Compression Suits Provide Competitive Advantage

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To be the best, athletes are always searching for a competitive edge on and off the playing field. A new study by Professor of Kinesiology William Kraemer of the Neag School of Education shows that wearing a full-body compression suit is one way athletes can improve their performance even while they rest.

Known as “recovery wear,” these high-tech garments are engineered to contour to the body using strategic compression in order to help tired and worn muscles heal more quickly.

The garments are specifically designed to hug areas of soft tissue (quadriceps, calf muscles, and upper body muscles) that can be damaged during a rigorous workout or athletic activity. The flexible, tight-fitting fabric helps repair soft tissues by immobilizing muscle fibers to decrease swelling and regulate fluid buildup inside the body. Researchers say that such stabilization of muscles and joints rejuvenates the body better than traditional methods involving icing and rest alone.

The garments work best when they are worn directly after exercise. In this study subjects wore the suits for 24 hours after a workout. Since the suits are both lightweight and comfortable, it is possible to wear them under clothing and while sleeping, when the body does most of its repairing.

“Our bodies are always in repair mode,” Kraemer says “We are constantly repairing and remolding all the time, especially after a workout.”

One commercial line of recovery wear – the Under Armour ® RechargeTM whole body compression suit – is constructed to produce needed compression and to allow long term wear with comfort. It is made of 75% nylon and 25% spandex.

All compressive garments are not the same and it is important there is enough spandex or Lycra in the garment if it is to be more than just a fashion statement, Kraemer says. Many people have worn garments that are tight and contain spandex, such as the workout clothes of the 1980’s, but that clothing had low amounts of spandex or Lycra and was worn more for fashion, than for performance and/or recovery purposes, Kraemer says.

The whole-body compression suit represents one of the latest applications of compression technology in sport and exercise. Early applications of the technology often involved athletic trainers taping or bandaging for example, an injured muscle or sprained ankle. This was to help support the weakened tissue. This same principle now is being used to assist healthy athletes with muscle recovery.

Kraemer began looking into the benefits of garment compression and their effect on athlete performance in the late 1980’s when he was a professor at Penn State University. His research has shown that compression technology is helpful in aiding athletes’ performance under fatiguing conditions of all types. It also helps athletes improve their stability and reduces the oscillatory movement of muscle when impacting the ground during running and jumping.

“We found that when part of your body hits the ground while wearing a compression garment, there would be a reduction in the oscillation of the muscles, which resulted in lower amounts of muscle damage,” says Kraemer. “Furthermore, our research in the area of compression and soft tissue damage helped us develop this idea of using compression for recovery purposes after typical hard workouts or competition. We knew it would help recovery from dramatic eccentric muscle injury but were less sure about its potential benefits in relation to the normal workouts athletes perform all of the time. That theoretical concept had not yet been fully explored.”

Kraemer’s research also served as the inspiration for the popular Under Armour ® sports performance apparel company. While giving a lecture on his compression research in 1995, one of those in attendance was Kevin Plank, who would go on to launch Under Armour ®. Plank was a student athlete at the University of Maryland at the time, where he played football and had the idea of using compression to create a tight fitting t-shirt a player could wear under shoulder pads that would not collect sweat and weigh the player down.

As the story goes, Plank found Kraemer’s research on compression technology very interesting; it was something that he had been looking for, an edge in his game. He also found it to be a potential business opportunity. Plank began buying lingerie material and making compression shirts for athletes, all from his grandmother’s basement. This small business idea turned into Under Armour ®, which is today an industry leader in athletic apparel and considered the pioneer of compression clothing. Under Armour ® became the first company to use Kraemer’s theory on the value of compression for workout recovery and supported a grant to test its efficacy.

“Dr. Kraemer is a leader in innovation and one of the world1s top compression garment experts,” says Plank, founder and chief executive officer of Under Armour ®. “It’s an honor to continue to work with him to develop cutting-edge technologies like the UnderArmour ® Recharge suits that are designed to help athletes recover faster.”

In his latest study, Kraemer recruited 11 highly resistance-trained women and nine highly-resistance trained men. The participants were asked to perform an intense resistance training workout regimen that included back squats, bench press, stationary lunge, dead lift, bicep curls, sit-ups, and high pulls. They were closely monitored during the workouts.

