summer_18

SUPPORTING

SUMMER 2018 CEA ADVISOR 11

CEF SCHOLARSHIPS HELP STUDENTS PURSUE TEACHING CAREERS

Seven Connecticut students pursuing teaching careers were awarded scholarships from the Connecticut Education Foundation (CEF) to help them realize their dreams. Lakeville resident Olivia “Liv” Sheldon , a 2018 UConn graduate pursuing a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, is the

teacher who cared for me got me through family fights, financial burdens, and personal issues. Teachers don’t get bonuses for all the kids they help through hard times. They teach because there is no other career that can bring them greater satisfaction or happiness.” Mirante answered many of Fernandez’s questions about being a technology education teacher and helped him practice his own skills. “His passion and enthusiasm led me to do an independent study where I would essentially be a student teacher,” Fernandez recalls. “Little did I know how much I was going to change in one year! Calling my first lesson terrible would be a compliment. I talked in a dull, dry voice the whole time, without a drop of enthusiasm. I was not prepared and did nothing to keep students engaged in the presentation. Despite my terrible performance, Mr. Mirante continued to help me grow and did not lose hope in me. As the year went on, I began spending more time thinking about my presentation skills and found myself reviewing lessons and coming up with ways to keep the class engaged. My lessons became filled with enthusiasm and questions for students, which made them realize the connections between the class and their everyday lives.” He adds, “I want to be a teacher because of Mr. Mirante. I want to have the same impact on my students that he had on me. I want to be the reason students come to school, and I want to help them find their passion. Mr. Mirante’s work ethic and passion truly rubbed off on me and made me a completely different person. As a high school junior, I was OK with the status quo. Today I want to stand out. I want to be the best teacher I can be. At the end of my career, I hope I can say I changed one student, like Mr. Mirante changed me.” Like Fernandez, Naugatuck High School graduate Krishna Soni has gotten her feet wet by volunteering. As a teacher assistant at Naugatuck Intermediate School, she helps struggling students. This fall, she will attend Southern Connecticut State University, where she plans to pursue

Students Cindy Fan, Angelica Rodriguez, Dennis Carambot, and Tamashi Hettiarachchi are UConn- bound this fall. Cindy Fan , who started pre-K in Groton not knowing a word of English, says, “I

grade books packed away in my closet!” he confesses. A strong math student his entire academic career, Carambot plans to pass along his knowledge and love of math to his own students someday. Also interested in STEM is fellow Ethnic Minority Scholarship recipient Tamashi Hettiarachchi , who recently graduated from Glastonbury High School and has been accepted into UConn’s majoring in chemistry and curriculum and instruction. “Do something you want to do,” she remembers her freshman chemistry teacher saying, “because ultimately you’re the one who has to wake up every day and do it.” As a junior, Hettiarachchi had the opportunity to conduct her own chemical research at the University of Connecticut. “At the time, it seemed logical that if I loved chemistry, I would end up working in a laboratory,” she recalls. The reality, however, was that the real joy of chemistry came not in the lab but in the classroom. “Toward the end of the school year, I finished my project and was tasked with going to local elementary schools and presenting my research to students. The children filed through, many of them intrigued by the molecular model. They huddled around me and my poster, wide-eyed and interested in monoxides and ligands. As I tried to simplify all the chemical processes for the children, I could see the gears turning in their heads as they tried to comprehend the idea of atoms interacting with each other. I loved watching a child’s face go from confused and frustrated to curious and fascinated. I loved the challenge I was faced with— explaining a complicated molecular interaction to someone who didn’t even know atoms existed. Most of all, I loved the fact that I had the chance to share my enthusiasm for chemistry with others.” That’s when Hettiarachchi realized teaching was the “something” she could wake up and do every day. “Teaching will allow me to pursue chemistry in a way that a lab setting could never match. As a secondary science teacher, not only will I be an educator, I will be a resource to my students. With schools increasingly becoming more diverse, students need ‘mirrors’ in the classroom. As a woman of color in the teaching field, I hope to be seen as a role model, especially to students who see in me someone who looks like them and who can relate to their culture at home.” Tamashi Hettiarachchi Integrated Bachelor’s/ Master’s Teacher Education Program, double-

always felt behind my classmates. I could not read, write, or communicate like the other kids, and it was a defeating feeling not knowing how to

recipient of the Phil DiGiovanni Future Teacher Scholarship, aimed at encouraging highly qualified students

