Dorothy’s Story: a Mother, a Student, a Friend and a Leader

Posted on September 21, 2011December 9, 2016 by

Dot Pierson Dorothy Pierson Hubeny, (Ph.D. ‘84) passed away in August after losing a courageous battle to cancer, but her legacy with the Neag School of Education lives on.

Dorothy, more commonly known as “Dot” by her friends and loved ones, was the quiet heart and soul of the Neag Alumni Society from its inception. She was instrumental in developing and launching the society and the annual Neag Alumni Awards Dinner. She spent years helping to build the group, including serving on the board for six years and two terms as president.

Dot first became connected to the Neag School as a graduate student in the doctoral program. She had selected the program due to the impressive curriculum, along with cost and location. Her research focus was on teacher stress and burnout, which contrasted with her calm, quiet demeanor. She collaborated with Dr. Richard Schwab (MA ’79, Ph.D. ’81), then a fellow doctoral student (now dean emeritus of the Neag School), publishing a paper on job stress and burnout. After graduation, Schwab went on to UNH to teach but they stayed in touch.

Dot connected with fellow graduate students, including Dr. Barbara Helms (MA ’79, Ph.D. ’85). Their friendship grew into a lifelong bond, filled with studying, giving back to the Neag School through the Neag Alumni Society, numerous lunches at the Whispering Swan restaurant in Sturbridge and frequent chats about books over coffee at the Manchester Barnes & Noble.

Helms first met Dot in July of 1980, while attending the doctoral defense of a classmate of theirs. “She was starting her residency year, I was moving up to campus, we were both going to be in the same department and we connected,” Helms recalled.

Dot was taking a lot of classes that Helms had already taken – statistics courses mostly – so they had a lot to talk about. Helms described Dot as always being “very warm, and friendly; always happy to see me, but private too.”

Dot came to Storrs with her young daughter, Anne, having recently lost her first husband to cancer. Dot could always be found with her daughter in tow, either in class or in study sessions, where Anne sat quietly reading a book. The love of reading was something passed from mother to daughter, as Dot loved books, and the Manchester Barnes & Noble was her second home.

“My mom had many interests and hobbies, including being an avid reader,” said Anne (Miller). “She loved reading books about historical events, as well as biographies.”

After retirement, Dot joined several book clubs, and particularly enjoyed her association with a group that studied the Great Books. “She always wanted to expand her knowledge, learn more, and share ideas with others. She loved the give and take of an active book discussion and enjoyed learning what other people thought about issues raised in literature,” noted Miller.

“She was also a wonderful quilter, and loved to sew and work on her needlework. There was also a period where she learned to paint, and we are fortunate to have some of her wonderful paintings to remember her by,” recalled Miller.

Miller followed her mother’s lead in pursuing educational interests by earning a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, followed by a Master’s degree from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. She’s currently a TV news writer and producer in New York.

Dot’s classmates and professors became her extended family. In addition to Barbara, she met fellow doctoral student Dr. Larry Fenn (MA ’70, Ph.D. ’83). Together they later became quite the dynamic Neag group. She also stayed in touch with Schwab, along with being close one of her advisors, Dr. Fran Archambault (MA ’69, Ph.D. ’70), who fondly recalled Dot.

“Dot had the courage and tenacity to fulfill her dreams despite facing significant setbacks. She was gentle, considerate, and dedicated to her family and work,” said Archambault.

Archambault continued, “She was very professional and she was principled as well, but didn’t impose her view on others. She was very much a lady, but also a woman who was tough when she needed to be.” He had first met Dot when she applied to graduate school, and was impressed with her commitment to her family and to advancing her career.

He also knew she was going to have an impact. “Dot was a very caring and kind person, but she was focused as well,” he said. “I knew from the moment I met her that she was special. Dot didn’t sit on the sidelines; she rolled up her sleeves and dug in.”

“She knew UConn provided an opportunity for her to make significant contributions to education, and she seized that opportunity. I think she made many friends at UConn, and she felt that the faculty cared about her and wanted what was best for her,” he continued.

Schwab was equally impressed with Dot’s quiet, but strong-willed demeanor. “She was kind and would do anything to help. She was an excellent educator.” During her career, Dot worked with students of all ages, from elementary school to the college level. Most notably, she was the dean of students at Naugatuck Valley Community College.

In addition to working on the job stress and burnout paper, they presented together at national conferences and published a journal article. Schwab noticed the connection she had with her fellow students. “We supported each other and these relationships greatly enhanced our personal and professional lives.”

