In the News | U.S. Secretary of Education Visits Groton to highlight career technical education

Groton, CT (The Day, January 14, 2022) —

Ella T. Grasso Technical High School junior Tyler White, wearing a helmet and protective gear in his welding shop, told U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on Friday that the past three years of his life have been absolutely phenomenal and he’s learned so much.

“I’m just so thankful every day,” White said.

When Cardona asked White if he was developing needed skills, White said he feels more than qualified to go out and get a job. He then did a demonstration of the welding skills he is learning at Grasso Tech.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, invited Cardona to Groton on Friday to put the spotlight on a nationally recognized Blue Ribbon school, Thames River Magnet School, and then to talk at Grasso Tech about an issue critical to the region and the country: how to give kids the skills they need for the 21st century.

“It’s really inspiring to hear from students directly how much they love school, how much they love their programming, and, for so many of these students, they know they have jobs lined up when they leave,” Cardona told reporters near the end of his visit at Grasso.

He said this is an example of what the federal government wants to see across the country: beautiful facilities with not only opportunities for K-12 students, but also programs at technical schools for adults who are looking to reskill and get jobs. 

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, center, talks to second graders in Collin Powers’ class Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, while he and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, right, tour Thames River Magnet School in Groton. (Dana Jensen/The Day)

In addition to housing programs for its high school students, the Grasso Tech building is home to the Three Rivers Community College Manufacturing Apprenticeship Center, which has classes for adult students. High school students participating in the Youth Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative also take an evaluation at the center, according to the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board website.

“Career technical education is a priority for this administration. It’s a priority for me,” Cardona said.

“We need to provide our students in Connecticut and across the country options for success, and I believe Connecticut has a pathway to do that,” he added.

He said he really feels Connecticut can lead the nation in some of this work. He said it’s important to have the career technical education curriculum in comprehensive high schools, as well as technical high schools, so kids have choices when they graduate.  

During a panel discussion at Grasso Tech — in the expanded school building that opened in 2019 — students told Cardona and Courtney about all they are learning and their plans for the future.

Senior Juliana Walker, who is in the Bio-science and Environmental Technology Trade and wants to be a doctor, said she loves how she is learning so many different things, from regenerative farming to wastewater treatment, and realizing how many possibilities there are.

She said she feels very prepared, and her teachers are trying to impress upon students to be the best that they can be and then they will have all these options in front of them.

“That’s the key thing, options, right?” Cardona said. “I went to a technical high school but I ended up going to college for teaching — but I had options.”

Courtney told the students that their interests connect with where the country is going. For example, the infrastructure bill that just passed relates to automotive technology with investments in electrical vehicles, building technology and climate change, among other fields.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, left, and Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, center, listen to Principal Jamie Giordano, right, while they walk down a hall Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, while taking a tour of Thames River Magnet School in Groton. (Dana Jensen/The Day)

Thames River Magnet School

Earlier in the day, Cardona and Courtney visited Thames River Magnet School, a new elementary school that opened at the beginning of the school year along with Mystic River Magnet School. The Groton school district has five themed magnet elementary schools.

Groton Superintendent Susan Austin welcomed Cardona to the Blue Ribbon School.

“Beautiful school,” Cardona said. “Congratulations.”

He and Courtney met with Groton school officials, including Austin, Assistant Superintendent Philip Piazza, Board of Education Chairwoman Kim Shepardson Watson, Principal Jamie Giordano and Assistant Principal Ada Allen, and toured the school.

In a first grade classroom in the environmental and marine sciences magnet school, Cardona asked the students sitting in a circle on a brightly colored rug what made their class so special.

The students volunteered answers: they’re good at math, do hard work, fix their mistakes, never give up, and they’re good at reading.

“Keep up the great work!” Cardona told the class near the end of the visit.

He then visited a second grade classroom during the morning social check-in time and asked teacher Collin Powers how important it is to have that time.

Powers said it gives him a chance to gauge how the students are doing, and it gives the students a chance to build on relationships and share about topics, such as their favorite food.

Expanding opportunities

The school district is working to increase career and technical opportunities.

