When it comes to challenges, Sheena Boyle has always jumped in feet first. Whether she’s making her way onto the Dean’s List, coaching the Waterbury Knights Cheerleading Squad, or graduating from the five-year Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program through UConn’s Neag School of Education, Boyle has always welcomed a challenge.
But she says she hasn’t done it alone. Instead, she credits the teachers who supported her along the way. These teachers have been role models, she says, who have fostered a passion in her to inspire children to be the best they can be, no matter what odds they face.
Growing up in Waterbury showed Boyle the types of hardships many children face in an urban setting. But it also showed her the crucial role teachers play in children’s development and education. Boyle says she had too many role models to count.
One of them was a woman named Isabelle Nunes, whom she met at the age of 10. “Ms. Nunes showed me that not all teachers are just there to make you learn straight from a book,” says Boyle. “Teachers can be warm and personable, with a real interest in the children that they mentor.” Boyle was inspired by Nunes’ passion for the children she worked with.
A student in the five-year Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program at Neag, Boyle has a double major in English secondary education and English literature. This semester, she has also been a student teacher at East Hartford High School, a position she has tackled head on. “I feel like I have a strong rapport with the children that go to EHHS because of being brought up in an urban setting myself,” she says. “I feel like I can relate to them.”
It’s the kids that make the job worthwhile, she says, adding that they have diverse needs, and adapting to those needs is the key to success in working with them both as individuals and collectively.
Boyle’s other activities at UConn have included the cheerleading squad, the Teacher Education Student Association, and the Black Student Association. She has also remained active in the Waterbury community, coaching the Waterbury Knights Cheerleading squad and volunteering for the NAACP, Grace Baptist Church, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Boyle graduated this May with her bachelor’s, and will continue the five-year program as a master’s degree student in the fall.
Her advice for Neag program hopefuls? “Join every program that you can – really get your hands dirty,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to jump right into anything that can increase your experience. Don’t be afraid to loosen up, be goofy, and have fun.”
(Special note: Sheena Boyle was also recently recognized with a Alma Exley Scholarship.
Rachel McAnallen, graduated May 7 with a Ph.D. in educational psychology, with origami models. McAnallen, whose dissertation focuses on reducing math anxiety among teachers, says she has about 40 books on origami. Her favorite shape features 240 triangles spun together. Photo by Peter Morenus
Rachel McAnallen is talking about mathematics, and she can’t stop smiling. She has just returned from Ethiopia, where she was teaching teachers how to teach math, and she’s a couple of days away from flying to Utah to – you guessed it – teach teachers to teach math.
McAnallen has taught teachers in all but six states, and has traveled to nearly a dozen other countries, including Canada, Hungary, Kuwait, Santo Domingo and South Africa. Her goal is to help teachers make math fun.
Ms. Math, as she is known in educational circles, in May walked across the floor of the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion to accept a Ph.D. in educational psychology – at 75 years of age.
Retirement is not part of McAnallen’s lexicon. She had that chance years ago, after 25 years of teaching in what was then junior/senior high schools, but before she reached the magic numbers of age and years of service, she “got fed up with all the bureaucracy” and left classroom teaching, instead setting up shop as a “mathematician-in-residence.”
“Why not? There are artists-in-residence. Poets-in-residence. Why not mathematician-in-residence?” she says. “I wanted to teach the teachers. To go into a class and have the teachers watch me. It turned into a professional development program. You see, in the Ivory Tower you talk the talk, but teachers are leery of talk. They want to see it work. They’re skeptical of theory. They want to know ‘Can you do it?’”
McAnallen’s research while studying at the Neag School of Education for the past four years also convinced her that her skills were needed. Based on the results of a survey instrument she developed as part of that research, she discovered that 38 percent of the nearly 700 elementary school teachers who responded to the survey admitted to some form of math anxiety. Worse, nearly 70 percent of that group said they disliked math when they were in elementary school.
“There are common complaints about math classes,” McAnallen says. “Teachers move too fast, jumping to different problems before all the students understand the first one; students are afraid to ask questions; they’re teaching by rote, not even trying to make it interesting. Those are the things I’m trying to change.”