During his tenure as dean of the newly named Neag School of Education, Dean Schwab envisioned the need for an alumni group focused on the Neag School. “I wanted to build an association that reconnected our alums back to our school and to each other. We wanted to build a community not for fund raising but for ‘friend raising’ and support.”

He called on his favorite fellow students, Helms and Dot, a colleague Archambault, to meet one Saturday morning on campus to discuss starting an alumni society. The group had stayed friends since their days of books and late-night study sessions and they all had an equal passion for the Neag School and giving back. He had also invited Jerry Spears (MA ’71, Ph.D. ’82) and Tom Gillung (Ph.D. ’75) to the meeting.

The group was thrilled to learn Schwab returned from Drake University to the Neag School as dean, so when he came calling to get them involved with starting an alumni group, they were thrilled and responded, “Of course!”

After the Saturday meeting, Dr. Schwab invited the group, along with Fenn and Ann Rash (Sixth-Year Diploma ’02), to become members of the “founding board.” Schwab would later describe the group as taking the concept and making the society into what it is today. For the next year, they attended meetings to plan and strategize on what the alumni society was going to look like. Fenn took the reins as president (along with being the main organizer of the successful golf tournaments), Dot was vice president and the rest were founding board members.

Pictured L-R: Andy Hubney, Dorothy Hubnery, Barbara Helms and Ben Stuit. — Pictured L-R: Andy Hubney, Dorothy Hubney, Barbara Helms and Ben Stuit.

Fenn recalled the founding board with Dot in the role as vice president; “(With her in the role) it certainly made my job easier. Dot, Lynne Allen (the alumni society coordinator) and I organized our first annual alumni awards ceremony and golf tournament. Dot kept me on task and worked like crazy knowing our future students would benefit from our efforts.”

Fenn also fondly recalled her warm, accepting demeanor and empathy for everyone she worked with and noted how she was integrally involved in all major events. He described her as, “Kind, warm and extremely intelligent. She was perhaps one of the best collaborators and team-oriented women I ever had the privilege of working with.”

According to Helms, “Dot worked so hard. She really put her energy into it and was the second person to serve as president. She served for two years and even after her term, she was still an active board member.”

Helms would always come down to Storrs for the alumni awards dinner – another major project that Dot helped launch – and admired how Dot was “busy making sure everything was just so.”

“The alumni society was an extension of that whole School of Education experience that Dot was so passionate about,” she recalled.

As much energy and passion as Dot put into the Alumni Society, she also put into being a mom. Helms described Dot as being an “extraordinary mother” a phrase about Dot, but also directed towards her daughter, Anne Miller. “I said that in a message to Anne and I think she totally understood what I was saying. Dot not only loved and cared about her daughter, she admired her and supported her and would do anything for her.”

“She wasn’t a pushover – but she didn’t have to be one with a daughter like Anne. Both Dot and her husband Andy (her second husband) adored Anne and are very proud of the young woman she is – so much like her mom,” said Helms.

“(My mother) set a wonderful example in everything she did,” said Miller. “She was loving, supportive, and always put her family first. She instilled the values of hard work and perseverance, as well as kindness and compassion.”

“I can’t imagine a better role model,” continued Miller.

Schwab also admired the mother/daughter relationship, “they had an incredible bond. She was a delightful young woman, and I am not surprised she grew up into such a professional and successful mom herself.”

According to Miller, “(My mom) was passionate about education. She knew the difference it could make in people’s lives. She felt that the more she knew, the better she could serve her students.”

“In terms of the School of Education in particular, she had great respect for the fellow students, colleagues, mentors, and administrators who guided her through the doctoral process,” continued Miller.

“She believed it was important to support and foster an alumni association that would provide current Neag students and graduates with a valuable professional resource.”

Dot believed in all the right things – education, family, working hard and building an alumni association that would have an impact. She helped to build a lasting legacy that continues to impact the Neag School of Education’s alumni and will for years to come.

Letter from the Dean

Posted on September 21, 2011June 9, 2021 by

Dear Neag Alumni and Friends,

On behalf of the Neag School of Education, we hope the fall season is treating you well. Whether you’re teaching in the classroom, providing physical therapy to a patient, leading a school as the principal, marketing a sports team, lecturing on a college campus, studying hard as a Neag graduate student, or excelling in any one of the numerous career paths our alumni move on to … the Neag School wishes you a happy and productive fall 2011.

We also welcome you to become active with the Neag School and the many activities held throughout the academic year. There are numerous ways to find news and events about the Neag School. The Spotlight electronic newsletter, which comes out every other month, covers a lot of news about our alumni, faculty, staff and students. In particular, Homecoming is coming in October, and we invite you to stop by the Neag School tent in Husky Village. In the spring, we will hold our Neag Alumni Awards Dinner, followed by Alumni Weekend in June. To learn more about these and other Neag events, visit our calendar.

