Neag School’s Newsletter Goes Digital

Posted on February 16, 2010December 1, 2021 by

Welcome to this first online edition of Spotlight, the Neag School of Education’s newsletter highlighting the news, research and achievements of our school, alumni, faculty, staff and students, and hope you’ll find this new format convenient and informative.

While you’ll discover many of the same types of articles in this and future editions, we have expanded our coverage of our alumni and faculty research, practice and publications that can make a real difference in the health, well-being and education of the people of Connecticut and beyond. In future issues, we are planning stories that will acquaint you with some of our students and the quality of their work, a large gallery of commencement photos and an in-depth look at issues facing five Connecticut superintendents, all of whom are Neag alums who took part in our first of what we hope becomes a series of Roundtable Discussions.

As you read through this issue of Spotlight, I hope you’ll gain a better sense of why I am proud of our faculty, students and alumni and their work. As this publication continues to evolve, we would appreciate feedback from our readers. We’d like to hear from you about the types of stories and features you’d enjoy reading. Are there attributes or stories you would like to see improved, expanded or eliminated? As we spread the word about the best of who we are and what we do, our hope is to share the kind of information with you that you feel good about sharing with others. To put it simply, your story ideas, comments and information about career milestones and innovations are welcome. To contact us directly, send an email to: neagnews@uconn.edu. Another tool for sharing your thoughts is at the bottom of each article where a “comment” field is located.

Future issues of Spotlight are planned for mid April and June. To acquaint you with this new format, we thought we’d point out some of its feature. First, Spotlight’s front page will always be available at this link: http://wp.education.uconn.edu . From the front page, you can navigate to the stories and information that interest you. Each article is filed under one of six sections located under the BROWSE SECTIONS heading. Select the general topic that appeals to you:

the latest — You’ll find the latest news and information involving the Neag School.
in the field — A key component of the work we do is “in the field,” and that’s where stories about faculty, student and alumni research and clinical practice will be found.
in print — Publish or perish is a mantra in academia. Whether it’s a book, chapter or journal article “in print,” you’ll find news of it here.
in the spotlight — Feature articles and announcements about achievements and awards are “in the spotlight.”
focus on alums — With 22,000-plus alums, it’s fitting we “focus on alums” with a series of feature articles and alumni news updates.
supporting neag –Finally, for ideas on how you can support the Neag School, its faculty and students, the “supporting neag” section highlights ongoing fund-raising efforts.

No matter where you are in the newsletter, click on the HOME tab at the top left of your screen to return to the front page.

Please enjoy reading this, the inaugural issue of Spotlight, and I hope we’ll hear from you!

Thomas C. DeFranco, Ph.D.
Dean, Neag School of Education
University of Connecticut

Three Gifts Bolster CommPACT School Reform Effort

Posted on February 15, 2010December 31, 2020 by

Three significant gifts totaling close to $500,000 will help support the CommPACT School Reform Initiative, based at the Neag School of Education. The innovative program, designed to improve student achievement and school climate, recently received $250,000 from The NEA Foundation, $195,000 from the Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation and more than $50,000 from AT&T Cconnecticut.

CommPACT was developed in 2008 by an unusual collaboration involving the teachers’ unions, three school administrator organizations and a research university and is funded, in large part, by a state appropriation.

AT&T Connecticut’s gift of $53,500 will support the CommPACT facilitator who works onsite at Hartford’s M.D. Fox Elementary School and serves as liaison between Fox and the Neag School. The grant will also provide funding for onsite professional development for teachers and administrators.

CommPACT picture — AT&T Connecticut President Ramona Carlow (center) speaks about her company’s commitment to supporting education programs in Connecticut designed to prepare students for future business and industry needs. On behalf of AT&T CT she presented a $53,500 gift to support the CommPACT Schools initiative operating at MD Fox Elementary. Listening in are Fox’s CommPACT coach, Eileen O’Rouke (left) and State Senate Majority Leader John Fonfara (right) who represents the Hartford area.