After the workouts, the participants in the study were required to wear a whole-body compression garment for 24 hours. The study involved extensive controls for diet, hydration and activity.

“This research was under highly controlled conditions,” says Kraemer. “We tried to control everything so that any treatment effect of an intervention could be seen. Looking for the efficacy of a treatment requires a highly controlled laboratory environment.”

The students were evaluated after the 24-hour period measuring a host of different physical and biological variables. Questionnaires, ultrasounds, blood samples and measurements of muscle circumference were taken and compared to the results obtained prior to the experiment. These data were then compared with their own control conditions where they did not wear a full-body compression recovery suit. The study found that, “in both men and women, compressive garments influenced positive effects on recovery in various physiological and performance profiles.”

Ultrasounds taken to determine swelling were significantly lower in the thigh of participants who used the compression garment compared to their control conditions of no suit, according to the study results. Also, vitality rating, fatigue rating, and generalized muscle soreness were all lower than that of the control condition. Overall, the study said, the suit performed to its potential in testing and the findings proved a more rapid recovery of selected psychological, perceptual, physiological, and performance variables.

In addition to his role as professor of kinesiology in the Neag School of Education, Kraemer also holds appointments as professor of physiology and neurobiology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and as professor of medicine at the UConn Health Center. In 2009, he was the recipient of the UConn Alumni Association’s Faculty Research Excellence Award in Science. The award is given to one faculty member at the University each year for prolific career records in scholarship, grant work, and publications

Neag’s Dr. Pescatello Provides Insight Into Genomics Role On Exercise Performance

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Linda Pescatello's book Linda S. Pescatello recently published Exercise Genomics, the first book of its kind to provide an extensive look into the research development and expert opinion on genetics and genomics across a range of exercise-related traits, including exercise performance, health-related fitness and physical activity.

The book emphasizes the analyses and comprehension of researchers from around the world on the past, present and future of exercise genomics. Dr. Pescatello is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Human Performance Laboratory at UConn’s Neag School of Education.

“This book is important because how a person responds to an exercise intervention is determined to a considerable extent by their genes,” said Dr. Pescatello. “Understanding how genes influence our weight, muscles, risk for certain diseases and exercise performance is critical to how best to prescribe exercise to maximize the health and fitness-related benefits of participation in physical activity and exercise programs.”

Dr. Pescatello’s text is tailored toward clinicians, health/fitness professionals and researchers looking to gain knowledge from new findings in the field, as well as evaluate unanswered questions regarding genomics effects on performance, metabolism, cardiovascular disease risk factors and more. Students and professionals will acquire a broad foundation on the subject, research methods and data.

“The ultimate goal of work in this area is ‘personalized medicine,’ which uses genetic information to tailor exercise interventions to maximize health outcomes. However, it is a general consensus of the expert contributors to this book that due to the significant challenges of research in this area that a personalized approach to exercise prescription is still a promise of the future rather than a reality of the present,” said Dr. Pescatello.

For more information, contact Dr. Pescatello at linda.pescatello@uconn.edu.

Scientific Breakthrough at Greenwich High School

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Stock image: science class“This is likely to be the most significant building block that these students will have in science,” said Dr. David Moss, an associate professor at the Neag School of Education at UConn, who specializes in environmental education, teacher education, international and cross-cultural learning, and curriculum studies.

Moss is referring to the new Integrated Science class being offered for the first time in September to Greenwich High School freshmen. About 100 9th-graders are set to take the class in its inaugural year, which will meet seven times in a cycle and includes an additional lab.

Initially, the district projected four sections of the class, however, due to the number of students who have subscribed, there will be five sections this fall. The course was presented to the Board of Education at the Nov. 4, 2010 meeting and approved it unanimously 8-0 two weeks later.

According to the course description, Integrated Science at GHS is a “timely and innovative course (which) will offer students rigorous learning opportunities across the life, physical and Earth sciences by providing engaging and authentic experiences in the interdisciplinary connections which bridge science and society.” The class is meant to present different fields of science, not isolated concepts, and give students the opportunity to work hands-on with materials.