Among the initiatives, the school district recently was awarded a Department of Defense Education Activity grant that “will provide students with opportunities to pursue more career pathways in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and Health Sciences,” according to information provided by the district.

Ella T. Grasso Technical High School Principal Patricia Feeney said Grasso Tech and Fitch High School will partner for a “Career Academy,” in which Fitch juniors and seniors will have the chance, starting this fall, to go to Grasso Tech after school to learn a trade and receive credit.  

Austin also is seeking more collaboration between Fitch and Grasso Tech. Already, the Fitch Falcon’s Robotic team includes students from Fitch, Grasso Tech, and the Marine Science Magnet School.

By Kimberly Drelich, Day Staff Writer

The original article can be found here: “U.S. Secretary of Education visits Groton to highlight career technical education“

In The News | Young Democrats of Connecticut expand into New London County

New London (November 30, 2021) — A young Democrats group is forming in New London County.

Engineered by New London Board of Education member Danni Cruz, the group is meant as a place for 18- to 35-year-olds to organize politically.

Cruz, who is 18 and attends UConn Avery Point, says he’s the youngest elected representative in the city by a lot. He said this backs up his belief that young people aren’t heard proportionally in politics.

“We can get a lot more young people to turn out and vote with this group and show people that their voice matters as much as an older person in our community,” Cruz said.

Cruz said it will be important for the group to build connections with local mayors, first selectmen, state representatives and state senators.

“We have our upcoming race for senator, and I want a lot of people to volunteer and sign up for these campaigns, then we can put a bug in their ear and say, ‘Here’s what we’re looking for,’” Cruz said. “I’ll use Daryl Finizio, who’s running for state Senate, as an example. If we have a pressing issue or concern, we can go to Daryl, we can go to [State Rep. Anthony] Nolan, and say, ‘Here’s what’s going on, can you help us with this or can you represent us in this way?’”

In October, Cruz approached the statewide Young Democrats Vice President Bella Langlois, President Gabriela Koc, as well as Grace Carlos, a 21-year-old Democratic candidate and student at Three Rivers Community College who was at the time running for Montville Board of Education. Cruz said the day after this year’s election, he and Carlos began recruiting members. Thus far, they’ve come up with more than 10 people and expect that number to increase.

Both Carlos and Cruz made it clear that this is a New London County chapter, not strictly New London, partly because some towns in the county are too small to have functioning chapters. Apart from New London and Montville, young Democrats from Groton and Waterford have reached out. There is no Republican counterpart in New London to the growing Democratic group.

“There is a Young Republicans of Connecticut, but there’s no Young Republicans of New London,” Cruz said. “If they see us doing it, they may do it, and that’s OK. If young people want to get involved, no matter what party, they should get involved.”

While there’s still paperwork involved before becoming an official chapter, the Young Democrats of Connecticut have given New London County’s young Democrats its blessing to organize. The regional group is currently working on writing its bylaws.

Carlos said Cruz is looking for “a huge membership number, as many as we can get.”

“So many people have been reaching out, wanting to be involved,” Carlos said. “One of our long-term goals is to have our own space, our own offices. With the election coming up, we’re planning on endorsing candidates, helping out with campaigns, organizing events.”

Langlois, a UConn student from Ledyard, said there’s not a lot of Young Democrats chapters in the region.

“One of my big things when I joined Young Dems was getting more people from eastern and southeastern Connecticut involved because right now it’s mostly central and western Connecticut,” Langlois said. “I’m from Ledyard, so it was really important for me to have an organizational structure there. The president and I just finished up an official chapter guide, so we’re trying to get these regional chapters started. As long as you have decent support and willingness to put together constitution, bylaws, code of ethics, etc. … it’s really not that hard.”

Langlois noted that some local chapters do stay confined to one town or city, such as the chapter getting started in Stamford, and there are other regional chapters, such as in Naugatuck Valley.

“The Young Democrats are a legit arm of the Connecticut Democratic Party, so we have communication there,” she said. “They have their regional chapters, which report to us, and we have our statewide meetings. There wasn’t huge youth involvement in southeastern Connecticut, there wasn’t a structure to take part in it, so I’m really happy they’re taking the initiative to start this chapter and be that structure for people to reach out to and get involved in different social justice issues and electoral politics.”

