. (Photo courtesy of Kelsey Karp)

What I believe makes a great teacher: Being an intentional teacher is a teacher who accommodates and challenges all of their students. A great teacher should ignite a passion for learning and foster new interests in their students. Teachers should motivate their students to strive for success. Great teachers pave a path for students that will help them follow the road to assist them in gaining the skills they need for the career they are looking to pursue.

My greatest accomplishment: I am very proud of how much I immersed myself in the agriculture community at UConn. I was the vice president of UConn Dairy Club, fundraising chair of UConn Block N Bridle, EcoHouse mentor, dairy herdsman, student farmer at SVSF, etc. As a future agriculture educator, I will continue to be involved in the world of agriculture.

My greatest role model: My parents are both my greatest role models. They both are very hard workers and have taught me to be a hard worker. Without them I would not be the person I am today. They have helped me achieve everything that I’ve wanted to and continue to encourage me to go after my goals.

Something you don’t know about me: I am a huge Elvis fan, Zumba enthusiast, and pizza lover!

Favorite UConn Dairy Bar ice cream: Banana chocolate chip

 

Read other installments of the 10 Questions series here.