Certainly the class has a different appeal versus other classes and its availability was communicated last year to parents through middle school presentations and to students via their teachers.

The initiative to develop the Integrated Science course came as a result of a wish to increase student interest in science as well as to create a course, which had better alignment with the state science standards. A final contributor was an analysis of the Science CAPT trends over the last five school years, which failed to show progress in scores.

In creating the class, the district looked at other school districts but was not impressed with what they found. The title “integrated science” is not a new one and there are many such courses throughout the State of Connecticut.

However, the curricula in those classes mainly offer sections of biology, chemistry and physical science, for example; teaching science in silos rather than true integration. There are also several canned curriculas out there, which are marketed as integrated science, but not in the manner in which Greenwich was looking.

John DeLuca, GHS science program administrator and an advanced placement biology teacher in Clark House, was one of the lead facilitators in the creation of the new course. DeLuca was joined by fellow GHS science teachers Aimee Farnum (Sheldon House), Jason Goldstein (Cantor House), John Vellardito (Sheldon House) along with District Program Coordinator for Science, Sheila Civale and

Moss, who directs the Neag School of Education London Study Abroad program and pursues a reform-minded research agenda throughout Connecticut as well as in London, England, consults for districts that show what he believes is a real commitment to science.

Fortunately, he has been doing so with Greenwich since 2009. TLast school year, Moss met with the not only the science teachers at GHS but with those in all three middle schools as well as every 3rd-, 4th- and 5th-grade teacher in Greenwich.

What Moss brings to this equation is, in his words, “the perspective of a scientist and a science professor” as well as being someone that “advised conceptually from the beginning.”

The team met extensively and looked at models from all over the country, including for example the Integrated Science course offered at Princeton University. Moss says that the GHS class is “forging new trails for a high school.” He believes that the Integrated Science class will give the students a “scientific literacy” that will transcend “disconnected factoids of science” and work beyond “traditional disciplinary barriers.”

According the course description, the “four core units of the course: Survival, Human Performance, Space Explorations, and Sustainability, demonstrate to students how science affects their own lives, as well as the global community.”

DeLuca, who is as passionate about the new class as Moss, said that the uniqueness of the class lays in the lessons themselves. In the Survival unit for example, “students will be measuring the effectiveness of water purification utilizing different mechanisms such as an UV lamp, different filters as well as a variety of chemicals. The students will conduct experiments in different ways to purify water and determine if the water has been sanitized and how to measure the levels of purification.

In the Sports and Human Performance unit, DeLuca explains that one of the lessons will examine different types of sports drinks. The beverages will be analyzed for their various levels of electrolyte stimulus and its impact on the body.

Another groundbreaking aspect of the class is in textbook. Moss said that there are many integrated science books on the market that offer one- third life science, one-third physical science and one-third earth science, which is really not the kind of integration that Greenwich was looking for. Both Moss and DeLuca expressed the difficultly in finding a textbook that met the need of the class. So, they determined that they would need to create their own, resulting in a custom designed textbook published by Pearson Publishing.

In addition to a custom made curriculum and textbook, the students will be utilizing the latest technology as well. The GHS PTA very generously bought 80 iPADs for the students taking the Integrated Science class, which will be incorporated into the daily activities of the course.

While Integrated Science is strategically aligned with CAPT standards, the course is “rich with inquiry-oriented activities, where students collect, analyze and share data with each other, as well as with an international network of schools and scientists.” As well as its better alignment with CAPT standards, Moss believes this class is cutting edge.

In fact, on July 19, the National Academy of Sciences released a new report to guide K-12 science education in which they call for a shift in the way science is taught in the United States. The report identifies “key scientific ideas and practices all students should learn by the end of high school.” The framework will “serve as the foundation for new K-12 science education standards, to replace those issued more than a decade ago,” according to the National Academy of Sciences website.

Moss said the new GHS class definitely puts Greenwich High School in the “top percentiles of forward thinking high schools” and it is in “bold steps” like this class that we will really yield achievement. GHS has great success with its advance science classes, but Moss and others have asked, what about the hundreds of other students who are not in those classes?

