An educator has one of the most important roles in society. Educators pave the way for the youth and young adults in a community; this job takes more than just a certification and after interviewing Katie Grant it is evident that educators who devote themselves to the field will become the most qualified and prepared to take on the laborious job. Katie Grant is an English teacher at Manchester  high school where she teaches both sophomores and seniors. Katie is a graduate of Uconn’s school of education IB/M program. NEAG school of education is a very selective program where only devoted students with experience in the field will be accepted.

Katie’s background is very impressive; she has a history of being very involved in the Future Educators club in her five years at Uconn. In this club she was the political director her junior year and the state chair for Connecticut Education Association’s Aspiring Educators  program her senior and  masters year. Both roles that she devoted herself to were ones that acquired a leader and someone who could be organized and approachable to their peers. Her involvement in Future Educators is just the beginning of her list of accomplishments. Grant also took on honor classes, as she was accepted into the honors program at Uconn. The honors program is very selective and currently only “2,000 students out of the 32,183 students who attend Uconn are in the honors program” according to honors.uconn.edu. With Grant’s devotion to her studies she was accepted into the 2018 leadership legacy program. This program facilitates year-long learning experiences for student leaders at UConn to prepare them for their leadership journeys after they graduate.

Grant’s impressive experience in just leadership itself is enough to understand her amazing ability to connect with her students. However, as an English teacher she has proven her ability to be an expert in her subject through her internships and practice in the writing center at Uconn. Katie was an intern for the Connecticut Writing Project which is a writing based internship. This internship highlights the impressive writing skills of Uconn students through their newsletters posted on the CWP website. Grant also worked for the writing center at Uconn where students go for help with their academic papers. She has stayed connected to writing and feels that it is important to do so as an educator, she says practicing writing “helps you stay connected to the craft… writing is hard”. Grant is aware of how troubling writing can be through her experience in honor level English classes and these first hand experiences allow her to connect and understand her students on a better level by giving herself the assignment to complete before giving it to her students. This way of teaching is an example of a devoted teacher. Grant surrounds her teaching style through the eyes of the students, asking herself “can this question be answered with the information given?” answering her own essay questions is just an example of how she stays connected with writing.

Every educator is bound to have experiences from their past that shaped them into being the teacher they are today. Grant had impactful experiences while student teaching. She got to connect with the kids and it gave her a sense of confirmation of why she is pursuing this career path. Grant also claimed to have “wonderful teachers who got to know my interests”, in fact, one of her teachers from high school introduced her to a book by the title “Death and Life of The American School System”. This book was recommended to Grant because she loves policy. She took great interest in systems and the way a program operates. That very book is what inspired her to become a teacher, she wanted to make a difference in the school system. Grant says she wants her students to leave her classroom “being confident and comfortable with who they are” she feels is important to have an affirming space where students can be themselves and “learn not only what they need but also what they want”. Grant’s dedication to making that impact on her students is inspiring and an outlook on teaching that is hard to find. Teaching is a very hard occupation where students come to you with hardships and difficult conversations. Instead of letting the exhaustion of the tough days at work drain her, Grant takes care of herself in ways that are important for a new teacher. She says “Beyond investing in learning and being comfortable in that space it’s also creating self care routines… even in college start to practice self care”. Putting yourself first after a day of putting student needs before your own is important. Grant keeps the difficulty her job maintained through allowing herself to relax and do the things she enjoys.

Grant has already proven to have a very successful two first years in teaching high school English. Although this is just the beginning, Grant hopes someday she will go back to school and “be more involved in policy work”. Her understanding for her future is clear to her, she feels she needs to stay in the classroom and gain more knowledge on the profession; knowing the profession fully is important to understanding the policy of it. Grant is an inspiration to future educators and she is already making a tremendous impact on the profession and her students. 