If you have any story ideas – or news to share – please contact us at neag-communications@uconn.edu. We also have the Neag School website, which features a lot of information about our programs, centers, faculty, and staff. If you haven’t “liked” us yet, visit our Facebook page or “follow” us on Twitter.

Lastly, but certainly not the least, is our Neag School video. You may have already seen it, but here it is again just in case. We invite you to share the video with your friends and fellow Neag grads. We are proud of the work of our faculty, staff, and students and the video highlights the important work they are currently doing and hope to accomplish in the future!

Warmly,

Thomas C. DeFranco

Dean

Neag School of Education

Neag Professor Leads European Embarkment on World War II Studies

Posted on September 21, 2011December 9, 2016 by

Neag students show their excitement to be in Paris. — Neag Students Show their excitement to be in Paris. Photo credit: Alan Marcus

This past May, Neag School of Education faculty member, Alan Marcus, paid tribute to the school’s mission of embracing worldwide diversity by leading a global leader study abroad program as part of a course titled: “Teaching World War II: Multiple Perspectives on the War in Europe.”

The two-week program was designed to immerse students into rich historical and culture experiences, enhance their understanding of international perspectives and facilitate productive teaching strategies for their professional lives. The trip established a foundation for the exploration of teaching history through film and museums, a course the students are enrolled in for this fall.

The Secondary Social Studies Program invited graduating seniors and fifth year integrated bachelor’s/master’s students with concentrations in history to embark on the Western European trip. Dr. David Moss, associate professor in the Neag School of Education, also accompanied the students.

“I learned how to be a culturally aware, sensitive and curious,” said Gabrielle Lataille. “Nothing is free of bias and there are always more questions, details and perspectives that need to be explored…The same event can be interpreted and analyzed in thousands of different ways, depending on who you are, where you live and your surrounding influences and interests.”

The summer experience enabled students to visit historical sites and museums in Great Britain, France and Holland where they investigated the different European perspectives of WWII. The students looked at the museums’ different narratives, interviewed museum staff and critically evaluated historic films to better grasp the war’s impact on global affairs.

“The European perspective of the war is very different from the American perspective,” explained Michael Stroneski. “Americans tend to focus on the battles, the statistics of the war and strategy and machinery. Europeans focus on the humanity of the war. By that I mean they look at the effect the war had on soldiers, families, children and everybody in between. It seems to be more about understanding ‘why’ rather than ‘how.’”

The trip abroad was an eye-opening experience for the 15 Neag student participants, providing them more insight than textbooks or online sources could deliver. Collectively, the travelers attest that their acquired personal anecdotes will be the most powerful classroom reference.

“Passion and the potential for passion in what you teach is the single most incredible tool teachers have in their tool box. Teachers have to bring what they love into the classroom because that honestly is something that students truly do latch on to,” said Adam Nemeroff.

For the students, visiting the WWII sites manifested an appreciation of history, further developing their overall cultural understanding of information and education, alike. For Lataille, it was physically setting foot in Anne Frank’s home where her senses of history and reality aligned.

“After reading the Diary of Anne Frank, I was both in love with the main character and devastated with the outcome of her story. However, it was the actual presence at the house in which she hid for two years that left me with the deep feeling of historical empathy,” she said. “I was able to feel and touch the place in which she experienced love, hope and suffering throughout WWII and the Holocaust, and immediately preceding her tragic torment and death at the concentration camps.”

This particular international experience, alongside other Neag student scholarship and faculty, has been made possible thanks to the generous financial support of Robert E. (M.A. ’51 Ph.D. ’55) and Gladys Dunn. The couple, who has devoted their lives to serve their passion for international studies, granted $100,000 to Neag to assist study and travel abroad for educational development. Some of these funds supported students participating in Marcus’ program.

“Over the years we have had opportunities to travel to all corners of the globe and realize how broadening our experiences have been. The many friendships and memories have enriched our lives, and we think of them every day. Our scholarship is intended to afford Neag students the chance to see first hand what is out there in this amazing world beyond U.S. shores,” said Mrs. Dunn.

Whether their favorite part of the experience was standing on the beaches of Normandy or picnicking in front of the shimmering Eiffel Tower, the trip had an enormous impact on the Neag students.

“We were invited to meet and hear a few of them,” Mr. Dunn said. “It was clear from their remarks that the outcomes that they experienced made as much of an impact on them as we felt. Their backgrounds of mutual understanding and respect earn them the role of citizens of the world who contribute to peace. They are unofficial ambassadors of good will.”