McAnallen decided to pursue the Ph.D. after hearing Dr. Sally Reis, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in Educational Psychology, make an impassioned speech during the annual Confratute summer program on enrichment learning and teaching. Two weeks later, while at another conference, colleagues encouraged her to do it.
“Oh, it’s been a great ride,” she says. “I love the learning process. I love the literature review. I loved just about every moment of it.”
Reis, for her part, loved every moment of working with McAnallen.
“Working with Rachel has been a joy,” she says. “She is an endless source of curiosity, enthusiasm and questions, and each of these has been applied to her work on math anxiety and how it stifles teachers. To watch her learn how to answer the questions she has encountered during the last five decades in her research has brought all of our faculty tremendous satisfaction. Her creative journey has been a highlight of my career at UConn.”
In time, McAnallen hopes, her decades of research also will change the culture of how mathematics is taught across the globe, one teacher at a time, like the little girl throwing starfish back into the sea who was told her efforts didn’t matter because there were so many starfish dying. “It mattered to that one,” she said, tossing another into the water.
“I just got a message from one of my old students on Facebook, thanking me for being there,” McAnallen says, smiling. “That’s one.”
At first glance, there’s nothing that makes Sarah Harris stand out in a crowd. The UConn junior resembles other undergraduates on campus in her looks and demeanor. What sets her apart is that this student is working toward achieving UConn’s highest academic distinction – University Scholar.
The prestigious academic program offers talented students the opportunity to create their own academic projects that go beyond a typical plan of study. Applicants must impress a selection committee comprising faculty members from a wide variety of disciplines with the originality of their University Scholar proposals, their demonstrated academic ability, and strong recommendations from faculty. This year’s cadre of 29 students represents one of the largest bodies of applicants accepted into the program since its inception more than 60 years ago.
Lynne Goodstein, director of the honors program and associate vice provost for enrichment, says successful applicants tend to be curious and interested in being exposed to new ideas, often going beyond their comfort zones.
She says that, although many University Scholars are also honors students, the program is open to students from across the university: “Great students from anywhere in the university are welcome and encouraged to consider applying.”
While many students use their first years in college to explore their options before deciding on a major, Sarah Harris is an exception. “I’m a little unusual because I’ve known that I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was three years old,” she says. “I did a lot of research even in middle and high school, and I learned about the Neag School of Education and its five-year Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program. When I applied to UConn and was accepted into the Honors Program, there wasn’t any question in my mind. I knew this was where I wanted to go.”
Being in the Honors Program is not a prerequisite for acceptance as a University Scholar, but it just so happens that Harris’s honors curriculum was the catalyst behind her decision to apply. As a freshman, she volunteered at a homeless shelter in Willimantic to fulfill a requirement in an honors course. It was an eye-opening experience.
“I come from a small town and graduated from a small high school,” says Harris, a native of Portland, CT. “Of course we have a homeless population – virtually every town does – but we don’t have homeless shelters, so this was really new to me.”
A dual-degree major in secondary social studies education and history/psychology (CLAS), she was already focused on a teaching career, but her exposure to youngsters dealing with the challenges of homelessness gave her a new perspective.
Her University Scholar project will involve examining the content and quality of the preparation that public school teachers receive as they encounter homeless children in their classrooms. Her goal is to create a resource guide for teachers that will help them better identify and support the special needs of these students.
“I’m planning on working in the teacher preparation program in my final semester next year,” she says, “and I’d love to develop something for them that deals with this issue. I’m also hoping to spend time working in the State of Connecticut’s Office of the Child Advocate. I’d love to collaborate with them and get their input on what needs to be done.”
Upon graduation, Harris plans to teach social studies at the secondary school level.
(The following is the introduction given by Dr. Thomas C. DeFranco at the Neag Alumni Awards Dinner.)
Peering out at the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon on a family vacation when she was just eight years old sparked an interest in Fran P. Mainella that culminated in her presidential appointment as the first woman director of the National Park Service, a post she held from 2001 until 2006.
Mainella, a native of Willimantic, CT, and former summer playground supervisor from Groton, CT, had responsibility for 390 sites, including Yellowstone National Park, historical monuments such as the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, the Appalachian Trail and parks in Guam and Puerto Rico. She also oversaw 22,000 employees, 125,000 volunteers and a $2.4 billion budget.
