Andrew Amaya and Brianna Bobo were introduced to the education community and supporters of the Alma Exley Scholarship Program in a virtual celebration recently on Zoom.
Both are preparing for careers as history teachers. Each received a $5,000 scholarship along with recognition of their potential to become outstanding educators.
Andrew Amaya with Woody Exley and Candice Tabone of the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain at Foundation headquarters.
Brianna Bobo with Woody Exley at the West Hartford Library.
They are among 38 future educators who have received more than $130,000 in scholarships since the program was established in 1995. The program is carrying on the legacy of Alma Exley, who was working at the State Department of Education to bring greater diversity to the state’s educator workforce.
Compassionate Connections
Thanking the supporters of the program, Mr. Amaya said, “It’s important to have people of color in the classroom. It’s important for students to feel comfortable going to someone who looks like them, someone who has had similar experiences and is open to having a conversation to help them get through a tough time. High school can be a complicated time for a lot or kids, and it can make a different to have someone there who can help them through a difficult time, as it did when I was in high school.”
Mr. Amaya referred to a Hispanic mentor who was helpful to him in high school. “Hopefully, I can do the same for a student who may be feeling lost or out of place. I’ll be sure to make the best of the opportunity you have given me.”
Teaching is Serving
Ms. Bobo thanked the donors and the educators who inspired and encouraged her along the way.
“I believe the core of teaching is to serve,” she said. “It’s not what I do; it’s who I am. Whether I realized it or not, for my whole life I was preparing to be an educator. With this scholarship, I am fulfilling my lifelong purpose to serve my community through education.
“Three promises I pledge to myself and my community:
“One, to serve my students wholeheartedly;
“Two, to create a learning environment filled with acts of kindness, compassion, and patience;
“Three, to empower my students to contribute to creating an equitable society.”
She concluded by saying, “It means a lot to me to know there are people who believe in me, who believe in people who look like me, and who are making it a priority to support teachers of color to strive and create an equitable society.”
Congrats from Cardona
Secretary Miguel Cardona
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, 1998 Alma Exley Scholar, congratulated the recipients via video. Dr. Cardona, who received his bachelor’s degree from Central and graduate degrees from UConn, said, “I may be a little bit biased but I’m confident these excellent institutions are preparing you well for the next steps in your careers and your lives.”
Said the Secretary, “Educator diversity benefits all students. Diverse educators serve as positive role models in classrooms and communities. Diverse educators hold students to high expectations and develop trusting relationships with diverse students. This translates into tremendous social, emotional, and academic benefits for all students.
“To the teachers and aspiring teachers here tonight, you have the power to ignite generational change, to inspire hope, and to build safe, supportive school communities.”
2024 Diversity Champion
Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker
Also at the event, the Alma Exley Scholarship Program honored State Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker as the 2024 Diversity Champion in recognition of her leadership in bringing more people of color into the state’s educator workforce. Read more on the Diversity Resources page.
Connecticut Commissioner of Education Charlene Russell-Tucker has been honored as the 2024 Diversity Champion by the Alma Exley Scholarship Program. She was recognized for her leadership in implementing a broad array of initiatives that have significantly increased the number of persons of color in the state’s educator workforce.
She was recognized at a virtual celebration held on Zoom to introduce the 2024 Alma Exley Scholars, Andrew Amaya, a student at Central Connecticut State University, and Brianna Bobo, a student at the University of Connecticut. Read more on the News page.
Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker
Commissioner Russell-Tucker is the third Diversity Champion the program has honored. The previous honorees are State Senator Douglas McCrory, 2022, and State Representative Robert Sánchez, 2023.
A Priority Focus
In accepting the award, Commissioner Russell-Tucker congratulated Mr. Amaya and Ms. Bobo and said: “Increasing diversity in the Connecticut educator workforce is one of the pillars of our work at the Department and certainly is a priority focus for me.”
She called the scholarship program “such an important part of this work” and added, “This award highlights the memory of Alma Exley and the incredible work she did throughout her life and career and serves as a living testament to her legacy.”
Many Diversity Initiatives
The Commissioner highlighted the results of some of the many programs implemented under her leadership to diversify the educator workforce.
Some 175 school districts have welcomed 977 new educators from other states who are working in Connecticut because of enhanced reciprocity in certification.
Aspiring teachers are getting help with licensing and testing fees through the allocation of $2 million in COVID federal funding to educator-preparation programs.