Integrated Science is meant to engage those students and help them to achieve. A bold step, which may result in some true break-through learning for the 100 students who have decided to enroll in the course.

DeLuca adds that “students will have the opportunity to take the honors option,” which will have additional curricular expectations and allow the students to receive honors credit for the course. DeLuca also shares that the introduction of Integrated Science will have a ripple effect at GHS as the District is also “developing an honors Biochemistry class for students who took Integrated Science their freshman year and want an honors level class their sophomore year.”

Reprinted with permission from the Greenwich Patch.

Robot Speaks the Language of Kids

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A robot delivers a karate chop or makes drumming motions and a child imitates the robot, taking delight in a novel playmate. But if a child with autism imitates the robot, much more than that may occur.

Two researchers with the Center for Health, Intervention, and Prevention (CHIP) at the University of Connecticut are studying whether a small robot with a big personality holds the potential to help children with autism improve both their motor and their social communication skills.

“Anecdotal evidence suggests interventions using robot- child interactions may enhance motor and social communication skills of children with low- and high- functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), but there are very few clinical trials currently testing robot-child interactions as therapy for ASD,” says Anjana Bhat, a principal investigator with CHIP.

Bhat, an assistant professor of kinesiology in the Neag School of Education, recently received a two-year, $404,639 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to design a series of robot-child interactions that would help improve the gross motor skills and the imitative and turn-taking abilities of children with ASD. The second two-year phase of the project will include a clinical trial of the intervention with 20 children with ASD and 20 typically developing children between the ages of four and eight.

During her post-doctoral work in the field of autism, Bhat learned about the motor impairments of children with ASD, such as poor motor coordination, balance, and difficulty imitating complex movements. She became particularly interested in this area because research suggests impairments in these areas contribute to the social- communication impairments of children with ASD.

Before applying for the NIMH grant, Bhat and her co-investigator, Timothy Gifford, director of CHIPʼs Advanced Interactive Technology Center and a robotics lab in UConnʼs psychology department, conducted a pilot study using a seven-inch robot they bought off the shelf and programmed themselves.

For the federally funded project, Bhat and Gifford have purchased a two-foot-tall robot named Nao from Aldebaran Robotics in France, using internal equipment grant funds.

Nao introduces himself, extends his hand for a shake, announces that children like to play with him, and takes a bow. Nao even performs elaborate Tai Chi routines with accompanying music. But, most importantly for the researchers, the robot can be programmed to incrementally increase the complexity of its routines over time, as the children progress through therapy.

Bhat and Gifford have begun using Nao in sessions with children in Bhatʼs Infant and Child Development Laboratory on campus. As part of the first phase of the study, the researchers will have five children with ASD and 16 typically developing children interact individually with Nao during eight separate sessions. Each session will include four or five robot actions to imitate.

“So far, our data suggest that robot-child interactions are a highly motivating context for children, those with and without autism,” Bhat says. “Children not only connect with the robot but also with the tester who controls the robot, as they both share the novel experience together.”

Bhat says that children with ASD typically feel more comfortable with robots than with other people initially, because robot interactions are simpler and more predictable and the children are in control of the social interaction. “Robots also are fully-embodied beings that encourage children to engage in whole body interactions,” she adds. “Children with ASD typically enjoy playing with them, and respond with imitative behavior often delayed during interactions with other people.”

Bhat says robots could initially serve as intermediaries between therapists and children with ASD, until a connection is made, and may help extend the reach of clinicians. “Often children with ASD have intense therapy needs – often 30 to 40 hours per week – and a robot could perform some of the tasks typically performed by an untrained individual and could support the clinician by delivering more standardized interventions,” she says.

Gifford says that eventually, robotics systems will have the potential to collect video and kinematic data of a childʼs fine and gross motor performance and may further reduce the human resources required to deliver intensive interventions and perform frequent assessments.

“The ultimate goal will be to extend the capabilities of therapists and bring this technology to the target population in a useful, affordable way,” he says. “Someday perhaps, robots could be used in a variety of settings, such as schools and homes, as well as cliniciansʼ offices.”

Kerry Marsh, an associate professor of psychology and PI with CHIP, and Deborah Fein, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Psychology and CHIP affiliate, are collaborators on this project.