At the time of her 2001 appointment by President George W. Bush, Mainella said, “I am excited and inspired by the challenges that this position holds as we work to conserve our country’s precious natural and cultural resources, and improve outdoor recreational opportunities within the National Park System …[and] I look forward to working with the dedicated women and men of the National Park Service, as well as state, local and private sector partners, to help fulfill my commitment to the conservation and restoration of our national parks.
While with the National Park Service, Mainella visited 250 out of 390 national parks, monuments and historic places in her tenure as director. She worked to strengthen programs to preserve natural and cultural resources in the parks. She focused especially on creating opportunities through volunteerism, partnership and outreach programs.
As former Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, who applauded her strong leadership as director, stated, “Perhaps your most important contribution [as director] is your effort to foster a culture of partnership within the National Park Service. Thanks to your leadership, today virtually every national park works in partnership with state and local officials, local residents and friends groups.”
When Mainella resigned as director in October of 2006, she spent her last day in Groton, where she first worked as a summer playground counselor, and relit the lamp at the lighthouse where her father was stationed in the Coast Guard in World War II.
With more than 30 years’ experience in park and recreation management, Mainella was well qualified to be the 16th parks director. After graduating from UConn’s School of Education with a BS in physical education, she taught middle school, then earned a master’s degree in school counseling. She credits the School of Education at UConn for helping her on her career.
She once stated, “I credit UConn with giving me the leadership tools so that I was ready to take quantum leaps forward from the playground to the state of Florida’s parks system to the federal government. My education gave me the courage to go for the brass ring.”
After six years of service with the National Park Service, Mainella joined Clemson University as a visiting scholar in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. In that role, she has been leading seminars for graduate students in the program and helped to raise funds for a research and training center in park management.
As a visiting scholar, Mainella has been a committed advocate on outdoor activities. In a 2007 Newsweek Magazine article, she said, “The best way to protect our resources for the future is by helping children develop an appreciation for the outdoors. It’s part of a movement underway right now, with people across the nation working on how to get children linked back to nature. The best way to protect our parks and our environment is to foster an appreciation for the outdoors,” she continued in the article. “We can call this movement ‘no child left inside.’”
Today, Mainella co-chairs the U.S. Play Coalition, which was created out of last year’s summit on the Value of Play and believes that “…play is a basic human need and the foundation of strong intellectual, physical and emotional development.” … Play is essential to a person reaching his or her full potential.”
Fran Mainella has been a playground supervisor, teacher, national leader in parks and recreation administration, and now a parks and play advocate and scholar. She had the courage to go for the brass ring and never looked back while being an advocate for children and the outdoors.
Neag School alumnus Thomas McIntyre and Ossining High School senior Emma Kates-Shaw, both of Ossining, created an iTunes app called “Positive Parenting Practices.” Photo credit: The Journal News
In a world of “tiger moms,” timid moms and “helicopter parents,” a Neag School alumnus offers a thoughtful and proven middle ground. Thomas McIntyre, who earned his Ph.D. in Special Education from the Neag School in 1981, dispenses advice to teachers and parents of youngsters with behavior challenges through his popular website, BehaviorAdvisor.com. The site offers a wide range of helpful materials for parents, teachers and others on topics related to positive and effective ways to help kids make better behavior choices.
McIntyre recently entered another realm, creating an iPhone/iPad/iTouch app titled “Positive Parenting Practices” (available at iTunes) in which he outlines what he calls “sound, research-based principles and practices that are translated into everyday language.” The app (and his BehaviorAdvisor.com) expands parents’ knowledge of behavior change principles and the repertoire of practices for guiding children and youth toward self-regulated appropriate actions.
“While many styles of parenting can create good kids,” McIntyre says, “we now know how to achieve our goals more quickly and completely. The most effective approach motivates children in positive and respectful ways, rather than fear of punishment. That latter style fails to promote inner control of one’s behavior or teach what to do in situations.”
McIntyre’s approach stresses that a positive outcome is accomplished by showing a child that certain choices are in his or her best interest, rather than simply exerting adult dominance. “Punitive strategies,” he says, “lose their impact as kids grow older. We want our youngsters to continue to view us as a trusted source of support. During times of disagreement, if that trust bond has been built, it makes mutually agreeable resolutions much easier.”