“People have asked me why AT&T is making this kind of commitment to education, and the answer is really simple: It’s in our best interest. We need all of our schools to answer the challenge of creating the next generation of American workers, a workforce that is ready to compete in our new always connected economy,” says Ramona Carlow, president of AT&T Connecticut. “As a business community, we must become more involved in helping our young people, our teachers and our administrators,” she says.

CommPACT (which stands for community, parents, administrators, children, and teachers) brings together the stakeholders to take part in reforming their own schools. UConn’s education experts and researchers collaborate with them to identify problems, choose new practices, implement those solutions, and analyze the results.

Richard Schwab, executive director of CommPACT and emeritus dean of the Neag School, expressed gratitude for the gifts. “To be successful, we have to have partners who believe in investing in their communities. With support from AT&T, Balfour and the NEA Foundation, CommPACT is in a stronger position to help our schools become the kind of school all parents wish for their children.”

CommPACT got off the ground in September 2008 with an investment from the Neag School, $475,000 from the state of Connecticut and an initial $250,000 grant from The NEA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the country’s largest teachers union.

Teacher Heather Kahn reads to her class at M.D. Fox Elementary School in Hartford, one of eight CommPACT schools in Connecticut.

The NEA Foundation’s new $250,000 gift is part of $1.2 million the organization distributed across the country to groundbreaking union-community partnerships that are taking comprehensive approaches to close achievement gaps.

“We believe these projects show great promise,” says Harriet Sanford, president and chief executive officer of the NEA Foundation. The benefits of the initiative are that it’s based on “collaboration that is grounded in research on best practices, driven by educators, supported by the community, and focused on improving student performance and creating sustainable systemic reform.”

The Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation (Bank of America, N.A. trustee) is dedicated to education reform in New England to shore up pipelines for student success from grammar school through college.

“We are pleased to partner with UConn’s Neag School of Education to provide children in Connecticut’s urban schools with a high-quality education and to close the achievement gap. This work exemplifies the Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation’s mission of promoting college readiness and access for underserved populations in New England,” says Michealle Larkins, vice president, grantmaking program officer, philanthropic management, Bank of America, N.A.

CommPACT’s founders include: the American Federation of Teachers-Connecticut, the Connecticut Education Association, the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, the Connecticut Association of Urban Superintendents, the Connecticut Federation of School Administrators, and UConn’s Neag School of Education.

In addition to Fox Elementary, the other CommPACT “eight” include Davis Street and Hill Central in New Haven, Washington and West Side Middle in Waterbury, the Shoreline Academy in New London, and Bridgeport’s Barnum and Longfellow schools.

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Nayden Clinic Gets a Fresh Start

Posted on February 12, 2010April 20, 2016 by

Patients, Students and Research Benefit

Physical Therapist Maryclaire Capetta (right)

A new location, more space and additional technology are just some of the adjustments made at the Nayden Rehabilitation Clinic to launch it as an independent health care provider in eastern Connecticut and expand its services.

Until December, the clinic was affiliated with Windham Hospital, which was responsible for billing and administrative oversight. But now, with a major investment by the University of Connecticut and the state’s approval, the clinic is solely run by the Neag School of Education’s Department of Kinesiology.

“We’ve invested more than $1 million in upgrades and renovations,” said Morgan Hills, a licensed physical therapist who has been the clinic’s director for six years.

Last summer, the clinic moved from Dog Lane in Storrs to a newly renovated section of UConn’s Human Development and Family Relations Building on Bolton Road.

“We have more space to work with our patients in private or as a group, and we are equipped with new tools and technology to address our patients’ needs, while offering our physical therapy and athletic training students hands-on experiences that train them in the very latest techniques in care,” Hills explained.

With its new location near the Nathan Hale Inn and its pool, the Nayden Clinic now offers an aquatic rehab program and the Arthritis Foundation’s aquatic exercise program.

Physical Therapist Laurie Devaney demonstrates how the new mobilization table improves her ability to treat spine injury patients.