Cindy Fan

ask for help. After building up my ability in the English language, I began to translate for students, teachers, my parents, and people in the community. Having experienced the pain of feeling out of place because of my language barrier, I did not want anyone else to go through the same struggles. Helping translate was one of the experiences that sparked my interest in going into education. I began to observe my teachers and take notes on what they did. I started creating worksheets and flashcards to use in my future classroom. Being a helping hand in someone’s journey means so much.” She adds, “Educators have a very important job, because teaching is the profession that creates all other professions. A quote that has stuck with me is this: ‘Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.’” Fan plans to teach in her home state of Connecticut and hopes to someday land a position with Groton Public Schools. Angelica Rodríguez is grateful to Montville teachers who helped shape her into the person she has become. She hopes to be a leader and role model in her community—someone who makes a positive impact. An aspiring music teacher, Rodríguez quotes the famous violinist and music education innovator Shinichi Suzuki, who said, “Teaching is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If children hear fine music…and learn how to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline, and endurance. They get a beautiful heart.” Like Fan, Dennis Carambot wants to teach in the same school district where he was a student: East Lyme. He recalls knowing from an early age that teaching was his

Olivia Sheldon

to enter the teaching profession. The scholarship is awarded to a student whose parent or legal guardian is an active or retired member of CEA. Sheldon’s mother, Linda, taught at Sarah Noble Intermediate School in New Milford until she retired, in 2014. Sheldon admits that her own academic career started out with some bumps and setbacks, and that as she matured, she became more determined and focused as a student. She hopes to teach in an urban school in Connecticut, where she believes she will have as much to learn from her students as they will from her. She will receive $2,000 to complete her graduate studies. Ethnic minority scholarships CEF also awarded six Ethnic Minority Scholarship Awards this year to high school seniors intending to pursue teaching degrees. Each will receive a $2,000 scholarship for every year of undergraduate study leading to obtaining Connecticut teaching credentials. “Connecticut has a shortage of minority teachers,” says CEF President Tom Nicholas, “and we need to do all we can to recruit, retain, and support those who are underrepresented in our public schools. These students are committed to educating the next generation of children, and we are proud to provide financial assistance throughout their undergraduate study.” Jared Fernandez , who is enrolled in Central Connecticut State University’s technology education program, says, “Many people have questioned my decision to become a teacher,” citing higher-paying jobs with fewer automotive trade, but one of his own teachers at Southington High School, Justin Mirante, inspired him to give teaching a look. “Mr. Mirante cared about me,” says Fernandez. “He was always genuine and committed to his students’ success, often staying past five o’clock and never turning down a student who needed help. He took pride in his job and treated it as the most important job in the world. He cared more about his job than anyone I had ever met in any career. Having a Jared Fernandez demands in other fields. Fernandez initially considered entering the

Angelica Rodríguez

a degree in elementary education.

Soni credits her own fourth-grade teacher with her desire to teach others. “She was kind and helped me when I was struggling with

Krishna Soni

calling. While other children

math and reading. She made me believe in myself and gave me confidence—something I never felt before. I don’t know where I would be today if I didn’t have teachers like her to show me what I am capable of. “This scholarship will greatly benefit me and my family,” she adds.

staged tea parties and played house, Carambot created attendance lists,

gradebooks, lesson plans, and quizzes for an imaginary classroom. “I still have those lesson plans and Dennis Carambot

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 here for more scholarship information about the Ethnic Minority Scholarship Fund or the DiGiovanni Future Teacher Scholarship Fund.