He stresses that parents are not “soft” on discipline when they’re smart on child management. Adults can show love, concern and caring in ways that project the image of wise elder and mentor-parent.
Much of McIntyre’s work was shaped at the Neag School with Melvin Reich and the late A.J. Pappanikou, longtime professors of Special Education. “It’s human nature to want to perform at your best for those individuals whom you respect and admire,” McIntyre says. “Both of my mentors were knowledgeable, big-hearted souls who led by example, and kept reminding us that ‘it’s all about the kids,’ in this case, youngsters with severe emotional and behavioral disorders.” For McIntyre, the acquired knowledge and skill bases in behavior change principles and practices have been combined with the mentor strategies from his parents and professors that he strives to emulate.
That approach, combining parental love with a knowledge base on effective parenting, is at the heart of McIntyre’s website writings, podcasts and apps. The next phase of his “Positive Parenting Practices” app series will address the effective phrasing of directions, criticism and praise. He calls it “verbal Aikido.” Aikido is a martial arts form that stresses concern for the well-being of the other person during a struggle.
Above all, McIntyre stresses, “Kids are junior citizens who are learning how to operate effectively in this world. They make mistakes. If they goof up, the thought that should arise in the parents’ minds is, ‘How can I respond in a manner that convinces my child(ren), at the level of the heart, that another way is better than the present one?’”
In McIntyre’s view, “It is our parental obligation to our children (and our children’s children) to be constantly on the watch for better ways to lead them to a bright future. That goal can now be reached more quickly by parenting smarter, not harder.”
Pictured are Carla Klein and her late husband, John Klein.
As a native of Bridgeport, one of Connecticut’s most challenged cities, and as president and CEO of People’s Bank and its parent, People’s United Financial Inc., headquartered in Bridgeport, John Klein saw every day the effects of poverty. He also saw the solution: education.
People’s Bank became a major engine for community betterment in Bridgeport and beyond during Klein’s tenure. At the same time, his wife, Carla Klein, Neag ’72, a longtime schoolteacher in Stratford and Trumbull, retired and continued to work in education with the Bridgeport Public Education Fund to help children stay on track for college. The couple also established the John and Carla Klein Endowment for Graduate Assistants in Teacher Education at the Neag School at UConn, and both served on the UConn Foundation’s Board, among many other efforts.
Then, in January 2008, at age 58, John Klein died of esophageal cancer.
Carla Klein mourned the loss of her high school sweetheart, but was also determined to fulfill their shared goals. “John was strongly an advocate for education for everyone,” she says. “He was instrumental in creating the $20 million People’s United Bank Community Foundation during the last merger to continue to address the needs of its community.”
To honor and keep John Klein’s memory alive, the Klein family, which includes daughter Kristen Chiodo and son Eric Klein and their families, founded the Klein Family Foundation to focus their giving on areas important to them. Education had a high priority, and just recently, Carla Klein committed to a gift to the Neag School of Education to fund a termed professorship focused exclusively on urban education, with another gift over time to build an endowment for urban education.
“I had a desire to do something,” she says. “I wanted to get something started, and if we do it this way we can move forward as the funds are being put into place.”
As an indication of just how influential Carla Klein had become in education reform efforts in Connecticut, then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell appointed her to the Connecticut Commission on Educational Achievement, a volunteer organization researching achievement gaps between low-income students and their more affluent peers. Her expertise, commitment and philanthropy will continue to make a difference to legions of students and teachers throughout Connecticut.
“Carla has been and continues to be a strong advocate for children in Connecticut,” says Thomas DeFranco, dean of UConn’s Neag School of Education. “As a former teacher, and more recently in her role on the Connecticut Commission on Educational Achievement, Carla is dedicated to closing the achievement gap in Connecticut. Her gift will impact the academic performance as well as the lives of children throughout the state.
When donors give, the question often arises: Why this particular focus? For Carla Klein, two experiences, one in second grade, one in third, were pivotal. “In second grade, I was easily distracted, and a particular teacher didn’t handle my distraction in a positive way,” she remembers. “She was humiliating. I remember expressing this to my father, and he went marching into the school and it wasn’t pleasant.