According to Marcus, the trip will change how his students will teach WWII by affecting their approach to teaching empathy across all topics, incorporating their own lessons along the way. To further reinforce the goals of the course, the students will participate in a follow-up journey to Washington D.C. where they will visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the WWII Memorial, and the National Archives.

“I am optimistic that as teachers they will include field trip experience in the curriculum for their own students and will design effective activities for these trips,” said Marcus. “They certainly understand the power of a successful field trip.”

“This trip opened my eyes, my heart, and my head to so much about the world, education, history, learning, memory, the future, people, diversity, and even happiness. I was challenged in ways I never have been before and I experienced what most do not get to experience in a lifetime,” said Meaghan Davis. “I was constantly learning, thinking, and asking questions. I reflected on this trip as a student, as a future teacher, as an American, as a 21-year-old, as a woman, as a history dork, as a human being and more.”

For more information on “Teaching World War II: Multiple Perspectives on the War in Europe,” contact Professor Marcus at alan.marcus@uconn.edu.

Ten Tips for Parents of Students Going to College this Fall

Posted on August 25, 2011December 9, 2016 by

Understand the challenge of this time for both you and your son or daughter. For you, this is a time of both loss and freedom. While your teen is getting ready to leave your home, you are also reducing your responsibilities. As your child is dealing with this departure, he or she is also beginning to pull away from you and this is normal. Spending more time with friends and less with you is a normal step as students begin to get ready for college. Support this and try to make sure that the time you do have with your college-bound kid is as enjoyable as it can be.
Have a conversation about your expectations and goals for the first year of college. Don’t assume that your son or daughter can read your mind so specify your goals. For example, explicitly explain that you expect that he or she will attend classes; your beliefs about his or her use of drugs or alcohol; your expectations about involvement in at least one or two activities. Understand that your beliefs, however, are your beliefs and your son or daughter must be the person who eventually takes control of her own learning.
Consider communications and how to make them work for you. Most college kids have cell phones and one strategy that I used with our kids who went to college was to ask them to call or text me when they were very happy! Having a ‘cognitive map’ to call your parents when something fun happened is an excellent way to keep in touch and to focus on positive events. (also, if you want to stay in touch with your teen—learn to text—it is THE way to communicate).
Enjoy this transition! Even though it may be challenging, try to focus on planning some enjoyable activities with your soon-departing teen. Don’t spend the last few weeks of the summer before college and the first few months of college giving lectures. Remember, most of your parenting time has already occurred and now, it is your time to be a support system from the side!
Give up the notion of you being the person who can, will, and should solve your teen’s problems. A goal of college is to transfer the process for responsibility for individual problem solving to your son or daughter. Give suggestions about how they can get help (have you contacted the registrar, have you gone to the infirmary, have you tried to find a tutor or an advisor) BUT DO NOT TRY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. The goal of successful parenting is raising independent, self-reliant teens who can solve their own problems and college is a wonderful time to learn this lesson.
Initiate three specific brief discussions with your college student. First, draft a budget so he or she knows how much and what can be spent. Second, talk about nutrition and exercise as many kids who go to college begin to eat sporadically and consume too much junk and gain weight. Third, talk about time and the productive use of time and how to create a schedule that takes advantage of blocks of time.
Be a quiet source of support. Send quick notes to let your son or daughter know you are thinking about him or her. Send a care package every now and then with favorite cookies or snacks. Make sure that you tell your teen about things that are happening in your home (updates on siblings, pets, house projects) so that they understand that home is still home. Let them know you are thinking of them and that you are there if you need them.
LISTEN and don’t disagree if you get a call from your son or daughter telling you that they are not as smart as the other kids and are not going to make it. When they have shared their concerns, reassure them that they would not have been accepted unless they were capable enough to do the work and that at this level of life, it is more about EFFORT and SELF-REGULATION THAN ABILITY. Reassure them and encourage them to discuss their feelings with their new friends and reach out for help if needed. Learning study skills is more challenging when very smart kids have not really had to work at top levels before.
Understand that your teens will come home for their first break with new ideas, friends, and perhaps a different appearance. Be patient and listen rather than lecture. Over time, he or she will ultimately find the right path but education is about new ideas and challenges and finding your path in the light of all of these new images and messages.
Encourage your students to get involved in campus activities. Whether it is basketball, debate, student government, tutoring high poverty children, or art, students who are more engaged in campus activities, do better and enjoy college more!

Dr. Sally Reis is a professor of educational psychology in the Neag School of Education @ UConn and parent of four college graduates.