At the clinic, five large rooms are set aside for private patient care and two gym rooms are large enough for exercise and treatment requiring lots of open space. A wound care room is equipped to handle a variety of lesion types, including the non-healing kind related to diabetes and infection wounds brought about by trauma. A recently purchased three-dimensional mobilization table enables special treatment techniques for the spine, allowing isolated motion of the head, trunk and legs.

Orthopedics was the whole idea behind the creation of the first clinic in 1998; then-Dean of Allied Health Joseph Smey set aside 600 square feet in Koons Hall and created a partnership with Windham Hospital for, as Hills puts it, “a little ortho clinic to teach orthopedics to physical therapy students.

In two years, the clinic out-grew the space. A gift from UConn Board of Trustees member Denis Nayden and his wife, Britta, a graduate of the Physical Therapy program, enabled the clinic to move into a building on Dog Lane in 2003. It wasn’t long before a growing list of patients and the need for additional staff had the clinic management thinking about an even newer, bigger home.

“In 2006, we put together a five-year business plan that showed there was a market here,” Hills says, “and it suggested we look beyond orthopedics, to wound care, to neurological rehabilitation and to fulfilling our other missions of research and education.”

“This is a real-time, integrated education for our students. In this new facility, we’re instilling in them the desire to ask clinical questions and go answer them. That improves their decision-making ability and the quality of the profession.”

The new electronic record-keeping system, the Allscipts EMR, gives the clinic a more simplified billing process and a more efficient revenue stream, and Neag School researchers will benefit as well.

“The database allows us to configure clinical documentation in a way that ensures best practice and utilizes clinical information for research purposes,” Hills says. “This really gives us a chance to be entrepreneurial and helps us differentiate ourselves from our peer institutions.”

Expanding the Nayden’s role in clinical training and research was a key component in the recent merger of the Physical Therapy and Kinesiology departments. Their programs maintain a long, distinguished history of outstanding laboratory research, says Craig Denegar, head of the Physical Therapy department, but until now, they’d never had the opportunity to conduct bench-to-bedside research.

“We’re able to see first-hand, how findings in a lab affect patients in real life,” said Denegar. “We will be able to investigate the efficacy of our therapy in a controlled environment. With patient data we can also investigate the effectiveness of our work in a real world setting, and that’s exciting to us,” he said.

Other plans for Nayden include expanding services for neurological rehabilitation, stroke therapy, and potentially adding occupational and speech therapy; in short, the creation of a multi disciplinary rehabilitation center.

The Nayden Rehabilitation Clinic is open to the UConn community and those from surrounding towns. Details available at: www.nayden.uconn.edu or call (860) 486-8080.

Dean’s Annual Appeal

Posted on February 12, 2010April 20, 2016 by

During the month of February, you will be receiving a message from Dean Thomas DeFranco asking for your support of the Neag School Dean’s Fund. We hope will be able to respond to his appeal and consider a gift of any size to this most important of funds.

The Dean’s Fund supports the areas of greatest need within the Neag School, be it emergency scholarship funds, program enhancements or support for faculty. Additional information about the Dean’s Fund can be viewed at the following site.

What’s Old is New Again!

Posted on February 12, 2010December 9, 2016 by

The Charles B. Gentry Building is now a comfortable, attractive home for Neag School faculty, staff and students. The $10 million overhaul of the original side of the building came in on time, and reopened in January (In 2003, a large wing and atrium was added to the building’s west side).

During the holiday break, faculty, who were spread out over campus during the summer and fall semesters, were moved into their new offices and are grouped according to common areas of interest. The renovated space, which is architecturally compatible with the wing, has been reconfigured to create additional faculty offices and meeting rooms. Classrooms managed and scheduled by the University were moved to the first and second floors while the Neag School’s classrooms are located on the third and fourth floors.

The Dean’s Offices are still located on the third floor, but the department offices located in Gentry have changed.