 

The researchers are currently recruiting typically developing children and children with autism between the ages of 3-11 to participate in the study. The study involves 12 visits. Participants will be paid $50. If interested and for more information, please contact Anjana Bhat at 860-486-0019 or e-mail her at anjana.bhat@uconn.edu.

Educators. Illuminating the Path to Success.

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The UConn Neag School of Education’s reputation is well known nationally for its outstanding teacher education training program that continues to foster student success and produce educators that will teach the students of tomorrow. The UConn Alumni Association is proud to showcase some of our top notch Neag School of Education graduates from Connecticut whose passion, drive and knowledge are influencing the lives of those they work with every day.

Encouraging Students of Tomorrow

 

Vanessa Rodriguez

Vanessa Rodriguez ’05, ’06 M.A. (Neag) is thankful for the many opportunities she received from some of her teachers when she was in grade school. She credits her fifth and eighth grade teachers with helping her understand the value of education in light of adversity and the potential of how a teacher can breathe life and possibility into the most struggling student. Those types of values are instilled in Vanessa’s memory, and she now carries the torch in lighting up her students’ lives.

As a tenth-grade geometry and algebra teacher for inner city children at the Bulkeley High School in Hartford, Conn., Vanessa sees potential in every student she encounters. “One of the greatest challenges I face is motivating my students to learn mathematics despite their prior difficulties with it,” says Vanessa. Though these challenges pose great difficulty to students from time to time, Vanessa’s role is to teach her students that education is to learn how to learn, not just what to learn. “Both my students and I can focus on how we’re learning as opposed to the difficulty of the material with belief that learning is a lifelong process”. This year, Vanessa was instrumental in working with educators in Connecticut as a member of the state’s Rigorous Curriculum Design Team. The team meets to prioritize and support curriculum alignment in mathematics. She is also active in the Math Leadership Academy, sponsored by the Neag School of Education and state Department of Higher Education. The academy is comprised of thirty teachers from four Connecticut school districts who are learning new math concepts and shaping a pedagogy that will enhance justification and higher order thinking skills for their math students.

Each day, Vanessa sets new challenges for herself concerning her students. Including making them feel important and special. “I believe one of the greatest ways to meet the challenges of teaching is to make students feel important. If they believe they are extraordinary, then their actions will follow.”

When asked about how she felt about the difference she makes in the lives of children she teaches every day, she candidly said, “Teaching is often described as a roller coaster of highs and lows filled with excitement, thrill and laughter, mixed with frustration, disappointment and helplessness,” says Vanessa. “Some develop a more positive attitude toward school. Others demonstrate improved effort because they realize the relationship between hard work and success. Then there are moments when a student’s face will glow with job because he gets it, and math doesn’t seem so hard anymore. I think the question isn’t whether teachers are making a difference, but instead how much a difference we’re making.”

Advocating for Change

Peg BeecherMargaret “Peg” Beecher ’91, 6th year (Neag) is just one of those educators advocating for change. As an accomplished educator, former principal, and author, Peg has taught at elementary and middle schools as a classroom teacher and was a program director in the areas of reading and the gifted and talented. Known for being an innovator in the classroom, Peg has spent the past fifteen years developing and implementing a curriculum designed to meet the needs of all children in the classroom.

Specializing in closing the achievement gap in schools, Peg made it her mission as a former principal at Charter Oak School in West Hartford, Conn., to better improve literacy programs through standardized test scores, effective curriculums and targeted teacher training. She also made this program successful through parental involvement in community programs and engagement with school activities. With the unending support of a well-trained, creative and committed staff, there was a significant improvement in student performance, and a dramatic reduction in the achievement gap.

Peg believes that effective school improvement requires a comprehensive action plan that is responsive to the unique needs of your population. “Students need sustained, systematic and explicit instruction as well as opportunities to extend learning beyond the parameters of the classroom. . .most importantly, they need dedicated, knowledgeable, creative teachers that really believe that they can learn and succeed.”