In Age of Internet, Noted UConn Researcher Pioneers New Tactics for Teaching Reading

Posted on August 4, 2011December 8, 2016 by

Don Leu A child reads information in a school textbook. A child then reads on the Internet. Is reading the same?

No, says Dr. Donald Leu, a prominent reading researcher, director of UConn’s internationally renowned New Literacies Research Lab in the Neag School of Education and the John and Maria Neag Endowed Chair in Literacy and Technology. “This is a digital native generation,” he says. “But they are really not very skilled in using information.”

Leu believes he can change that. “We’ve identified the skills and strategies for successful online reading and writing,” he says. “I care deeply about preparing our children for the kinds of reading and writing demands that will define their future.”

Leu predicted the Internet would be a powerful tool when he first encountered it in 1994. Seventeen years later, two billion people are online. And he foresees that within seven to 10 years, everyone in the world will be. The challenges that coincide with its growth are multiplying too.

An affable yet ambitious academic who is a graduate of Michigan State, Harvard and Berkeley, Leu was comfortably ensconced as chair of the Department of Reading and Language Arts at Syracuse University when the Neag Endowed Chair came calling. The Neag chair would enable Leu to teach teachers new ways of reading instruction, and provide funding to create and run the literacy center.

He accepted the chair. During his tenure at UConn, the literacies lab has established itself as the premier center for research on new reading comprehensions and learning skills required by the Internet and other technologies. Leu is also widely published, and recently co-published the Handbook of Research on New Literacies (Erlbaum, 2008).

Groundbreaking research has its perks: Leu’s reputation and the literacies lab’s discoveries have attracted the attention of a number of charitable heavy hitters including the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, PBS, the Annenberg Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among a host of others who have combined to provide grants in excess of $8 million.

More than attracting grant money, the chair has brought international acclaim to the University. Leu lectures throughout the world on Internet literacies, and says he is consistently surprised by the prestige the chair has afforded UConn.

“It’s amazing to me,” he says. “I give 30 to 50 talks a year, and when I am introduced as an endowed chair at a talk, I see the impact. With this chair, UConn has achieved the stature and recognition at the level of other major universities in ways that are sometimes hard to accomplish. Everywhere in the world, people know of our research.”

Leu realizes that what he is seeking – to change the world’s classrooms – is not for the faint of heart. But the impact of his work continues to drive him. “When you teach a child to read and write,” he says, “you change the world.”

Dr. Jason Irizarry Publishes Book on “The Latinization of U.S. Schools: Successful Teaching and Learning in Shifting Cultural Contexts”

Posted on August 4, 2011October 18, 2018 by

The Latinization of U.S. Schools Despite the rise in Latino population in the United States, academic achievement in schools is scarcely recognized among Latino youth. Dr. Jason G. Irizarry, an assistant professor of multicultural education in the Neag School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, analyzed this issue of underachievement in his recently published book, The Latinization of U.S. Schools: Successful Teaching and Learning in Shifting Cultural Contexts.

Dr. Irizarry’s inspiration came from a high school student of his, who told him on his first day that, “Latinos are not smart; we are just not smart.” After conducting his professional development research with Latino youth (through Youth Participatory Action Research), Dr. Irizarry collaborated with his students to write the text, proving his trust in their abilities and further driving his message home that ethnicity should not limit achievement.

“I really felt committed that their stories had to be told,” Dr. Irizarry said.

Each of Dr. Irizarry’s students contributed a topic or issue of interest for a chapter in The Latinization of U.S. Schools they felt needed to be addressed. The author’s intention was to not only amplify the voices of Latino youth, but also prove to his students that they were, in fact, smart.

The text examines the issue of schools lacking the acknowledgment of Latino accomplishments through the passionate voices of youth and empirically based recommendations. Written from the students’ perspective, Dr. Irizarry’s book provides inspiration and information for teachers, students and those concerned with the future of education in the United States.

“Articulating what many know from experience but do not find reflected in the studies on Latino education, Jason Irizarry and his high school coauthors provide readers an insightful, inspiring, and powerful view of the capabilities—and, yes, brilliance—of Latino students in America today,” said Sonia Nieto, professor emerita of language, literacy and culture at the University of Massachusetts.

For more information about the book, contact Dr. Irizarry at jason.irizarry@uconn.edu.

Grip Strength Is Good Indicator of Overall Health

Posted on August 4, 2011February 16, 2023 by

A dynamometer, a device to test grip strength. Photo credit: UConn Today

When Richard Bohannon does physical therapy with his stroke and cancer patients, the one thing he always makes sure to check is their grip strength.