Curriculum & Instruction – Room 406
Educational Psychology – Room 315E
Educational Leadership – Room 231
Kinesiology (which includes Physical Therapy) remains in Gampel Pavilion.

Additional information about the renovation is available in the fall issue of Spotlight on page 6.

ReCONNect with Alums

Posted on February 11, 2010December 31, 2020 by

Ever wonder what your former classmates are up to? We hope to ReCONNect you by sharing the information you supply to us or to the UConn Alumni Association. Send your news and information to: Neagnews@uconn.edu (We welcome your story ideas too!)

60’s

Tom Bowler ’66 ’81 6^th Year, a certified playground equipment inspector for Total Playground Consulting Services in Manchester, Conn., gave the presentation, “Marketing Techniques For the Expert Witness That Work” at the National Expert Witness Conference in Hyannis, Mass., last summer. He has been an expert witness for attorneys for 17 years.

Francis Archambault ’69 M.A., ’70 Ph.D. in educational psychology was elected to a four year term as a new alumni trustee for the University of Connecticut. Now a professor emeritus in the Neag School of Education, he held positions as associate dean, chairman of the educational psychology department, past president of the UConn Alumni Association, and was a former member of the Board of Education for Regional District 19 (Mansfield).

Carol Ann (Knott) Conboy ’69 is the 105^th Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court after being appointed by New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch. Previously, she was the Supervisory Justice of the Merrimack County Superior Court. She also serves as member of the Franklin Pierce Law Center Board of Trustees.

70’s

Leonard Wysocki ’72 (CLAS), ’74 M.A., ’05 Ph.D. accepted a full-time faculty position in the master’s program in industrial and organizational psychology at the University of New Haven, in West Haven, Conn. Previously, he was self-employed as a psychologist.

Gregory Edgar ’73 (CLAS), ’73 (ED) is the author of Patriots, a children’s book about the American Revolutionary War published by BlueWaterPress LLC on August 12, 2009. He and his wife, Rosemary Farley ’72 (ED), live in Somers, Conn.

Laurie S. Werling ’75 , ’83 M.B.A. received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Connecticut Law School Alumni Association last fall.

Bernard Horn ’77 Ph.D. won the Old Seventy Creek Press 2009 Poetry Prize for his for book of poems, “Our Daily Words.” His poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Moment Magazine, The Mississippi Review and the Manhattan Review.

Sinclair Wilkinson ’77 M.A. ’79 6^th Year has been appointed to the University of the Virgin Islands Board of Trustees by the Gov. John deJongh Jr.

80’s

Janice A. Hogle ’82 Ph.D. is an evaluation researcher for the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Research.

Karen F. Stein ’82 Ph.D., professor of English and women’s studies at the University of Rhode Island, authored the book Reading, Learning, Teaching Toni Morrison, published by Peter Lang Press in 2009.

90’s

Leighangela Byer Brady ’94 (ED), ’95 M.A. coauthored a new book, Test Less, Assess More: A K-8 Guide to Formative Assessment, published by Eye on Education on September 16, 2009. She works as the Principal of an elementary school in San Diego.

Jamelle Elliot ’98 M.A. in Kinesiology is the women’s basketball coach at the University of Cincinnati. She is a former UConn assistant coach and player.

Sandra Enos ’98 Ph.D., an associate professor of Sociology at Bryant University, received the 2009 Michelle Norris Award from Children’s Friend, a child welfare organization based in Rhode Island, for her extraordinary support of the organization.

00’s

Ivy M. Alexander ’01 Ph.D., professor of nursing at the Yale University School of Nursing, was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing as a fellow on November 7, 2009 at the academy’s annual awards ceremony and induction banquet in Atlanta.

David Masopust ’02 Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, received the 2009 ICAAC Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Microbiology, which recognizes early career scientists for their research and potential. The award was presented at the 49^th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in San Francisco.

Joyce S. Fontana ’04 Ph.D., dean of School of Health and Natural Sciences at Saint Joseph College received the 2009 Distinguished Alumnae Award, from the college.