Langlois acknowledged that there are already youth social justice groups in New London, but said the Young Democrats are filling a political gap in the area.

— By Sten Spinella, Day staff writer

The original article can be found here: “Young Democrats of Connecticut expand into New London County”

In The News | Montville Board of Education candidates talk masks and transparency

Montville (The Day, October 21, 2021) — Candidates for the Board of Education answered questions on mask and vaccine mandates, school programs and issues of transparency with the public.

Democrat Tara Crossley, 40, is a real estate agent who lost when she ran for the board four years ago and wants to give it another go as a mother of two children in the school system. She said the school board already does a “pretty good job,” but believes there could be better advertising of board meetings to ensure more parents have an opportunity to provide input.

In regards to masks and vaccine mandates, Crossley said she is comfortable with whatever the government wants although she understands others may see it differently.

Running for a spot on the Board of Education for the first time, Democrat Timothy Shanahan, 58, has served on the town’s youth advisory board and volunteered at local fire departments for a long time. He is the treasurer of the Chesterfield Fire Co.

He said he would like to improve the yearly budget and see more transparency within the district, “making sure things aren’t swept under the rug.”

Currently filling a vacancy on the board, Republican Wills Pike, 63, also is running for Town Council.

Pike said he would push to upgrade the district’s computer and information technology systems, developing a plan to invest half a million dollars to make sure students have adequate resources.

Pike said the schools should continue to follow state mandates on masks or else face liability should there be any consequences of not doing so.

The current chairman of the board, Democrat Sandra Berardy, 79, is a retired advanced practice nurse and had two kids who grew up and were educated in Montville. She said she is interested in the continution of safety programs and the introduction of new programs that improve technology and internet broadband.

Berardy said she does not think the board has issues of transparency with the public, adding that the members are at the meetings to take public comments into discussion.

Newcomer Tina Grove, 66, a Republican, is a former Navy official and professor at Goodwin University in East Hartford. Grove said in July she hopes to use her background and doctorate in education to keep Montville at “the forefront of education.”

Democrat Grace Carlos, 21, graduated Montville High School in 2018. She is studying political science at Three Rivers Community College, has interned in the lieutenant governor’s office and hosts a podcast with the town’s youth services in which she interviews local and state leaders on youth-related topics.

Carlos said she is “excited” about the start of state-required Black and Latino studies at the high school and added that there is always room for improvement when it comes to transparency.

“I feel working on new ways to share information in timely and effective manner will strengthen the communication and relationship our board has with our community,” she said.

Democrat John Desjardins, 54, has been on the Planning and Zoning Commission since 2008. He said it was a good start but he wants to be more active in the community. Havine spent 26 years in the military, he said he has a “holistic” philosophy in regards to education and feels strongly that students should have a well-rounded education.

Republican Florence Turner, 50, could not be reached for this article. According to the Republican Town Committee website, she has resided in Montville for the past 36 years and has worked at the town’s transfer station for the past 19 years. She has a child and a grandchild in the school system.

She “believes that educating our children is an enormous responsibility and two-thirds of the town budget,” the site reads.

Running for Board of Assessment Appeals are Democrat Gary Murphy and Republican Richard Cenami. For the Zoning Board of Appeals, the candidates are John MacNeil, a Democrat and chairman of the board, and Republicans Alfred J. Mandler and Vincent Atwater-Young.

Mandler, who also is running for Town Council, said if elected to the ZBA, he would “make informed decisions based on what the town has and needs.”

Editor’s Note: John MacNeil, who is running for a position on the Zoning Board of Appeals, is not a newcomer. He is chairman of the board.

— By Johana Vazquez , Day Staff Writer

The original article can be found here: “Montville Board of Education candidates talk masks and transparency”

In The News | First Toni Morrison bench in state honors Prudence Crandall and Black students

Canterbury (The Bulletin, September 20, 2021) — Poets, activists and community leaders gathered outside the Prudence Crandall Museum Sunday afternoon under the bright, late summer sunshine to unveil the first Toni Morrison Society bench in the state. 