 

Amy Nocton is an example of a teacher who positively impacts her students inside the classroom as well as outside the classroom. Her dedication to strengthening and building up the Discourse and Deliberation Program has allowed her to build lifelong connections with her students and spread awareness to modern issues with equity and injustice. However, Amy did not always see herself as a teacher. She was supposed to travel to Chile on her Fulbright, unfortunately it fell through and Amy started to advertise for a Spanish tutor and babysitter.  Amy took Spanish classes throughout her whole education; luckily someone hired Amy as a babysitter and Spanish tutor all in one. Amy quickly realized that she is able to form a connection and educate children. Amy furthered her career to teach at the University of Connecticut to teach Latin American Studies. She pursued a teaching career at E.O Smith Highschool as a Spanish teacher. 

The special part about Amy’s teaching is that she brought an uplifting energy to school everyday. She was aware that the majority of her students probably will not pursue a major in Spanish and they are taking her course as an elective. This did not stop Amy from building connections with her students. Amy’s teaching philosophy is to bring a sense of  kindness and openness each day; this allows students to enjoy class and be eager to learn the material. Amy used film to draw connections between the Spanish language and her students. Despite the lack of engagement some of her students had for Spanish, Amy carried her positive energy outside the classroom. Amy and her fellow colleagues, such as Joe Goldman put together the D.D program. It started after the 2016 Presidential election, this was a time period where there was a lot of negativity and conversations to be had about certain issues in our country. This program was an opportunity for students to speak openly about their thoughts and concerns. These sessions turned into opportunities where the students could speak to a panel of educated authorities about certain topics. For example, mental health, diverse communities, and the suffrage movement. As the program started to build up, Amy and her colleagues trained these students involved to guide these tough conversations and become experts in deliberation. Amy truly carried the value of a teacher outside the classroom and became the face of the Discourse and Deliberation Program. 

Amy Nocton won the “Libby Kingseed Teaching with Deliberation Memorial” award. This award was given to her for her work with justice discourse. This award brought a lot of attention to the program; her and her students were mentioned in podcasts, invited to workshops, and specifically a show where black women celebrated their voices through choir. These opportunities lead to help with budgeting and funding the D.D program. Amy’s passion for the program continues to grow, her goal is to help get rid of implicit biases and help students become more educated on the issues in the world. Amy believes it is important for students to get involved because it’s a program where their voice matters and the students are the ones generating all these impressive ideas to create awareness about these topics. This program allows for conversations and it’s an opportunity where staff and students can learn something new through each other. 

Amy is an inspiration to these students and also to aspiring educators. Her advice to future educators would be to take risks and don’t be afraid to experience rejection. Her positive mindset is contagious. She is optimistic about the future for the D.D Program, she hopes more and more students will get involved and come together to inspire one another. She feels help from the community and outside the school will help build the program. There is a bright future ahead of the Deliberation and Discourse Program and it is all because Amy has given it the confidence it needed. 

Amy Nocton is an example of a teacher who positively impacts her students inside the classroom as well as outside the classroom. Her dedication to strengthening and building up the Discourse and Deliberation Program has allowed her to build lifelong connections with her students and spread awareness to modern issues with equity and injustice. However, Amy did not always see herself as a teacher. She was supposed to travel to Chile on her Fulbright, unfortunately it fell through and Amy started to advertise for a Spanish tutor and babysitter.  Amy took Spanish classes throughout her whole education; luckily someone hired Amy as a babysitter and Spanish tutor all in one. Amy quickly realized that she is able to form a connection and educate children. Amy furthered her career to teach at the University of Connecticut to teach Latin American Studies. She pursued a teaching career at E.O Smith Highschool as a Spanish teacher. 

The special part about Amy’s teaching is that she brought an uplifting energy to school everyday. She was aware that the majority of her students probably will not pursue a major in Spanish and they are taking her course as an elective. This did not stop Amy from building connections with her students. Amy’s teaching philosophy is to bring a sense of  kindness and openness each day; this allows students to enjoy class and be eager to learn the material. Amy used film to draw connections between the Spanish language and her students. Despite the lack of engagement some of her students had for Spanish, Amy carried her positive energy outside the classroom. Amy and her fellow colleagues, such as Joe Goldmanm put together the D.D program. It started after the 2016 Presidential election, this was a time period where there was a lot of negativity and conversations to be had about certain issues in our country. This program was an opportunity for students to speak openly about their thoughts and concerns. These sessions turned into opportunities where the students could speak to a panel of educated authorities about certain topics. For example, mental health, diverse communities, and the suffrage movement. As the program started to build up, Amy and her colleagues trained these students involved to guide these tough conversations and become experts in deliberation. Amy truly carried the value of a teacher outside the classroom and became the face of the Discourse and Deliberation Program. 