Michelle Strutz ’05 M.A. received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Award. She will conduct her research at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Dollie Harvey ’08 M.A. Curriculum & Instruction, is an agricultural educator at Glastonbury High School and one of 47 individuals nationwide who received the Teachers Turn the Key Award from the National Association of Agricultural Educators. The scholarship enables early career agricultural educators to attend the annual convention, giving them an opportunity to become involved with their professional association on a national level.

A ‘Special’ Educator, A.J. Pappanikou Dies

Posted on February 8, 2010April 20, 2016 by

Retired Neag School of Education Professor, Agisilaos John Pappanikou, Ph.D., who fought for the needs of people with developmental disabilities and their families, died Nov. 6, 2009 at age 79.

Called “Pappy” by those who knew him, he was a professor of special education at UConn’s School of Education from 1965 to 1989.

His friends and colleagues at the Neag School of Education describe Pappanikou as gregarious and out-going. He spent 19 years at UConn as chair of the Special Education Unit and 20 years as a member of the University Senate. He served on a wide range of committees, from president and dean searches to the Scholastic Standards Committee. He was one of the founding fathers of the Counsel for Children with Behavioral Disorders, a division of the Council for Exceptional Children. He helped establish the first International Medical Conference on Mental Retardation. Since his retirement, he had continued to work with parents and school systems to develop programs for children with special needs.

Mark Shibles, who was the education dean while Pappanikou was a faculty member, called him “A legend who made remarkable contributions to the field of developmental disabilities, the University, his community, and to all those whose lives he touched.”

“Pappy lived his life with astounding passion, energy, and leadership, and he was a fun person to be around,” Shibles said.

Pappanikou was a long-time resident of Mansfield and stayed active in town issues. He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 55 years, Lucette, who passed away in April 2006, and by their daughter, Lisa Glidden, who died in 1999. He is survived by four other children: Anne Druzolowski (MA, Neag, ’76), John Pappanikou (BS, BUS, ’79), Elayne Marrotte (BA, CLAS, ’81), and Sandra Sutyla (MA & 6th yr. Diploma, Neag, ’87 & ’97).

Pappanikou wrote and coauthored numerous publications, including the book, Mainstreaming Emotionally Disturbed Children. He served as advisor to 51 Ph.D. students, in addition to many students of master’s and sixth-year programs.

Neag School of Education colleague Sally Reis, Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology, described him as “a champion for those who needed help the most. He fought tirelessly for those with profound disabilities and was a crusader for parents, as well as children.”

While his contributions to special education reached both state and national levels, his greatest legacy may be the center to which he gave both his name and financial support. The A.J. Pappanikou Center for Developmental Disabilities, which relocated to the UConn Health Center several years ago, is committed to improving the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families.

Pappanikou was born in Grevena, Greece, and moved to Augusta, Maine, at the age of seven. In 1952, he earned his undergraduate degree at Bowdoin College, and then became assistant director of education at Maine’s Pownal State School for people with development disabilities. He earned a master’s degree in 1957 and a doctorate in 1962 from Syracuse University.

Pappanikou, an avid sports fan, was a familiar sight at UConn games, including women’s soccer and men’s hockey. For over 15 years, he was the University’s NCAA faculty athletics representative and served as an advisor to three athletic directors. In 1994, he and his wife established two scholarships for student-athletes.

To honor the memory of their daughter Lisa, a Neag staff member, they created a third scholarship in 1999 to support special education majors.

In 1970, Pappanikou received the first Distinguished Public Service Award from the UConn Alumni Association, and, 31 years later, the association made him an “Honorary Alumnus.” In 2004, the Neag School Alumni Society presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2007, Bowdoin College presented him with its Distinguished Educator Award.

Pappanikou’s generous financial support earned him a place in the UConn Founders Society Constitution Circle and on the board of Athletics’ UConn Club, for which he also served as president for a time. In 1978 he received the club’s award for Outstanding Contribution.

All in the Neag Family!

