Summer 2019 Advisor

RECOGNIZING

SUMMER 2019 CEA ADVISOR 7

FIVE STUDENTS AWARDED CONNECTICUT EDUCATION FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS TO PURSUE TEACHING CAREERS Five Connecticut students pursuing teaching careers have been awarded scholarships from the who need extra help. I was put in an elementary classroom as an assistant, and the part of the day I enjoyed diversity,” she says, and after volunteering in urban classrooms, she believes she has found her place.

my country. Last April, my family migrated to the United States, to Connecticut, in order to have a better future. Though things have changed constantly in my life, I still do not forget my love of teaching. I want to teach in Connecticut because I found love, acceptance, and peace in this state, and I want to be one of the people who will inspire students and help them achieve their goals. I may not be born or raised here, but Connecticut and the people here have a great part in my heart.” Casucog would like to teach mathematics and accounting. Ethnic Minority Scholarships were also renewed for six participants from the previous year. Three students have been named recipients of CEF’s Phil DiGiovanni Future Teacher Scholarship , aimed at encouraging highly qualified students to enter the teaching profession. The scholarship is awarded to students with a parent or legal guardian who is an active or retired teacher and member of CEA. Lauren Noble , who graduated from Weston Public Schools and is a student at Rhode Island’s Roger Williams University, says she is often asked why she is pursuing teaching and not a higher-paying profession. “Teaching is in my heart,” she Noble interned in a kindergarten classroom during high school and helped conduct math and literacy lessons. “It was my first experience in a classroom full-time,” she says, “and I could not envision my life any differently.” As a college student, she has tutored in an urban elementary school, providing additional support for students with IEPs or 504 plans. “My most rewarding memory was being able to teach a third-grader addition, subtraction, and multiplication without counting on his fingers. While there were days that were not easy, seeing his excitement at being able to solve an equation he struggled with just a few weeks before made it all worth it.” She adds, “I would not be where I am in my life today without the schools in Connecticut, and that is why I want to return to Connecticut to teach.” Michelino Gali , who graduated from Rocky Hill High School— where his mother, Adele, is a math teacher and a building rep—is attending Central Connecticut State University, where he has been accepted into the School of Education and Professional Studies. Originally planning to major in accounting, Gali switched gears after his freshman year. He explains, “The summer after I finished high school I volunteered for Rocky Hill Public Schools’ summer program, Celebration of Learning, for students Lauren Noble explains. “It was my mother and some of my own teachers who helped me realize that this is the profession for me.” Her mother is an elementary school teacher in Weston.

Connecticut Education Foundation (CEF) to help them realize their dreams. Soribel Torres-Jimenez , an incoming UConn freshman, is one of two students to receive the CEF Ethnic Minority Future Educators Scholarship this year. She will receive $2,000 for every year of undergraduate study leading to obtaining Connecticut teaching credentials. Torres-Jimenez is a graduate of Waterbury Career Academy High School, where world languages teacher Rebecca Pellot describes her as mature, responsible, diligent, and a wonderful role model, adding, “I am sure that she will carry these traits with her as she pursues higher education and in her future career as an educator. I have no doubt that Soribel will be an enthusiastic, talented, and successful teacher.” Torres-Jimenez says, “Ever since I understood the concept of school, I’ve dreamt of being a teacher. As a child growing up, I loved school and my teachers. They kept the spark of being a teacher in me because of the difference they made in my life. Oftentimes, school was an escape for me whenever I felt alone, because my teachers always made time for me and checked up on me.” She plans to pursue special education for bilingual students, she says, “because it combines both of my passions and is a career in very high demand. It may be challenging, but it is also very rewarding and would bring a lot of joy into my life. I especially want to focus on teaching in inner cities in Connecticut, where it becomes very difficult for families to educate their children when they’re focusing on working to keep their family in a home. I believe my purpose is to teach in Connecticut in order to give back to the community that raised me. Teachers create the future.” Franchesca Casucog , who graduated this spring from Norwich Free Academy, has also received a CEF Ethnic Minority Scholarship this year. She will begin her undergraduate studies at Three Soribel Torres- Jimenez

most was helping students one-on- one with math.

In addition to working summers as a substitute paraprofessional in Torrington, Vega has volunteered at Dunbar Elementary School and Discovery Magnet School in Bridgeport. “I would love to teach in an inner city, because I feel as though these students are the ones who need the most. They may not have the best life at home and are unable to express how they feel 100 percent of the time. Not only are these students making an impact on my life, but I would be making an impact on theirs, and I want to be that teacher.” Vega’s mother, Valerie, teaches at Kent Center School, where Vega was a student and recalls small class sizes. “This meant there was more time for individual attention, and students’ needs were more easily met,” the aspiring educator and scholarship recipient observes. Gabrielle Vega The Connecticut Education Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable foundation that was established in 1991 to help teachers and children with extraordinary personal hardships as well as students planning teaching careers. Click for more information about the Ethnic Minority Scholarship Fund or the DiGiovanni Future Teacher Scholarship Fund.

Sometimes I had to explain a problem a few different ways until students could understand the concept.” With one student who struggled, Gali often used sports analogies, like, “If a basketball player made four three-point shots, how many points did he score in total?” That always did the trick. When Gali needed to take a few days off to have dental surgery, the boy he worked with so closely was disappointed—so much so that Gali returned to summer school the very next day. “I did not want to miss the opportunity to help this boy, and I could not bear his disappointment to think I abandoned him.” One of his recommenders noted, “In a profession with relatively low male representation, Michelino will likely inspire other young men to pursue this profession. I also believe his patience and cognitive abilities will have a positive impact on even struggling learners.” Changing majors has required Gali to take summer courses in order to graduate on time. The DiGiovanni Scholarship, he says, will help defray those extra tuition costs. Gabrielle Vega , a graduate of Torrington High School, is a current student at Fairfield’s Sacred Heart University, where she is preparing for a career teaching elementary students. “I attended schools with very little Michelino Gali

CEA Aspiring Educators Attend NEA RA in Houston

Rivers Community College in the fall. Casucog was born and raised in the Philippines, where she recalls crying at the sight of four children “happily sharing a small biscuit in a medical relief operation in the

From left to right in the first row are State Aspiring Educators Secretary Cameron Bulk, State Chair Katie Grant, State Vice Chair Kim Day, and State Student Organizer Michele Ridolfi O’Neill. Left to right in the back row are Quinnipiac Aspiring Educator chapter officers Elissabeth Daniele, Joanna Sayed Ahmed, Michael Thorp, and Jessica Coughlin. CEA Aspiring Educators’ Program state officers and Quinnipiac University chapter officers joined CEA State Student Organizer Michele O’Neill for the NEA Aspiring Educators’ Conference in Houston from June 29 to July 2, where they participated in chapter and state program development, team building, and networking events. QU’s chapter was awarded NEA’s Certificate of Excellence for Outstanding Local Excellence in Social Justice, beating out university chapters from across the country. QU has won a Certificate of Excellence award each of the last five years they’ve attended the NEA-AEC.

Franchesca Casucog

wake of a typhoon.” The children were impoverished, uneducated, and determined to go to school and earn diplomas for a better future, she says. “As an immigrant, most of my dreams are inspired of poverty and the challenges that we faced living in