Now semi-retired, Peg is the site-facilitator at West Side Middle School and Washington Elementary School in Waterbury, Conn., for the CommPACT program, and organization that focuses on improving the performance of students in urban schools. It takes schools as they are and transforms them through a culture of collaboration suing research-based instructional strategies and leadership provided by UConn’s Neag School of Education. Peg’s role is to guide the school improvement process by working with the faculty and community to analyze a school’s strengths and challenges, establish a school vision and develop action plans in order to provide a structure of success. She continues to use the same successful methods from her experience and apply them to the programs she facilitates today.

Focusing on Quality

David ErwinWhen it comes to hiring the best and brightest teachers to work with students, David B. Erwin ’75 (Neag) is the front runner behind selecting the best educators. With over 35 years of educational experience, David has made it his life mission to increase the quality of education in several school districts and innovate change among his peers. Serving several different roles throughout his career teaching in elementary education, David served as principal and superintendent in five school districts throughout Connecticut. Currently, as the superintendent at Berlin Public Schools in Berlin, Conn., David is setting the bar higher for the academic curriculum and encourages students to achieve their highest potential.

David ensures that his administrators hire the best and brightest teachers to work with their students. He also works hard to make certain that his staff remains current and up-to-date with significant issues in education to deliver high-quality programs to students. “My experience teaching at the graduate level affords me the opportunity to meet high caliber individuals that we can consider for positions in our district.”

When asked about how the classroom has changed in the past 10 years, David says, “The classroom of today is certainly one where technology can play a greater role. The world is really flat. . . students and their teachers can connect to nearly anyone in a seamless fashion.” As a leader, David sees the potential behind his school district and provides the tools necessary to ensure his school succeeds in producing quality students. “Each day is exciting to me. I always look forward to the start of each school year when I address staff one day and greet students the next. It makes me proud to know that I have a hand in the education [they] are receiving.”

Another Successful Year of Confratute Concludes

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Two Confratute attendees participate in math game. Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay
Two Confratute attendees participate in math game. Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay

For the past 34 years, Storrs, Connecticut has attracted thousands of educators worldwide for a highly acclaimed, weeklong program sponsored by the Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development.  Attended by over 550 educators from 34 states and 13 countries, this year’s Confratute was a blending of educators interested in gifted education, differentiation of instruction and curriculum, and creativity and innovation in education.

Confratute, founded in July of 1978 by Neag School of Education professor Joseph Renzulli, is the longest-running summer institute of its kind in gifted education. Through exposure to differentiation, talent development and enriching learning experiences, the community of adult learners is able to share similar interests, as well as foster professional growth.

“A unique part of the Confratute concept is that it is more than a summer course, more than formal instruction, for it is a careful blend of a conference and an institute with a good deal of fraternity in the middle,” said institute director, Dr. Sally M. Reis.

“Confratute is total immersion and involvement in enrichment, teaching and learning,” she said. “It is the excitement of new ideas, the satisfaction of hard work, the joy of creating and producing and the happiness that comes from making new friends, having fun and learning a little bit more about themselves.”

The informal learning environment provided in over 50 hands-on class strands fuels interaction between passionate participants, keynoters and faculty members alike.

Dr. Reis attributes much of the program’s success to the enthusiastic and dedicated participants who collectively have brought thousands of years of diverse experience in education. It is the acknowledgement and celebration of differences that make Confratute so memorable and special.

For more information on the program or to learn more about the 35th Annual Confratute, check out http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/confratute/.

Homecoming 2011

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homecoming-rotatingBefore going to the big football game, join fellow alumni at the Homecoming Barbeque on Saturday, October 15, 2011. Say hello to your favorite mascot at the UConn Alumni Association’s Homecoming Barbeque. Enjoy grilled eats and UConn pride at the #1 location to get ready for the game. Also, the Neag Alumni Society will have a tent in Spirit Village. Be sure to stop by to say hi … we will have great prizes and drawings for cool Neag School gear. For more information on Homecoming Week, visit www.uconnalumni.com/homecoming.

Dr. Del Siegle Promoted to Lead Neag’s Dept. of Educational Psychology

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Del SiegleDel Siegle has been promoted to Department Head of the Department of Educational Psychology in the Neag School of Education at UConn. Dr. Siegle has been a member of the Dept. of Educational Psychology for the past 12 years and is taking over the role from Dr. Swaminathan, who is returning to a teaching and researching role.