The newest Toni Morrison Society “Bench by The Road” unveiled at the Prudence Crandall Museum on Sunday In Canterbruy. John Penney

The 6-foot steel Toni Morrison “Bench by the Road” sitting area was dedicated to the memory of Prudence Crandall, an educator and 19th century local civil rights icon, and her Black students, a group whose story traces a direct line to the modern civil rights era and beyond.

The bench, fronted by a black plaque inscripted with gold lettering, was brought to Canterbury through a fundraising effort spearheaded by Windham Judicial District State’s Attorney Anne Mahoney with the help of the Sustainable CT group and local donators.

“My hope is the next generation can find inspiration here and seek out the works of (Morrison) and become more morally enhanced,” Mahoney said.

In The News | Summer program provides opportunities to empower girls through STEM

(The Day, June 14, 2021) — This summer, teeenage girls will hear directly from southeastern Connecticut women working in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math – and realize that could be them.

Professionals, such as electrical engineers and scientists, will share with girls 16 to 19 their career paths and what their day is like, as part of a free summer enrichment program held by S.T.E.P.S., Inc. an organization focused on empowering young women, said Executive Director Beatrice Jennette.

“We might spark someone else’s interest to say: ‘Wow, I might want to do this,'” Jennette said.

S.T.E.P.S. Inc. received a $150,000 Summer Enrichment Innovation Grant from the state Department of Education to hold the Summer Leadership College/Career Enrichment Program July 12-Aug. 6.

“S.T.E.P.S. will be joined by The New London County Section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and Soroptimist International CT Shoreline to serve a diverse group of 150 young women ages 16-19 in southeastern Connecticut,” a news release states. “This grant has allowed them to offer the 4-week summer program at no cost to participants, including transportation and meals.”

The program will include workshops on STEM taught by women from local companies, such as Pfizer, Electric Boat and Dominion, Jennette said. The participants also will engage in workshops on yoga and meditation, exercise, self-care, art, music and dance for their social and emotional health. There also will be field trips and college tours.

The program is the latest offering from S.T.E.P.S., Inc., a Groton-based organization which stands for Striving Towards Empowered Personal Success. The organization began in 2008 when a group of women saw a need in the community because young girls were struggling, said Jennette. The organization works with girls in sixth through twelfth grade in Groton, New London and Norwich to teach them, build their self-esteem, and give them skills as they transition from grade to grade and from school.

“We’re a support system for them and their families, and we give them skills so that they can prosper and have great success once they get out of high school and they move on with their lives,” Jennette said. “We don’t ever want them to give up on their dreams because we all know it is possible. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t take work, but it means it’s possible. We don’t like for challenges to get them down.”

While unexpected events may happen in life, the organization teaches girls to keep jumping over any hurdles they may face and to keep moving forward, she said. The girls also learn to give back to their communities through community service and to help others, she added.

Jennette said that students over the last year have been going through a lot of depression, sadness and isolation, so the organization thought the summer enrichment program would be a good way to bring students out to socialize and to expose them to what is available to them not just in the community, but also outside of the community.

Jennette said the organization wants to expose girls to STEM because they often shy away from the field, so this is a way to have equity in the workplace and give them a seat at the table. It is also a good opportunity financially because there will be many STEM jobs available, she said.

Jennette said she hopes the program helps students see all the different careers available to them and realize that they too could do the work that the women speaking to them are doing. She said the program is also so important to the women teaching the younger generation.

The program will be held at a local college each week. There will be mask wearing, social distancing and temperature taking, she added.

People interested in the summer program can contact Gayle Rowe at (860) 941-7949 or programs.steps@gmail.com. The program will be held 1 to 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday, with “fun adventures” held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays. Participants have the opportunity to sign up for the full four weeks, or sign up for a week at a time.

S.T.E.P.S., which holds a smaller summer program each year, will continue to also hold that program this summer for the first two weeks of August. That program is open for girls in sixth through 12th grade and the program also will focus on STEM activities. 