While not yet widely used in the medical community, a grip strength test can be an important screening tool in assessing a person’s overall health, says Dr. Bohannon, a professor of physical therapy in the Department of Kinesiology at the Neag School of Education.

“Weakness is one of those cluster signs of frailty,” says Bohannon. “There are other things, like unintentional weight loss and a particularly slow gait. But grip strength gives you an overall sense of someone’s vitality. It is reflective of muscle mass and can be used to predict things in the future like post-operative complications and even death.”

By obtaining a reading of a person’s overall muscle mass and strength level, health care practitioners can prescribe nutritional guidelines, exercises, and other interventions in an attempt to increase strength if necessary and improve the person’s overall health and vitality.

“It’s not that I want their grip strength to be bigger or better,” says Bohannon, who last year was named a Fellow of the American Society of Neurorehabilitation. “I want them to be stronger. I want them to be fit. They need reserve, in case they experience an untoward event such as an infection.”

To measure grip strength, Bohannon uses a hand-held device called a dynamometer, which measures force. It can record forces over a wide spectrum.

Several years ago, Bohannon conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed journal articles to assess the adequacy of using hand-grip dynamometry as a predictor of important health outcomes. The majority of the studies focused on middle-aged and older adults. The results, published in the Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, supported “the value of grip strength as a predictor of mortality, disability, complications, and increase length of [hospital] stay.” Even when grip strength was adjusted for potentially confounding variables, it was “a consistent predictor of important outcomes,” the study showed.

“You really can tell a little bit about people and where they stand, based on grip strength,” says Bohannon, measurement of muscle spasticity, is among the most cited in medical rehabilitation literature. “There was a study done that looked at folks’ middle age. The authors found that weakness in middle age was predictive of problems later, predictive of the onset of disability. Those who were weaker in their 40’s and 50’s were more likely to demonstrate an onset of disability in their 60’s.”

Maintaining fitness helps individuals combat infection and rebound from illness, Bohannon says.

“If you experience weakness that accompanies aging and you have a stroke or serious infection, it can definitely be a problem,” Bohannon says. “For instance, if it takes all the strength you can muster to get out of a chair now and you suddenly get a urinary tract infection, it is likely you will have more trouble getting up because you don’t have any reserve.”

Bohannon says he recently worked with a new cancer patient, and while she did standard sit-to-stand and grip strength assessments adequately, he cautioned her that she might want to do some things to increase her strength.

“I told her she was going to be undergoing chemo and maybe some other things in the near future that are going to knock her down a peg or two and there is no time like today to start doing things to increase her strength,” he says. “You need to build up a reserve so that when these things happen, you have enough strength to manage.”

Bohannon says basic exercises like moving from a sitting to standing position can help build strength in older individuals simply using their body weight and gravity. Walking up stairs or stepping up to the bottom stair and back to the floor also helps. Holding onto a counter and rising up on one’s toes is another good exercise. Of course, older individuals should consult their personal physician before starting any new exercises, and should always be careful about the possibility of a fall.

In a separate study published in Perceptual and Motor Skills last year, Bohannon looked at grip strength in 41 home-care patients with diverse diagnoses ranging from stroke and cancer to fracture and osteoarthritis. He found that the patients (as a whole) were weaker than normal for age and sex.

For patients with cancer or those recovering from stroke, reduced grip strength might be anticipated. But impaired grip strength is less predictable among other patients such as those suffering lower extremity fractures, recovering from back surgery, fall victims, pulmonary disease, and cellulitis.

In his conclusion, Bohannon said that the study, while small, was evidence that the sensitive dynamometer measurements “demonstrated a magnitude and prevalence of hand weakness not likely to have been identified” if the tool wasn’t used; and that it showed the dynamometer’s value as a standard assessment tool for patients in a home-care setting.

“I use dynamometers with almost every patient I have because I think it is important,” Bohannon says. “In most cases, I’m using it as a marker much like a doctor checks vital signs like blood pressure and heart rate. Very few therapists use dynamometers, which I think is unfortunate. Dynamometers are relatively inexpensive, portable, and easy to use.”

U.S. Senator Takes a Lesson in School Reform

Posted on August 4, 2011December 8, 2016 by

Senator Blumenthal listens to CEA Policy Director Mary Loftus Levine at a CommPACT roundtable in Waterbury. Source: CEA — Senator Blumenthal listens to CEA Policy Director Mary Loftus Levine at a CommPACT roundtable in Waterbury. Photo credit: CEA

What school reform model has no student lotteries and doesn’t require youngsters to leave their neighborhood schools? U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal may not have known the answer prior to a visit to Waterbury last week. Now he knows the answer (CommPACT Schools) and much more!

