Zaya Powell of Waterbury, a student at Southern Connecticut State University, and Daquan Carr of New Britain, a student at Central Connecticut State University, have been honored by the Alma Exley Scholarship Program.

They were feted by supporters of the scholarship program, including previous recipients, at an event at Charter Oak State College in New Britain. More than 40 attended in-person and half as many participated remotely via Zoom.

They are the 41st and 42nd students to be honored since 1995. Previous recipients are making a difference as teachers and educational leaders in Connecticut and across the country. The scholarship program is fulfilling the vision of the late Alma Exley, who had been working at the state Department of Education to achieve greater educator diversity.

CCSU Student

Mr. Carr holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science and a Master of Science degree in Physical Education with a specialization in Exercise Science, both from Central Connecticut State University. He is enrolled in a post-baccalaureate, teacher-certification program at Central. 

He has a strong record of working with students and adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. As a volunteer at Savage House Gym in East Hartford, he has led fitness sessions for adults with intellectual disabilities. He has taught graduates of New Britain High School with disabilities who are in a transition program at Central.

Through programs like these, he has had an impact on a community that doesn’t have enough opportunity to enjoy movement activities with others. He recognizes that students with disabilities are often marginalized and don’t have the same opportunities for physical fitness as others.

SCSU Student

Ms. Powell is pursuing a master’s degree from Southern Connecticut State University with a concentration is science education. She’s also a registered nurse, with a bachelor’s degree in applied science from Monroe College in the Bronx. She has a bachelor’s degree with a major in chemistry from Hampton University.

She has long been involved in volunteer activities with a variety of organizations. At Hampton, she was a community organizer with the Black Leadership Organizing Collaborative. Also at the university, she tutored high school students and observed what she calls the transformative power of education.

She volunteered at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury. She is a vice president with Petals and STEM, a non-profit that encourages young women of color to consider careers in science and math.

Diversity Champion

Dr. Gladys Labas was honored as 2026 Diversity Champion in recognition of her leadership in advancing equity and diversity among educators throughout the state and for her efforts to meet the needs of English-language learners.

She has had an impact as a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Southern Connecticut State University and previously as director of equity and language at the state Department of Education. And now she is making a difference as a member of the state Board of Education.

Throughout her career, she has been committed to advancing bilingual education. She had a big impact as co-author of Connecticut’s 1978 bilingual-education law. She led high-school reform initiatives with the Connecticut Association of Schools, serving as co-chair of the Achievement Task Force for English-Language Learners.

Mayor Bobby Sánchez welcomed the attendees on behalf of the City of New Britain. He was honored as Diversity Champion in 2023 for his initiatives during his tenure as co-chair of the State Legislature’s Education Committee.

Honoring Their New Colleagues

Previous recipients honored their new colleagues by attending in-person or on Zoom: Verónica Jazmin Alvarenga Ramos (2025), Soribel Torres-Jiménez (2023), Saraya Lewis (2022), Ivy Jackson (2019), Chastity Berrios Hernández (2017), Orlando Valentin Jr. (2016), Sacha Kelly (2009), Dr. Violet Jiménez Sims (2008), and Chi-Ann Lin (1999).

Mr. Valentin served as master of ceremonies. Ms. Kelly introduced Mr. Carr. Ms. Jackson introduced Ms. Powell. Dr. Jiménez Sims introduced Dr. Labas.

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona (1998) congratulated the honorees via video.

Our Partner

The scholarship program is administered by the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, “Where Good Begins” in Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington. The Foundation works to inspire philanthropy, manage permanent charitable assets effectively, and partner to address key community issues through strategic leadership.

What is a dual-language classroom? How does it help English speakers as well as English learners? How can teachers establish a strong bilingual classroom culture?

Alma Exley Scholar Soribel Torres-Jiménez answered these questions and many more at a dual-language educational conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Ms. Torres-Jiménez, whom we honored in 2023, presented at the conference with her teaching partner, Yamailys Diodonet. They share a fourth-grade classroom at Roberto Clemente International Dual-Language School in Waterbury, Connecticut.

The annual La Cosecha Dual-Language Conference brings together bilingual and dual-language educators, researchers, and advocates from across the country. The conference is sponsored by Dual Language Education of New Mexico (DLeNM), which promotes bilingualism, biliteracy, and educational equity. “La Cosecha” means “the harvest” in Spanish, symbolizing the sharing of collective knowledge, experiences, and best practices to strengthen dual language education.