“We are proud to have Dr. Siegle in the role to lead the department,” said Dr. Tom DeFranco, dean of the Neag School. “He has an exceptional reputation and career here at the Neag School. His expertise and leadership experience will, no doubt, help elevate the faculty and department to the next level.”

“I am honored to be working with the talented and productive faculty in the Department of Educational Psychology as we improve educational opportunities for not only Connecticut students, but students around the country,” said Dr. Siegle.

As a faculty member Dr. Siegle has gained a national reputation for his research in the area of motivation of gifted students and teacher bias in the identification of students for gifted programs. He is past president of the National Association of Gifted Children and on the board of directors of The Association for the Gifted.

Dr. Siegle is co-editor of the Journal of Advanced Academics. He also writes a technology column for Gifted Child Today. He has been recognized as a University Teaching fellow for his outstanding teaching and has served on numerous committees on a national, state, and university level.

He earned his Ph.D. in special education from the Neag School, University of Connecticut, his M.Ed. in curriculum and B.S. in elementary education from Montana State University—Billings. Prior to earning his Ph.D., Dr. Siegle worked as a gifted and talented coordinator in Montana.

Neag Alum Dr. James Lyons Chosen as Dillard University’s Interim President

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Neag alum, Dr. James E. Lyons Sr., was named Dillard University’s interim president in July, further developing his well-accomplished career in higher education. The three-time university president, who was honored in 2000 with the Neag School of Education Distinguished Alumnus Award, attributes much of his success to the University of Connecticut.

Dr. Lyons attended UConn as an undergraduate, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish, and continued his graduate studies through the Neag School, earning a Master of Arts in Student Personnel and a doctorate in Professional Higher Education Administration.

According to Lyons, it was the Neag School’s distinguished reputation that played an integral role when choosing a university. After moving to Kentucky post-graduation, Lyons found he was confident and often better equipped in certain work circumstances than his colleagues who attended other universities. “I felt very comfortable in my work and there were many instances in which I was able to respond when others could not,” said Lyons. “Both the formal and informal education that I received at Neag allowed me to go directly into the position of director of institutional research and assistant to the vice president for academic affairs.”

The Neag School has meant far more to Lyons than prestige or diplomas. Professors like Dr. Glen Atkyns, Dr. Mark Shibles, Dr. John Karnes and Dr. William Brazziel, as well as advisor, Dr. Floyd Bass, encouraged Dr. Lyons’ passion for what he says is “one of the most important and rewarding careers there is.”

“I feel very blessed to have had a very good relationship with some outstanding professors, who really wanted to see me complete my graduate programs and move on to a significant position in higher education administration,” said Lyons.

One of Lyons favorite moments in the classroom was a family affair involving another Neag alum, his wife, Jocelyn, and their son, Jimmy. “There was one semester when our graduate classes overlapped; however, we decided not to hire a babysitter because if my class ended on time, Jocelyn could ‘pass Jimmy off’ to me and go upstairs to her class. Our entire plan was based on the assumption that Dr. Mark Shibles would end his class on time. Well, that was wishful thinking; he didn’t end one class on time that semester,” said Lyons.

Lyons would sit near the door each class so his three-year-old toddler could sneak in and sit on his lap for the remainder of the lecture. Lucky for Dr. Shibles, Dr. Lyons and the other students, Jimmy cooperated, remaining silent for the duration of the lesson.

“I’ve often felt that Jimmy could boast about attending a graduate class at age three,” he said.

Since 2007, Dr. Lyons served as secretary of the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Prior to this position, he was the president of California State University at Dominguez Hills, Jackson State University and Bowie State University.

Lyons believes pursuing a profession in education provides an opportunity “to shape young minds,” inspiring them to go out into the real world and do great things, all the while influencing policy decisions and development.

“Our nation now ranks tenth among industrial nations in the percentage of young adults with college degrees. If we are going to regain our leadership in this area, we will need the help of professional educators,” said Lyons.