Twenty-nine students have received scholarships in the first round of a diversity scholarship program for students from priority school districts who are enrolled in educator-preparation programs.
Since 2020, more than 230 aspiring educators have received financial support while being placed in public-school classrooms in the NextGen program.
More than 500 high school students taking courses in the Educators Rising program to prepare them for teaching careers.
Better Academic Performance
“Why is this so important?” Commissioner Russell-Tucker asked. “We know from the research that all students—especially students of color—have better academic performance, improved test scores, higher graduation rates, and a greater sense of belonging and motivation when they are taught by educators who look like them.”
From the 2015-2016 school year to the present, educators of color have increased from 8.3 percent to 11.7 percent of the Connecticut educator workforce, which translates to more than 6,000 educators of color.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” she said, indicating that students of color account for 53 percent of the state’s student body. This is equivalent to more than 275,000 students out of a total of 512,652.”
“The need to create equity of access to a world-class educational system that supports all our learners is very clear,” the Commissioner added. “I’m so grateful for the work the Alma Exley Scholarship is doing to bring more educators of color into the pipeline and ultimately into the classroom.”
Alma Exley Scholars honored in 1998 and 2017 recently connected at an educational conference in Providence, Rhode Island, and learned they had a lot in common.
Por favor desplácese hasta el final de la historia para leerlo en Español.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona was the keynote speaker at the Northeast Regional Conference of the Multistate Association for Bilingual Education (MABE). Chastity Berrios Hernández was attending as a bilingual teacher at Clinton Elementary School in New Haven.
Dr. Miguel Cardona with Chastity Berrios Hernández, left, and Marnelia Martïnez, also a bilingual teacher at Clinton School in New Haven.
Speaking Up at a Young Age
Dr. Cardona spoke about a turning point when he was a young student in Meriden, Connecticut.
“Up until middle school, they called me Michael in school,” he said. “One day in seventh grade I asked my mother what it said on my birth certificate, and she said it was Miguel.
“The next day I went to the office and respectfully got the attention of the secretary. I asked her to make sure that all the school records listed my name as Miguel. From that day forward, I was Miguel in school.
“For me, that name became such a central part of me,” he said. “My parents had taught me to be unapologetically me, to embrace my identity, my culture, and my home language as the superpowers that they are.
“As my career has progressed, I’ve become more vocal about it,” the Secretary said. “When the President introduced me as Secretary of Education, I said I was as American as apple pie—and rice and beans.
A Culture of Low Expectations
“For far too long, our multilingual, multicultural students have internalized a culture of low expectations,” he said. “Their backgrounds have been treated as deficits to be overcome rather than assets to make their classrooms and their communities stronger.
“That’s unacceptable. That’s why I have worked so hard to raise the bar in education for our multilingual learners. That’s why I have traveled the country to speak at conferences like this to emphasize the countless academic and economic benefits of dual-language programs.”
Chastity Berrios Hernández with Marnelia Martïnez and Melanie Rodriguez, right.
Importance of Speaking Up
Ms. Berrios told me that she loved hearing that young Miguel Cardona had taken the initiative to speak up for himself. “Unfortunately,” she said, “many students don’t do so, thinking it will be considered disrespectful or out of line.
“For too long, bilingualism in the USA has mostly been viewed negatively and as a burden or deficiency,” she said. “However, identity starts with one’s name, which should be written and pronounced correctly.
“If we educators want to honor students, the first step is to write and say their names correctly. Honoring who they are and where they come from fosters culturally responsive teaching and learning.
“Like Dr. Cardona, I learned that I had to find the courage at a young age to speak up for myself unapologetically,” Ms. Berrios said. “When I entered Clinton Avenue School as a fourth grader, I had just arrived from Puerto Rico. My English was limited. I had left everything behind—friends, family, school—to dive into my new reality. I was facing a new culture, language, and traditions.
“At home, the message was that to be fully bilingual was a good thing. But my new world seemed to be presenting a different message of discomfort for those who spoke only one language.
“I have learned over the years to embrace my story,” she told me. “I wanted to become the example—as a teacher of color—that I wish I had seen when I was growing up.
“Mi identidad Boricua es todo para mi. (My Puerto Rican identify is everything for me.) Being able to speak Spanish and English has opened up deep layers of understanding for me.”
It gives me great pleasure to tell this story of Ms. Berrios and Dr. Cardona, who are among the more than 30 outstanding Alma Exley Scholars who are making a difference in the lives of countless students in many different ways at the local and national levels.