Said Ms. Torres-Jiménez, “Our presentation focused on our experiences as new dual-language teachers. We shared the lessons we have learned while building an effective and equitable bilingual program at our school.” They teach in a fourth-grade, dual-language classroom at Roberto Clemente International Dual Language School in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Their presentation covered:

• Establishing a strong bilingual classroom culture,
• Affirming students’ identities and home languages,
• Implementing effective biliteracy strategies in a 50/50 model,
• Collaborating successfully as co-teachers, and
• Supporting students academically in both English and Spanish.

How do the teachers cooperate in a dual-language classroom? They follow a 50/50 dual-language model. Students receive half of their instruction in English and half in Spanish. Ms. Diodonet teaches the Spanish-language component. Ms. Torres-Jiménez, who also happens to be bilingual in Spanish and English, teaches the English-language component.

Ensuring Academic Growth

“Yamailys and I work closely together to align our instruction, support our students’ academic growth, and ensure consistency across both languages,” Ms.Torres-Jiménez said. “This model allows students to develop strong literacy skills in both English and Spanish while valuing their cultural and linguistic identities.

“Presenting at La Cosecha allowed us to reflect on our teaching practices while learning from experienced educators from across the nation. We gained new insights into biliteracy development, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and program implementation.”

Increasing Student Engagement

“Our students are benefiting because we brought effective strategies back to our classroom, strengthening instruction in both languages. The conference reaffirmed the importance of honoring students’ linguistic and cultural identities. This increases student engagement, confidence, and academic success.”

Ms. Torres-Jiménez is a graduate of Career Academy, a public high school in Waterbury, and the University of Connecticut. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from UConn with a major in elementary education and a concentration in mathematics. She also has a Master of Science degree from UConn in Curriculum and Instruction.

Theodore Martinez, who was honored as an Alma Exley Scholar in 2018, has received a Doctor of Education degree from the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Martinez is a fourth-grade teacher at the Academy of International Studies, a public elementary school in South Windsor operated by the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC).

While teaching there, he also has taught in the Connecticut Teacher Residency Program, a program that offers an alternate route to certification through residency experience, and he has taught college-level courses in the Connecticut Department of Corrections through the Second Chance Pell Program.

Others with Doctorates

Dr. Martinez, who grew up in Hartford and Windsor, is the sixth Alma Exley Scholar to have earned a doctorate after being honored by the scholarship program. The others are Miguel Cardona, Khalil Graham, Justis Lopez, Vernon-James Riley, and Violet Jiménez Sims.

Three other Alma Exley Scholars already had doctorates when they received their teaching certification through Connecticut’s Alternate Route to Certification. They are Sibani Sengupta, Santosha Oliver, and Zakiah Parrish.

This means that nine of the 40 Alma Exley Scholars honored since 1995 have doctorates.

Multiple Degrees

Dr. Martinez, left, with other members of his doctor of education cohort.

Dr. Martinez holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut, a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Southern New Hampshire, and a master’s degree in education from the University of Hartford. He is working on completing a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies in Advanced Educational Leadership with the University of New England. It’s a two-year program which will lead to his 092 Intermediate Administrator Certification. He is a graduate of the Metropolitan Learning Center, a CREC high school in Bloomfield.

Different Perspectives of Diverse Students

Dr. Martinez’s doctoral dissertation is titled “Freedom Looks Different for Everyone: Transforming Pre-Packaged Literacy Programs Through Critical Literacy.” In his doctoral studies, he concluded that pre-packaged educational programs erase the identities of students who are culturally and linguistically diverse.

He observed that fourth graders were being taught about the Revolutionary War from a Eurocentric, monocultural perspective. Therefore, he developed an approach, rooted in critical literacy, to incorporate the perspectives of the variety of people living in America at that time: enslaved and free Blacks, Native Americans, and white colonialists including Loyalists and Patriots.

As a result of his research, one of his students was able to identify that “Everyone wanted freedom, but freedom looked different for everyone.”

Dr. Martinez asked, “How do I, as a fourth-grade teacher, use literacy to increase representations of culturally and linguistically diverse learners? What trends emerge in student learning when fourth graders utilize critical literacy to challenge master narratives presented in pre-packaged literacy programs?”

In teaching content such as the American Revolution, teachers need to find ways to increase representations of culturally and linguistically diverse learners and critical literacy offers a framework to do so, Dr. Martinez concluded.

-0-