Posted on February 6, 2010April 20, 2016 by

Neag family

UConn blue must be in their DNA! Meet the Hale family of Clinton, Conn. They gathered at the Neag School last spring to celebrate the achievements of Carolyn (left). She graduated from our Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Teacher Education Program with an MA in curriculum and instruction. As part of our dual degree program, she earned both a BS in education and a BA in biology in 2008. Now she is teaching science at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Middletown.

Her sister, Rebekah (right), graduated from the same program in 2006 with a master’s in curriculum and instruction having earned a bachelor’s in special education in 2005. She is a special education teacher at Burr Elementary School in Haddam.

Also in 2005, their dad, Robert, graduated from the Neag School’s Executive Leadership Program. He is the principal of Westbrook High School. Their mom, Jill, graduated in 1982 from the Neag School with a BS in elementary education and is an assistant principal at Polson Middle School in Madison.

Home Run for Sport Management Alumna

Posted on February 5, 2010April 20, 2016 by

When Xaimara Coss went to basketball or football games as a child, she was often more interested in the guys on the sidelines than she was the players in the game.

“I used to wonder what the man with the clipboard was doing,” Coss says. “Who is that with the walkie-talkie, and who is he talking to? That was always a fascination for me.”

It may also have been her first clue that sports management would become her chosen career. But Coss also spent her share of time on the field, as a star volleyball player at Murry Bergtraum High School in New York City. That ability, plus her fascination with the sidelines, carried her to the Neag School’s sport management program and to the UConn volleyball team. She juggled the rigors of being a student-athlete and graduated in 2004.

Through her high school coach and mentor, Barbara Esmilla, who is now the principal of Bergtraum High, Coss was able to secure an internship with Major League Baseball during her junior and senior years at UConn. That path led to her current position as a royalty analyst at MLB. The job involves dealing with licensees who market merchandise with major and minor league team logos throughout the country and the world.

During her internship, Coss became involved with, and deeply committed to, baseball’s RBI Program — Reviving Baseball in the Inner City. MLB’s Community Relations Department administers the program in cities around the world, and while crunching numbers is what Coss does, working with children is what she loves.

To that end, she hopes to return to the Neag School in the fall to pursue a graduate degree, with special emphasis on the Husky Sport program that reaches out to inner city students in Hartford. Associate Professor Jennifer Bruening, director of Husky Sport, is grateful for the chance to have Coss back at UConn.

“The commitment and drive that saw Xaimara through her academic and athletic achievements,” Bruening says, “make her a great role model for young people.”

Once her master’s degree is in hand, Coss hopes to return to MLB, but in community relations and in a career that can help children in need. “I grew up in the inner city,” Coss says of her Brooklyn, New York, childhood. “I’ve seen too many kids without hope, without a light at the end of the tunnel. RBI, and programs like it, can be that light and I want to be part of that.”

For students who are currently in the sport management program, Coss says mentors and good connections help, but she offers advice that is useful in any career. “Leave a lasting impression,” she says. “During my internship at Major League Baseball, I could have done just the typing and filing that my job called for. But I wanted to show them I could do more than was asked of me. I still try to do that every day.”

Renzulli’s Offer to Match Contributions to Gifted Scholarship

Posted on February 3, 2010April 20, 2016 by

Neag School Professors Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis collaborate on their research focused on gifted and talented students.

When Neag School Professor Joseph Renzulli was awarded the prestigious McGraw Prize in Education last fall, he received a bronze sculpture and a gift of $25,000. Soon after, Joe, and his wife and research colleague Sally Reis decided to use the money to match any donation made to their scholarship fund, which was created several years ago.

The Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis Renzulli Fund for Graduate Studies in Gifted Education is awarded each year at the Neag School Honors Celebration, to an academically outstanding student who is pursuing a master’s or doctorate in Gifted Education and Talent Development.

To make a gift to their fund, please contact Abigail O’Brien, director of development, at (860) 486-4530 or via e-mail at aobrien@foundation.uconn.edu.