Woody Exley
Destacando la educación bilingüe
Los becarios Alma Exley ganado en 1998 y 2017 se conectaron recientemente en una conferencia educativa en Providence, Rhode Island, y aprendieron que tenían mucho en común.
El Secretario de Educación de los Estados Unidos, Miguel Cardona, fue el orador principal en la Conferencia Regional Noreste de la Asociación Multiestelar para la Educación Bilingüe (MABE). Chastity Berrios Hernández asistía como maestra bilingüe en la Escuela Primaria Clinton en New Haven.
Hablar a una edad temprana
El Dr. Cardona habló sobre un punto de inflexión cuando era un joven estudiante en Meriden, Connecticut.
“Hasta la secundaria, me llamaban Michael en la escuela”, dijo. “Un día en séptimo grado le pregunté a mi mamá qué decía mi acta de nacimiento y me dijo que era Miguel.
“Al día siguiente fui a la oficina y respetuosamente llamé la atención de la secretaria. Le pedí que se asegurara de que todos los registros escolares indicaran mi nombre como Miguel. A partir de ese día fui Miguel en la escuela.
“Para mí, ese nombre se convirtió en una parte central de mí”, dijo. “Mis padres me habían enseñado a ser yo sin pedir disculpas, a aceptar mi identidad, mi cultura y mi lengua materna como los superpoderes que son.
“A medida que mi carrera ha progresado, he hablado más al respecto”, dijo el secretario. “Cuando el presidente me presentó como Secretario de Educación, dije que era tan estadounidense como el pastel de manzana… y el arroz y las habichuelas (frijoles).
Una cultura de bajas expectativas
“Durante demasiado tiempo, nuestros estudiantes multilingües y multiculturales han internalizado una cultura de bajas expectativas”, dijo. “Sus antecedentes han sido tratados como déficits que deben superarse en lugar de activos para fortalecer sus aulas y sus comunidades.
“Eso es inaceptable. Por eso he trabajado tan duro para elevar el nivel de la educación para nuestros estudiantes multilingües. Es por eso que he viajado por todo el país para hablar en conferencias como ésta para enfatizar los innumerables beneficios académicos y económicos de los programas bilingües”.
Importancia de hablar
La Sra. Berríos me dijo que le encantó escuchar que el joven Miguel Cardona había tomado la iniciativa de hablar por sí mismo. “Desafortunadamente”, dijo, “muchos estudiantes no lo hacen, pensando que se considerará irrespetuoso o fuera de lugar.
“Durante demasiado tiempo, el bilingüismo en Estados Unidos ha sido visto de forma negativa y como una carga o una deficiencia”, afirmó. “Sin embargo, la identidad comienza con el nombre, que debe escribirse y pronunciarse correctamente.
“Si los educadores queremos honrar a los estudiantes, el primer paso es escribir y decir correctamente sus nombres. Honrar quiénes son y de dónde vienen fomenta la enseñanza y el aprendizaje culturalmente receptivos.
“Al igual que el Dr. Cardona, aprendí que tenía que encontrar el coraje a una edad temprana para hablar por mí misma sin pedir disculpas”, dijo la Sra. Berrios. “Cuando entré a la Escuela Clinton Avenue como estudiante de cuarto grado, acababa de llegar de Puerto Rico. Mi inglés era limitado. Había dejado todo atrás (amigos, familia, escuela) para sumergirme en mi nueva realidad. Me enfrentaba a una nueva cultura, idioma y tradiciones.
“En casa, el mensaje era que ser completamente bilingüe era algo bueno. Pero mi nuevo mundo parecía presentar un mensaje diferente de malestar para quienes hablaban un solo idioma.
“A lo largo de los años, he aprendido a aceptar mi historia”, me dijo. “Quería convertirme en el ejemplo, como maestro de color, que desearía haber visto cuando era niño.
“Mi identidad Boricua es todo para mí. (Mi identidad puertorriqueña lo es todo para mí). Poder hablar español e inglés me ha abierto profundos niveles de comprensión y de cómo interactúo con los demás reconociendo los diferentes dialectos”
Es un gran placer para mí contar esta historia de la Sra. Berrios y el Dr. Cardona, quienes se encuentran entre los más de 30 destacados becarios Alma Exley que están marcando una diferencia en las vidas de innumerables estudiantes de muchas maneras diferentes a nivel local y nacional.
– Woody Exley
(Muchas gracias a Chastity Berrios Hernández por la traducción.)