Neag Alums March to the Beat of Success in the 7th Regiment

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Pictured L-R: Thomas Sulzicki (Music Education, 2009), Michael Blancaflor (Music Education, 1999), Daniel Wyman (Music Education, 2009), Kevin Lam (Music Education, 2009), Barbara Bauer (Math Education, 2009). Not pictured: Dana Lyons (Music Education, 2006).
Pictured L-R: Thomas Sulzicki (Music Education, 2009), Michael Blancaflor (Music Education, 1999), Daniel Wyman (Music Education, 2009), Kevin Lam (Music Education, 2009), Barbara Bauer (Math Education, 2009). Not pictured: Dana Lyons (Music Education, 2006).

Six Neag School of Education alumni have combined their shared passions for education and music outside the classroom on the instructional staff of New London’s 7th Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps. This year, the drum corps placed 7th overall at the Drum Corps International Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN and were Open Class Finalists for the third year in a row.

Michael Blancaflor, Kevin Lam, Dana Lyons, Thomas Sulzicki and Daniel Wyman, graduates of both the Music Department in the School of Fine Arts and the Teacher Preparation Program in the Neag School, along with Barbara Bauer, Neag School graduate in math education, all contributed to this successful season by providing the program quality training and experience. With their teaching backgrounds and participation in ensembles or instrumental instruction, the cohort has enjoyed working together to better the corps, while reconnecting with their UConn roots.

Being with the 7th Regiment is a commitment with long hours of preparation, practice and traveling during the summer months. High school and college students, ages ranging from 14 to 21-year-olds, make up the 80 member group.  Many of the members are student leaders back at their respective programs and bring their drum corps experience to their high school or college marching music ensembles.

The instructor team has enjoyed watching their students’ hard work pay off in recent competitions yet find that the most rewarding accomplishment is the overall progression in technique and production during the three month competitive season.

“The best part is when I get to stand back while the students play and observe all of the work that they have put into the performance,” said Sulzicki, a pit percussion instructor who graduated from the Neag School in 2009 with a degree in music education. “After a long day of 12 hour rehearsals in 90 degree weather, seeing the sense of accomplishment on their faces makes it all worth it.”

Sulzicki was contacted by a 7th Regiment staff coordinator in 2007 with a percussion technician job inquiry and immediately accepted the position. After working with various high school marching bands, Sulzicki had always dreamed of instructing a drum and bugle corps.

“I enjoy helping students perform at a higher level then they ever have before, which creates individuals that are more self-confident, self-aware, and enables them to work alongside others to create one work of art,” said Sulzicki, who is entering his third year as an elementary instrumental teacher in Danbury, CT.

Like Sulzicki, Lam admires the high level of intensity the 7th Regiment nurtures. After his involvement in the marching arts during high school, Lam furthered his experience with the Crossmen in 2005 and the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps in 2007. Lam began working on the brass staff of the 7th Regiment in 2008 through a referral from his roommates, Wyman and Sulzicki, before graduating with a Music Education degree in 2009.  Lam is entering his first year of teaching as the band director at Valley Regional High School in Deep River, CT.

“The students that take part in this activity do it because they truly enjoy it,” said Lam. “The ability to put together four very different musical and visual aspects of the drum corps together is an exciting process to watch and when these students get to perform, it is entertaining while providing them with skills and knowledge they will use for the rest of their lives.”

Colleagues Bauer and Lyons both currently work with the color guard, after marching together in the Connecticut Hurricanes Drum and Bugle Corps in the summer of 2007. During the fall, both Bauer and Lyons teach the Cheshire High School Marching Band with many members of the 7th Regiment staff. Bauer is entering her third year in Southbury, CT at Pomperaug High School, teaching in the math department while Lyons continues to work with East Hartford Public Schools in their instrumental string program.

“The other members of the instructional staff are talented, creative and fun people. I love working with them and have many fond memories with everyone on staff,” said Bauer.

Each of the 7th Regiment instructors had two years of experience participating in UConn’s Marching Band, an experience that added to their love for marching band techniques and music.

“We lend our experiences and abilities because we love the art form and we enjoy instructing our students,” said Lam.

For more information on the 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps, check out their website at http://www.7thregiment.org. Also, visit a photo album of the instructional staff and students practicing this summer.