“The following year I had a new teacher, wonderful and kind, and I remember how that impacted me. Just the way the teacher approached me; I felt comfortable in the classroom. It was so much nicer to have a kind, compassionate and understanding teacher, the positive immediately following the negative.”
It was also a defining time for her, one that would determine her career path early on. And even though she no longer teaches in elementary school, she is testament to the power of education, giving her time and financial assistance to help.
“We really feel quite privileged to do it,” she says. “It gives us an opportunity to honor John and his memory. He’s alive with us today because of it.”
To give to the Neag School of Education, please contact the Foundation’s development department.
Longtime schoolteacher Lucille Kuhnly is a dedicated denizen of the land of steady habits. Her grandfather, John Kuhnly, bought the family home in 1892, and at least one Kuhnly — but typically more – have lived in the grand old four-storied house in the Rockville section of Vernon for the past 120 years. Lucille Kuhnly has lived there since her birth in 1918.
She was also a stalwart of the Rockville school system, teaching there for 37 years, as head of the science department, then as a science supervisor for the entire school system. She sang in the choir at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Vernon for more than 55 years, and has been a member of its prayer group for more than 50. And her steady nature has benefited UConn; she has given to the Fund for UConn for more than 30 years.
She is humble about it: “They are small gifts,” she insists. But for institutions – particularly public ones – to have such longtime, dedicated donors is a gift in itself. And to have those gifts specified unrestricted so the university may use them for its greatest needs, makes them even more appreciated.
She gives, she says, because she appreciates the quality of instruction she received from the School of Education more than half a century ago, and because she remembers the efforts of her advisers there. She asks that her annual gift be directed to the Neag School, then leaves it up to them to decide how to use it.
She rose rapidly to prominence in the field of education in Connecticut, helping to found and later become president of the Connecticut Science Teachers Association the same year — 1952 — she received her master’s degree from the School of Education. She also helped to organize the Northern Connecticut Science Fair.
The list of her accomplishments is long and detailed, and some of the most recent plaques celebrating her achievements adorn the walls of her home. One of them, given after Rockville High School named its chemistry department for her, says, “Lucille Kuhnly inspired a generation of students to appreciate the importance of developing an understanding of the chemical sciences.”
From a young woman who was told when she was first offered a job teaching math at Rockville High that, “We’ve never had women in our physical sciences,” to the day that same superintendent realized it was more than acceptable for a women to teach in the field and made her chair of the department, she has always advocated for excellence in education.
Now she is helping other teachers through her gifts to the annual fund.
“I feel my time was well spent while obtaining my master’s degree and sixth-year diploma at UConn,” she says. “So I just like to give a little something to the people working in the education department there who are teaching the teachers of today.”
To support the Neag School of Education, please contact the Foundation’s development staff for more information.
From the March 2011 issue of Our Moment, the UConn Foundation’s e-newsletter.
The following faculty members were promoted this spring. Congratulations to all these faculty members for their hard work and dedication to the Neag School of Education.
Del Siegle, Ph.D.
Del Siegle was promoted to the rank of professor of educational psychology. He will become the head of the Educational Psychology Department in July. Prior to his new position, he was an associate professor where he was honored as a teaching fellow in 2004. Dr. Siegle was the co-editor of the Journal of Advanced Academics, writes a technological column for Gifted Child Today and has held positions such as president of the National Association of Gifted Children. Dr. Siegle received his Ph.D. in Special Education (Gifted and Talented/Educational Psychology) from the University of Connecticut and earned both his M.Ed. and B.S. from Montana State University – Billings. Dr. Siegle’s research interests include web-based instruction, motivation of gifted students and teacher bias in the identification of students for gifted programs.
Jason Stephens, Ph.D.
Jason Stephens was promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Neag School of Education. Prior to his promotion, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, teaching courses on human learning, academic motivation and research methods. In addition, Dr. Stephens is a principal investigator of Achieving with Integrity, a three-year intervention project aimed at promoting academic engagement and honesty in Connecticut high schools. Dr. Stephens received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Stanford University and holds a M.Ed. from Vanderbilt University and a B.A. from the University of Vermont. Dr. Stephens’ research centers on academic motivation and moral development during adolescence, with a particular interest in the problem of academic dishonesty.
Mary Truxaw, Ph.D.