— By Kimberly Drelich, Day Staff Writer

The original article can be found here: “Summer program provides opportunities to empower girls through STEM”

In The News | Why Poetry Matters Now With Hartford’s Poet Laureate

Connecticut Public Radio, April 9, 2021 — April is National Poetry Month. It’s a time to celebrate poets and their craft. So we asked Hartford’s poet laureate, Frederick-Douglass Knowles II, if he would share his talent and his thoughts about why poetry matters, especially right now. 

Knowles is Hartford’s inaugural poet laureate, named in 2018. He’s a professor of English at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich and the author of BlackRoseCity. He’s also a recipient of the Nutmeg Poetry Award and the 2020 Connecticut Office of the Arts Fellow in Artist Excellence for Poetry and Creative Non-Fiction.

Here is the poem he read during the interview.

Frederick-Douglass Knowles II

How Many Fanatics In the Cosmic Realm of Roller Skating Actually Overdosed on Rhythm and Speed?

I laced my shiny black boots
and dashed to the boy’s bathroom
to christen fluorescent green
Zingers in lukewarm water,
assuring my wheels an extra grip.

Disco lights flickered like electronic
Christmas trees. Huge box speakers
dangled from the ceiling blaring
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller:”

It’s close to midnight,
something evil’s lurking
in the dark, under the moonlight…

Vincent Price hypnotizes
ambitious roller boogies with
the funk of forty thousand years.

Saturday nights belonged
to the skate gods; we, obedient
zealots circling their shrine.

Wilbert rolled in reverse,
sporting blue Dickies
and a crisp white polo T
embroidered skate guard.
Though he never benched
anyone for speeding.

Phillip Marshall owned
the only pair of triple
jump-bar skates ever seen
in the Rose; shiny, crisp blades

reflecting psychedelic hues
of turquoise, green and gold
that mesmerized white girls
as they floated past waving
blonde locks of allure.

Pete fancied an old
wheel for a toe stopper;
cool, the way he’d cut
his ankles screeching
his plump frame to a halt.

An exhilarated Chanise
offered me five dollars
for a blind couples’ skate.
I did the math, two slices
of pizza, a coke and some
chips for two songs: deal.

Allison, was the economically
advantaged out of the group
who dished out her allowance
for Pole Position tournaments.

And I, was the Shoot The Duck King,
the undefeated Chipped Tooth Champ.

When Afrikka Bambaata’s
“Planet Rock” hit the turntable
we’d drop conspiracy theories
on who shot J.R.?

And wager how many laps
one of us could achieve
before Rolo, the by the book
guard, blew his whistle.

We ignored the shrieks.
No time for rules.
Only time for speed.

More whistle-blowing
and then, Rolo’s pointed
finger. His direct order
to get off the floor
and sit by the office.

Damn! I got kicked off again.
eight laps into “White Lines,”
Melle Mel’s prophetic hook
shouting to a skate feign on
the verge of od’ing to don’t
don’t don’t don’t don’t don’t
do it ba ba ba ba ba ba baby!

Too late.

During my 10 minute suspension,
I contemplated how many fanatics
in the cosmic realm of roller skating
actually overdosed on rhythm and speed
in a world of bliss and 80’s pop music?

Times up.
I pressed my black
toe stopper firmly
into the carpet,
assuring me a solid
thrust back onto the floor.

— By Lori Mack, Connecticut Public’s Morning Edition host

The original article can be found here: “Why Poetry Matters Now With Hartford’s Poet Laureate”

In The News | NAC names Elected Artists

Norwich, CT (The Day, March 23, 2021) — Norwich Arts Center has named Sandra Jeknavorian and Zhai “Juner” Yujuan to the elite status of Elected Artist.

Both Elected Artists are teachers with degrees in painting. Both have been serious painters for over a quarter of a century. Both have intriguing things to say about art and the artistic experience. Their backgrounds, however, are quite different.

Zhai comes from a Himalaya region of China that is twice the altitude of Denver. She earned two bachelor’s degrees from Quing Normal University in Xining. One thing led to another, and she ended up in New London. Last year she married another elected artist, Mark Patnode.

Jeknavorian comes from Hartford, a region that is three feet higher than the altitude of Norwich. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Hartford Art School and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. One thing led to another, and she ended up married in Norwich, where she is a tenured professor at Three Rivers Community College and director of the art gallery there.