Sen. Richard Blumenthal visited Washington Elementary School in Waterbury. “I was very excited and impressed with the CommPACT model, and the enthusiasm and engagement of the teachers and parents working together and collaborating,” he said after a roundtable discussion at the school.

The Connecticut Education Association invited Blumenthal to the session that included representatives from Washington and West Side Middle Schools, Waterbury’s two CommPACT schools.

CommPACT involves a partnership of Community, Parents, Administrators, Children, and Teachers who share in school decision making. Experts from the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education help too with expertise and technical planning.

At the outset, Blumenthal told the group that he made the visit to listen and learn, and that he was looking for models that could be used to improve education in the state. Those seated around the table took every opportunity to explain the CommPACT education model to their visitor from Washington.

Allysa Lombardo, a third-grade teacher at Washington School, said that before CommPACT arrived the teachers had little input into how the school was run. Now it’s just the opposite with the principal getting and needing input from teachers and parents.

Donna Vignali, president of the Waterbury Teachers Association, said, “Teachers are on the front lines and they know what has to be done. Research shows that when you work together, parents and community leaders too, wonderful things happen.”

Jassie Meyers, a parent liaison from West Side Middle School, said she has six children, four who have passed through the school and two who will be attending it.

“So I have a vested interest,” she said. “I love CommPACT and West Side. When I started it was not welcoming to parents but CommPACT has changed that. After its first year, I thought something was wrong. People were smiling. They couldn’t wait for school to start again. That shows CommPACT is working and I hope they do it all around the U.S. because parents have a voice.”

Marianne Lusk, who is a speech and language pathologist at Washington and the school’s CommPACT coach, said she has been at the school for 14 years and the transformation that has taken place since the CommPACT model was introduced three years ago is unbelievable. Washington teachers, working on their own time and with help from UConn, use data and have undergone professional development so that they can work together in groups called cadres to make the school better in their fields of expertise, such as math, science or behavior, she said.

Also speaking from the audience was Heather Greene, whose daughter had attended a magnet school but is now at West Side Middle School. “At first I was worried about West Side,” she said, “but I love the staff. I would not want my daughter at any other school.”

Reprinted with permission, Connecticut Education Association

Neag Undergrad Does the Research, Does the Math

Posted on August 4, 2011December 8, 2016 by

Briana Hennessy gathers with students while in Tanzania. Photo credit: Briana Hennessy

This is the story of how Neag junior Briana Hennessy missed a trip to Mexico, instead became immersed in math justification research, and went to Tanzania this summer and got to teach math.

She says of the change in destination, “I was going to do a community service project but not related to teaching, so it was much better that I got to go to Tanzania and teach. It ended up being great that I didn’t go to Mexico.”

The Mexico trip was ditched because of a U.S. State Department travel warning. So, with her summer up in the air, Hennessy emailed Neag assistant professor in math education Dr. Megan Staples, “Will you please give me something to do.” Staples put her to work transcribing videotapes of teachers showing students how to justify and prove their algebraic conclusions, “but pretty quickly I was working on coding and other parts of the project,” Hennessy recounts.

That work led to more research on the JAGUAR project – Justification and Argumentation, a Growing Understanding of Algebraic Reasoning – with Jill Newton, an assistant professor in mathematics education at Purdue. Hennessy skypes with Newton and another undergraduate student at Purdue and painstakingly codes and analyzes how a dozen teachers in Connecticut and Oregon are doing with their outlined tasks to train middle school students how to justify an algebraic property.

In their three-way debates about how to code and analyze what they see on the tapes, Newton says of the undergrads, “Both of them will stand their ground. Never ever do they say, ‘You are the professor, you are the winner.’” She credits them with being superior with technology and researching their arguments beforehand.

Newton calls Hennessy a thinker, an intellectual and, at age 21, “an old soul.” She got to know her better on the Purdue trip to Tanzania in May.

She describes Hennessy’s reaction to witnessing a Rwandan genocide trial proceeding held in Tanzania. “She wants to dig in deeper and understand the complexity of the situation. To her it’s not that simple. Not black and white. People think, well, one tribe killed people in another tribe. But she wanted to look at the historical context. She’s very curious about why things are the way they are.

For her part, Hennessy says about understanding Africa, “It’s very easy to hear stories about Africa and to get a vision of Africa. Going there gave me a complete picture. And even in this short interview I’m not able to give you a complete picture. The best way to learn about Africa is to go there.”