Mary Truxaw wwas promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Neag School of Education. Prior to her promotion, Dr. Truxaw was an assistant professor of Mathematics Education. Dr. Truxaw has served as co-investigator on the Mathematics Learning Discourse Project, as well as the Math ACCESS (Academic Content and Communication Equals Student Success) Project. She currently is participating in Project PREPARE-ELLs (Preparing Responsive Educators who Promote Access and Realize Excellence with their ELLs), a grant-supported (Levine & Howard, 2010) faculty learning community working to improve preservice teachers’ capacity to teach English language learners. Dr. Truxaw earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Connecticut, her M.S. at the University of Southern California and her B.A. at the University of California. Dr. Truxaw’s research focuses on the intersection of mathematics education and language with a growing interest in issues related to urban, linguistically diverse schools.
Brandi Simonsen, Ph.D.
Brandi Simonsen was promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Neag School of Education. Prior to her promotion, Dr. Simonsen was an assistant professor of Special Education and a research scientist with the Center for Behavioral Education and Research (CBER). Dr. Simonsen received her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Special Education: Exceptional Learner from the University of Oregon and her B.A. from the College of William and Mary. Her research areas of interest include school- and class-wide positive behavior interventions and support (PBIS), targeted and individuals PBIS for students with intense learning and behavioral needs and applications of PBIS in alternative educational settings.
Thomas Levine, Ph.D.
Thomas Levine was promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Neag School of Education. Prior to his promotion, Dr. Levine was an assistant professor in the Curriculum & Instruction Department. Dr. Levine is currently nurturing a faculty learning community among 15 teacher educators to improve preservice teachers’ capacity to teach English language learners, a three-year funded project he co-leads with Liz Howard. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Levine was a high school history teacher and also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in both the United States and China. Dr. Levine earned his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Teacher Education at Stanford University and won the Stanford Graduate Fellowship, as well as a Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. Dr. Levine received his Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from Clark University, his M.A.T from Tufts University and his B.A. with honors from Brown University. His current research explores how collaboration among professionals creates opportunities for learning and improvement of professional practice.
Robin Grenier, Ph.D.
Robin Grenier was promoted to associate professor with tenure in the Neag School of Education. Prior to her promotion, Dr. Grenier was an assistant professor of Adult Learning in the Department of Educational Leadership. She received her Ph.D. in Adult Education and Certificate in Qualitative Inquiry from the University of Georgia, her M.A. from the University of South Florida and her B.S. from Florida State University. Dr. Grenier’s research interests include expertise development, informal and experiential learning, and museums as places of learning and qualitative inquiry.
Kelci Stringer gives the 2011 Undergraduate Commencement Speech for the Neag School of Education.
Good morning and thank you Dr. Thomas DeFranco for that introduction, and a special thank you to my good friend Dr. Doug Casa, who is a professor here and the chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute, to the faculty, family and friends and of course to the Class of 2011.
I am humbled to be here at the Korey Stringer Institute, which bears my husband’s name, and I know he would be embarrassed by all the attention, but he might give me a fist pump for the reason the institute is housed here at UConn.
I am also honored to be joining you — the graduates – for this momentous and pivotal time in your lives. It was not that long ago that I sat where you are sitting, so I know that many of you have already started counting down how soon I will be finished speaking.
But if you will just humor me for a while, I want to share with you my story in the hope that you might glean something from it that may be helpful to you as you begin a lifetime commitment to teaching others.
First let me say, I did not plan on becoming an advocate or spokesperson for any issue. I studied psychology and, after graduation from Ohio State University, I planned to work and maybe attend graduate school. In the back of my mind, I entertained getting married and having children but I can honestly say I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do beyond finding a job after graduation. In my parents’ mind, finding a job was not an option – it was a plan. Like many of the parents here today, they were like corporate investors seeking a return on their investment.
But today is about you, the graduates, so I hope that my personal story and lessons that I’ve learned will offer you hope in the days ahead as you embark on your new journey.
The author T. Alan Armstrong said, “Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.”
Today’s graduation is “merely the demonstration of” your championship character. Whether you are a young graduate or a seasoned graduate who returned to school later in life, today we are celebrating that championship character in all of you.