Both women have deep insights into the nature of art and the work of artists.

Zhai Yujuan with her latest watercolor.

Asked what it means to be an artist, Zhai said, “I feel it is to use your hands to describe the seemingly ordinary but beautiful moments in life. To use your eyes to help others discover details they cannot see. To record your feelings in your special way.”

To see and feel with artistic sensitivity, Zhai said she has trained her hands to be those of a craftsman and her eyes to be those of a child. She said she wants her sensitivity to emulate the wings of a butterfly.

Jeknavorian sees with similar eyes.

“I collect natural artifacts that call to me along nature walks,” she said. “They become the subjects of my most recent work. These seemingly simple and inconsequential objects, such as a piece of tree bark, upon closer inspection are personified and reveal layers of beauty, peculiar scars, and mystifying colors and textures. They have lived a life, have had experiences, and some of them will be on this earth a lot longer than us. Also explored in my work, such as my drawings of smoke, are life and death, in particular the temporary nature of the mortal body versus the ethereal nature of the soul. These drawings capture and reveal my fleeting emotions; some dark, some light as they flow through me and continue on their journey.”

Zhai looks at the world with eyes that are both artistic and Chinese. She said, “Since I came here, I have wanted to show the formal beauty of Chinese painting. I am trying to combine the theory of western color with Chinese watercolor. I also want to introduce silk painting to Americans. I want people to know the diversity of art.”

Jeknavorian is looking for serious artists at Three Rivers.

“Wings” by Sandra Jeknavorian.

“The best art students are those with open minds and the willingness to take risks,” she said. “Students who are successful don’t claim that they do not have enough time or give reasons why it’s hard for them to create art. They are of the mindset that it would be harder for them to not create their art, and they are constantly creating lots of it.”

Zhai has been teaching art (and Chinese) at several schools, most recently online. Her approach to teaching: “Most people think artwork serves people with artistic talents. I think everyone has the freedom to enjoy art, and I do everything I can to teach them skills.”

To qualify as Elected Artists, NAC artists must have been recognized by another art association or presented an acceptable portfolio of exceptional work.

Both artists have work on exhibit at Norwich Arts Center at 60 Broadway. Until the end of the pandemic, the galleries are open only on Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m.

— By Glenn Alan Cheney, Day staff writer

The original article can be found here: “NAC names Elected Artists”

In the News | Lawmakers push to bring the lottery online and use money for community college funding

(WFSB, February 9, 2021) – The lottery brought in $330 million last year from people all looking to strike rich.  Now, there’s a push to make it even easier to get your tickets, by bringing the lottery online.

If this is passed, community college students could continue to get a chance at a free ride. The program is called PACT and it started last year. The funding comes from a grant and when that money runs out, lawmakers would like to pull it from the online lottery.

“Once I heard it was going through, it was like a miracle,” said Lilia Burdo, Three Rivers Community College. Lilia Burdo is one of the first participants of Connecticut’s PACT program. It provides debt-free community college to first-time college students. Burdo, a freshman at Three Rivers Community College, wants to be a high school English teacher.

“I also set a goal to graduate with as little debt as possible and PACT has allowed me to do that, and I know that some of my friends also have PACT, so it allows us to work and save money toward education after Three Rivers,” Burdo said. PACT started in the fall 2020 semester and more than 2,000 students are reaping the benefits.

“This is sort of the wave of the future,” Osten said. Connecticut’s lottery already brings in hundreds of millions of dollars each year and the money goes to the general fund.

PACT, which costs $6 million a year to fund, would only need a fraction of that. “The only part that would go for debt-free college is the money that’s necessary to go toward debt-free college,” Osten said. Osten says everything else would continue to go toward the general fund. “It sounds like it’s not too much of a financial burden and if it’s giving thousands of kids and adults education that they need to pursue a good paying job, I think it’s definitely worth it,” Burdo said. The bill will be discussed later this month, but Osten says it has bipartisan support and was set to pass last year, but the pandemic got in the way.

This will not include sports wagering because it’s going to be tougher to pass, so Osten says it’s not tied to PACT.