In her teaching experience there, Hennessy says she had a blackboard, chalk and a book, but the students didn’t. They also came into secondary school, which is by law taught in English, after speaking Swahili in primary school. How did she adjust? She wrote everything she said on the board, so students had two versions of the instruction. And she broke them into small groups, making sure each cluster had a better English speaker to relay the questions.

“It wasn’t optimum because I would like every student to be able to ask me questions, but given the time crunch and what I had to work with, it was probably the best thing I could do.”

Newton says Hennessy eagerly completed all the coursework for a math methods class in Africa for which she would receive no college credit. “She’s always going to go above and beyond,” Newton says. “And she’s lovely. She’s always kind.

“On studies abroad there’s always a lot of drama. It’s almost a compliment that I can’t tell you anything about Briana. She’s just drama-free.”

This summer Hennessy is continuing the research work with Staples with support from the Summer Undergraduate Research Fund. Staples says of her research staffer, “She is genuinely excited about new experiences and is willing to take risks and explore. She really takes advantage of opportunities that come her way, and she creates new opportunities. It’s been such a pleasure to work with her.”

Under the Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree Program at Neag, Hennessy, who has wanted to be a math teacher since age 14, is working on getting a B.S. in education and B.A. in mathematics in 2012 and her master’s in education in 2013. She works as a math tutor at the UConn Q Center and is the student representative on the General Education Oversight Committee.

In her life outside Neag, Hennessy step dances with the UConn Irish, has been known to ride her mother’s motorcycle and is described by colleagues as a donut gourmand. (Her favorite is chocolate-covered with sprinkles, but she says you have to go to a shop in Old Lyme to get the best donuts.)

Hennessy has that quality the best teachers have: a straightforward delivery. She speaks simply, explains the distributive property in one line. Her blog is simply called math teacher in Tanzania. It’s more than a nice quality; it’s a real talent.

“She seems able to sort out the unimportant and bring clarity to that which really matters,” Newton says. “I’m not good at that. She’s much more calm than me. She talks less, and when she talks, people listen and it’s worth listening to.”

Mentor Connection Students Get Crash Course in Archaeology

Posted on August 4, 2011December 8, 2016 by

Connecticut State Archaeologist Nicholas Bellantoni works with Mentor Connection students, from left, Rebecca Romero, Anthony Sposato, and Nelson Merchan. Photo credit: Howard Eckels for UConn

UConn archaeology professor Nick Bellantoni had just met his three charges, high school juniors participating in UConn Mentor Connection who chose to spend the three-week program working with the State Archaeologist, when an aide told Bellantoni the New Haven police were on the line, looking for him. A skeleton had been found at a construction site in the Elm City, and they wanted Bellantoni to extricate it.

Welcome to the field of archaeology.

“It was quite an orientation to archaeology,” Bellantoni said Friday, as he and the students were packing up their equipment in New Haven, preparing to return to

UConn. “I had just met them, talked to them maybe 15 to 20 minutes, when the call came. It was quite a change of plans.”

Within minutes he and the students he is mentoring – Anthony Sposato of Plainfield, Rebecca Romero of Meriden, and Nelson Merchan of Danbury – were on their way to New Haven. By week’s end, they had uncovered not one but four skeletons that Bellantoni estimates are about 100 years old.

“I’m sure every day isn’t going to be like that,” says Sposato. “I signed on with Dr. Bellantoni because I thought it would be a good way to explore archaeology as a career, but I wasn’t expecting anything like this.”

Merchan says, “When I signed up I thought I’d just be helping out, handing him [Bellantoni] tools. But when we got to New Haven he told us to go ahead and work on the bones. I was surprised. It was a really good experience. We were in there helping uncover the skeletons. He trusted us, which is pretty cool.”

Mentor Connection, funded in part by a grant from the state Department of Education and a significant endowment gift from former UConn trustee William Berkley, was launched in 1996 to help talented high school students sort out their academic interests and prepare for college life. It was also intended to encourage such students to make UConn their first choice when applying to college. Each year since its creation, about 80 rising juniors and seniors have spent three weeks on the UConn campus, living in dorms, eating in campus dining halls, and working with faculty and staff mentors. Generally, each mentor is assigned between two and five students.

The program is run by the Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development in the Neag School of Education.

For Bellantoni, the discovery was just another day’s work. Records appear to indicate the site was a burial ground located behind the old Christ Church, the first Roman Catholic church in New Haven, he says. Built in 1835, the church burned down in 1848, and was rebuilt as St. John’s Evangelical Church. Bellantoni says nails found amid the skeletons indicate they were buried between 1830 and 1860.

Now unearthed, he says the skeletons will be analyzed by scientists at Yale, then reburied. As for his students, they’ll have a story for the ages.