You have spent hours, months and years to get to this victorious point in your life. As you put these days behind you, I hope that you will remember not just the classes you took but the lessons you have learned. College is about so much more than a career, a profession or a job. It is training for life. It is where many of us learned to play well with others, to step outside our comfort zones, to explore beyond our imaginations, and to peek inside ourselves to discover who we really are.
One of the lessons I wish I would have fully understood back then was the value of a quality education. I frankly took it for granted. But education is more than just grades and classrooms. It is a practice run for real life and the challenges you are bound to face along the way.
The University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education is the No. 1 public graduate school of education in the Northeast and on the East Coast. As future educators, that is a priceless gift America’s school children can ill afford for you to forget. Especially when you consider the following statistics.
A high school dropout will earn about $260,000 less than high school graduates in their lifetime.
High school dropouts have a life expectancy 9.2 years shorter than high school graduates.
A one-year increase in average years of schooling for dropouts would reduce murder and assault rates by almost 30 percent, motor vehicle theft by 20 percent, arson by 13 percent, and burglary and larceny by about 6 percent.
There will be a shortfall of 7 million college-educated workers in America by 2012.
The story behind the statistics is that educators are a critical component of improving the American educational system and increasing the chances of success for American students.
You have heard that my late husband, Korey Stringer, was an NFL Pro Bowler offensive lineman. But you may not know that I was a track and field athlete and I have a great appreciation for what sports teaches you about the human spirit.
PattiSue Plumer, a U.S. Olympian, was the first woman to beat one of Mary Decker‘s distance running records during the 1980s. But she saw her share of setbacks, including a broken leg after being hit by a taxi in Japan, several bouts with pneumonia, food poisoning at the Seoul Olympics, and a dog bite at the 1991 World Championships.
But she once said something that, as a sprinter, I can appreciate. She said, “Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of.”
My life could not have been more of a test of that spirit than when in 2001 I lost my husband to an exertional heat stroke during a Minnesota Vikings pre-season football practice. On that hot summer July day, he was practicing in scorching heat that pushed his body temperature to 108.8 degrees.
In track and field, you train for your next race by working on your timing, your endurance and your mental readiness. And then the whistle blows; and there I was paralyzed in the blocks, unable to take off, because this was a race that I was not prepared to run.
The day after Korey died, I was a 27-year-old widow and single parent of a 4-year-old son. I was devastated, as any young wife would have been. I struggled to come to grips with this unbearable loss. My parents raised my sister and I to be very independent and responsible courageous women. But I didn’t know how to do this. There was no training, no classes; there was nothing that had prepared me for this. My family and friends were supportive, but I internalized my grief so that I could get through the pain.
I tried to give myself permission to let Korey go. But there were expectations, commitments and other people who also cared and loved him. So I unconsciously assumed some of his traits and tried to be him for others by keeping his public commitments and filling in for him because I felt that is what people missed and quite frankly it kept him close to me. One of the most difficult things I had to do during that time was to work through my grief to get to my purpose.
I found strength in a song, in the quiet whisper of the wind, the giggle of my son’s laughter, the stillness of pending peace and the famous words of Michael Gartner: “Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don’t. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.”
So a year after his death, I continued to dissect how this could have happened. While there was nothing I could do to bring Korey back, I did not want another young wife or family to have to endure the relentless pain and eternal grief of losing someone whose death could have been prevented.
What I soon discovered was that heat-related deaths had more than doubled since 1975. And in 2001 alone, the families of the University of Florida freshman football player Eraste Autin and Indiana’s Clinton High School player Travis Stowers were grieving along with my family from the loss of their loved ones from sports-related heat stroke deaths. I struggled with how to deal with the high profile public sympathy for Korey when these two young men’s lives were just as important to their families as Korey’s was to mine.
I did not simply wake up one day and just decide that our son needed me to get it together so that we could begin the healing process. It was not that systematic or calculating. Like the healing process itself, I took little bitty steps. Korey had an incredibly giving spirit and philanthropic heart. He believed in making intimate connections with people that made a huge impact. He almost rejected the practice of outward giving and photo ops that applauded his generosity.
The deaths of Autin and Stowers were the final impetus for me to seriously begin formalizing the Korey Stringer Foundation. So the foundation was created with the help of people like Doug Casa, Jimmy Gould and others. Along with our partnership with the National Football League, Gatorade and the University of Connecticut, Neag School of Education, the vision for the Korey Stringer Institute was realized.