Amy Nocton won the “Libby Kingseed Teaching with Deliberation Memorial” award. This award was given to her for her work with justice discourse. This award brought a lot of attention to the program; her and her students were mentioned in podcasts, invited to workshops, and specifically a show where black women celebrated their voices through quior. These opportunities lead to help with budgeting and funding the D.D program. Amy’s passion for the program continues to grow, her goal is to help get rid of implicit biases and help students become more educated on the issues in the world. Amy believes it is important for students to get involved because it’s a program where their voice matters and the students are the ones generating all these impressive ideas to create awareness about these topics. This program allows for conversations and it’s an opportunity where staff and students can learn something new through each other. 

Amy is an inspiration to these students and also to aspiring educators. Her advice to future educators would be to take risks and don’t be afraid to experience rejection. Her positive mindset is contagious. She is optimistic about the future for the D.D Program, she hopes more and more students will get involved and come together to inspire one another. She feels help from the community and outside the school will help build the program. There is a bright future ahead of the Deliberation and Discourse Program and it is all because Amy has given it the confidence it needed. 

The University of Connecticut has an impressive writing center where all students have accessibility for feedback, and guidance from fellow college students or professors in order to write grade A work. The man who started it all is named Tom Deans. Tom has a clear passion for writing and developing a workshop based process for student writers at the University of Connecticut. His role at Uconn is not only active in the English department as a professor of many introductory writing courses, but he also teaches graduate level courses and STEM based writing courses. It is important to recognize Tom’s teaching philosophy; he encourages a project based curriculum where there is more room for collaboration and creativity for one’s writing. His courses contain a lot of peer reviewing and mentoring where there is development of many drafts before the finished project. This perspective of writing is similar to what the Connecticut Writing Project practices and encourages all students and professors to do. In fact, Tom Deans has done direct work with Jason Courtmanche and other colleagues for CWP and developing this different styled curriculum of writing. 

Tom’s experience with this writing workshop based curriculum has progressed into many different collegiate courses. For example, Tom now assists with introducing this curriculum in STEM major W courses. His work goes further than the University of Connecticut, he is currently teaching at Uganda Christian University to develop the same curriculum there and launch a writing center as well. However, Tom has faced some challenges during his time in Africa so far. There are distinct differences between the education in Africa compared to what Tom was used to at Uconn. A few differences are the status of COVID-19 and how it has affected their classes, the expectations between a professor and the students, the curriculum, and flexibility with studies. Uganda currently has in-person classes but when I spoke with Tom he said one of his challenges was that his two courses were online. He teaches a graduate level course, which meets on zoom, and an undergraduate course. However, there is a disconnect between him and his students for the reason that many do not have access to a device in order to join the daily classes. The U.S has an upper hand with technology and staying connected despite the pandemic compared to third world countries. This level of disconnection presented a challenge and caused Tom to have to adjust to the living circumstances. Uganda is only 3% vaccinated and that demonstrates their lack of resources in order to create normalcy in their school systems.

Tom also mentioned how his relationship with his students in Uganda is very different from his relationship with his students at Uconn. The graduate students there do not feel comfortable calling Tom by his first name, rather they view him as an authority figure and will call him Professor. They treat class as a time where the professor speaks and they listen and do the tasks given to them with little to no collaboration. Tom was used to a different type of classroom where he prefers students call him by his first name and he encourages students to voice their opinion and converse with one another. He realized he needed to find a common ground while he was introducing this workshop based curriculum so he accepted being called Professor and adjusted to what was normal for his current students. Another major difference he learned was that his students in Africa do not have the same privileges as Uconn students when it comes to flexibility in their studies. The students there chose a major and stuck with it throughout their collegiate education. They did not have the option to switch majors. 