The institute’s mission is both personal and absolute. It is to provide first-rate information, resources, assistance and advocacy for the prevention of sudden death in sport, especially as it relates to exertional heat stroke, which has a 100 percent survival rate when immediate cooling is initiated within 10 minutes of collapse.
Currently, exertional heat is among the top three reasons athletes die while playing sports. The goal of the Korey Stringer Institute is to raise awareness by teaching sports professionals and athletes how to avoid the conditions that lead to heat stroke and other heat-related illnesses, treat heat-related illnesses when they occur, and ultimately prevent all heat-related deaths.
I want to thank the institute staff and board advisors for their continuous and ongoing support and dedication to what has been a labor of love.
Finally, as you, the graduates prepare to meet the challenges that await you, I hope you won’t mind a few parting words.
As someone who became a public voice by default, I live by the mantra “tomorrow is not promised” — so here are a few lessons I’ve learned along the way.
Be honest with yourself. Even the most perfectly laid plans can be derailed and it is at that time that you will come face to face with your true self. I should have been more honest with myself. I needed to grieve in my own way. When you are secure and grounded enough to be honest with yourself, you will also be honest with others.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. I had to learn to recover my joy. Sometimes that comes with maturity or just being a parent. Children have a unique way of reminding you that you really aren’t that important.
Seize the opportunity. If you are faced with making a difference in someone’s life, like the Nike slogan, JUST DO IT! That enormously tragic time in my life became an opportunity to help transform the lives of others. It was an opportunity I could not morally ignore.
Challenge yourself. Force yourself to stretch beyond your boundaries and your limitations. As I unwillingly learned, sometimes you don’t know what you CAN DO until you HAVE TO.
Be grateful. Find the time in your busy lives to be grateful. Say thank you every chance you get because it reminds the universe that you are blessed. Grace is a lifestyle.
And finally Run YOUR Race. As Olympian Carl Lewis said, “My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you’ll win.”
To the Class of 2011 — RUN YOUR RACE. GET OUT OF THE BLOCKS, RUN YOUR RACE AND IF YOU RUN YOUR RACE, YOU WILL WIN. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2011 AND THANK YOU!!!!!!
The Neag School of Education is hosting the ninth annual Northeast Media Literacy Conference, “Media Literacy in a Digital Media Age,” on Friday, March 25, in the Bishop Center from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. This year’s event will explore the connection between understanding digital media and the rapid spread of new technology. A key emphasis will be to help youth develop critical thinking skills in understanding and interpreting media, and to educate schools, communities and youth-oriented organizations about the impact of the digital media explosion.
A special feature of the conference is the participation of 23 media leaders from 23 nations who are part of a U.S. State Department International Leadership Program out of Washington. Their visits to the Neag School and UConn offer conference participants the opportunity to make worldwide professional contacts in media literacy and related fields.
“Media literacy has been recognized nationally and internationally as an urgent need to help citizens, and particularly young people, to recognize and think critically about the great impact of the mass media upon their daily lives,” said Dr. Thomas B. Goodkind, conference creator and a Neag School of Education professor of curriculum and instruction. “Over 50 nations currently have or are developing media literacy programs, often requiring media literacy in their school curriculums and other organized programs.”
Keynote speakers are Marc Prensky, nationally recognized expert and author of Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Digital Game-Based Learning, Don’t Bother Me Mom – I’m Learning and The Role of Technology in Teaching and in the Classroom, and Renee Hobbs, well-known media literacy leader, Temple University educator and author of the recent landmark Knight Commission-sponsored Digital Literacy and Media Literacy, a Detailed Plan.
“The Northeast Media Literacy Conference has been recognized for years as a key annual meeting of media literacy leaders and enthusiasts to learn and share with each other,” Goodkind said.
The conference also features 15 workshops, exhibits and film showings. Registration includes a continental breakfast, buffet lunch, refreshments throughout the day, social hour, conference-related handouts and parking fee. Cost to attend is $95 per person; $45 for students with ID.
For more information and to register, contact Thomas B. Goodkind at t.goodkind@uconn.edu or (860) 486-0290.
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