Tom reflects on his experience by realizing how fortunate American higher education is. He has a greater appreciation for the accessibilities and support American universities provide for their students. Although there have been difficulties in his time in Uganda, Tom does recommend this experience to others. He feels it supports cultural immersion and allows people to make lifelong connections with the students there. He feels those who have an interest in teaching abroad will enjoy the experience. Tom’s goals going further will be to develop a strong writing center at the  Uganda Christian University and he hopes to start launching writing centers in highschools as well. Tom’s devotion to strengthen writing programs abroad and in the U.S, is an inspiration to the work CWP does.

Jason Irizarry is the new Dean of NEAG for the University of Connecticut as of March 2021. After speaking with Jason, it was evident that he is a man who is an ideal example of a leader and has already made a significant impact on the School of Education. Irizarry explained he went into the education field because of his eagerness to make a difference in the world. He has shown persistent motivation to change the education system through his previous teaching background in multicultural education, his efforts to provide the students of NEAG with plenty of opportunities to further their success in the classroom and internships, and his dedication to building the future of NEAG through his connection with alumnus and projects for funding the school. 

Irizarry came from humble beginnings from a family who had to work really hard. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York; raised by his grandmother. He is a first generation college graduate for his family and has experienced hard work in many different forms. One of his most important values in life is his family. He has two son’s, one a sophomore in college, and the other a senior in highschool with a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Maryland. Irizarry enjoys spending time at the baseball field watching his sons play. He explains his days as “I’m here most days at 8 and I’m usually here till 5 o’clock and then I meet my son typically at a batting cage to practice batting for an hour before dinner”. He  and his son share the same childhood hero, Roberto Clemente. Roberto Clemente is a Puerto Rican baseball player who was known for more than just his talent on the field, but also his devotion to helping the less fortunate and making a difference in the world. Irizarry raised his sons to aspire to be both just as good as a person as Roberto Clemente and also strive to be just as great as a player.  Irizarry’s wife is an elementary school social worker and they share similar interests in bettering the education system. He mentions that, “she is immersed in the challenges we are trying to address here in the NEAG school and beyond.” He has many conversations with his wife on challenges in the education system and their direct work with students. Irizarry’s greatest motivation is pleasing his family. His caregiver was his grandmother growing up, she is the voice inside of his head telling him he can do anything he puts his mind to and she keeps him sane when things get tough no matter where he is in life.  

Unlike the average administrator, Irrizary had a very unconventional path to education; in fact, he calls himself “an accidental academic”. In his undergraduate years, he was a janitor in Brooklyn who worked a 3pm-12am shift as a way to support himself, and it was not until one evening when he came across a book he says, “was written by a Puerto Rican woman from Brooklyn, New York… I called Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education and it was for the first time I saw my experiences reflected back to me and it offered a vision of what schooling could be like and it worked in the best interest of young people.” Irizarry claims that reading this book changed his whole perspective and the ways he thought about education. This inspired his career in multicultural education. In this day and age, people struggle to see education in a cultural lens. Irizarry’s knowledge in multicultural education further expands his knowledge of different values, beliefs, and backgrounds. This makes him versatile for connecting with all students in the NEAG program. 

Irizarry is aware of all the projects and changes that are to come along with the future of NEAG. He claims his seat isn’t even warm yet; he has many ideas and goals to benefit his students. Irizarry currently meets with the alumni committee often. He feels it is important to build relationships and show his appreciation for the work they have done for the program. Little gestures such as this one are examples of the ways he takes everyone in account when building the future of NEAG. Irizarry explains that he often converses with his students to hear their ideas and concerns. Everyday at work is a new day where challenges differ; he is vocal that his ability to overcome these challenges as Dean would not be possible without the help of the amazing faculty and brilliant students. He looks forward to being a part of what’s to come as NEAG continues to grow.