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Author Archives: Robert Cotto Jr.

Welcome Dr. Kurt Love to Trinity College!

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Kurt Love headshot

Trinity College welcomes Kurt Love as the Director of Science Education for Summer Teaching Experiences for Undergraduates Program. The National Science Foundation-Teaching Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-TEU) program is a five-year grant-funded program that will bring promising undergraduates to Trinity College in Hartford, CT to develop their teaching skills in high school science (at Trinity) and high school mathematics (at Vassar). We are very excited to have Kurt join Trinity College this summer and join the team of professors (co-PI’s) from Vassar College, Byrn Mawr, Brown University, and Barnard College for this project.

Kurt will lead the science portion of this NSF grant-funded program at Trinity. This work will include teaching a course in secondary science pedagogy, including a practicum at the HMTCA summer science academy. Kurt will also lead a team of experienced HMTCA science teachers in mentoring the twelve undergraduate students from across the country in their practicum at HMTCA.

Kurt Love grew up in Shelton, CT, earned his Ph.D. in science education at the University of Connecticut and is an associate professor at Central Connecticut State University in the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Instructional Technology. He taught middle school science in Hartford, West Hartford, and Cheshire. He worked with the Environmental Sciences Magnet School in Hartford developing sustainability based project learning experiences for PreK-8 students. He has worked with teachers and students in school districts throughout the central Connecticut region. He is currently writing a book entitled, “Reclaiming Education for Sustainability and Peace” due out in late 2016 or early 2017.

Summer 2016 at Trinity

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Trinity College slows down during the summer. But there are a number of programs and events that still happen to make the campus vibrant.

Are you on campus or planning to be on campus this summer? Trying to find out what’s going on at Trinity and around the City of Hartford? Here is a listing of various programs, places to eat around campus, events in Hartford, and more.

 

Programs on the Trinity College Campus

The National Science Foundation-Teaching Experiences for Undergraduates (June 6-July 22)

The HMTCA Summer Writing Academy (June 21 – July 15)

 

Where to Eat Near Trinity During the Summer

“Guide to Eating at Trinity During the Summer” by Jess Voight, T ’17

 

Events in Hartford (and around here too)

Trinity Today

June 2016 Events in Hartford by Real Hartford

 

More…

 

Religious Life

A note from Megan O’Brien, Program Coordinator, Office of Spiritual and Religious Life, Chapel:

We do not have services throughout the summer on campus unfortunately but depending on what the faith background/interest is for the undergraduates on campus, here are some suggestions for places in the area that offer religious services:

Buddhist: Dae Yen Sa Buddhist Temple, New Hartford (https://daeyensa.org/) 

Episcopal: St. John’s Episcopal Church, West Hartford (http://www.sjparish.net/default.asp) 

Jewish: Congregation Beth Israel, West Hartford (https://www.cbict.org/) 

Muslim: The Berlin Mosque, Berlin (http://www.berlinmosque.org/) 

Roman Catholic: St. Joseph Cathedral, Hartford (http://www.cathedralofsaintjoseph.com/) 

There are, of course, plenty of other places of worship around the area so they are welcome to explore! 

Want more information, you can contact Megan at Megan.OBrien@trincoll.edu

NSF-TEU Teaching Interns Learn about School Choice and Sheff Case in Hartford, CT from Professor Dougherty

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NSFTEU Meets Prof Dougherty

The National Science Foundation – Teaching Experiences for Undergraduates kicked off last Monday, June 6, 2016 at Trinity College. The program brings together 12 undergraduate students (middle) from across the country in order to develop their knowledge and skill in teaching high school science. A major goal of the program is support undergraduate science majors at small liberal arts college towards a career in teaching science. In order to accomplish this goal, the NSF-TEU students, who are all majoring in one science discipline, take a science pedagogy course with Dr. Kurt Love (far left) and will participate in a summer teaching practicum under the supervision of experienced local teachers from the Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy (HMTCA) in Hartford, Connecticut.

On Monday, June 13, the NSF-TEU students took a lunch break to learn and ask questions about school choice from Trinity College Professor Jack Dougherty (far right) who researches this topic and has documented it on the Cities, Suburbs, and School Project site. Director of Urban Educational Initiatives also shared some points from his report, “Choice Watch”, published with CT Voices for Children. The talk was meant to introduce the NSF-TEU participants to the local educational context, specifically the Sheff v. O’Neill case that resulted in more than 40 interdistrict magnet schools in the Hartford region, including HMTCA.

Welcome to the NSF-TEU participants and Professor Love and thanks to Professor Dougherty for the visit!

 

 

 

“Guide to Eating at Trinity During the Summer”

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“Guide to Eating at Trinity During the Summer” by Jess Voight

Eating In

If you’re trying to save some cash and prepare yourself for next year’s students loans, then eating in is the way to go. Each of the Summit dorms is equipped with a common kitchen for its residents. However, be sure to label your food and clean your messes as these spaces get plenty of use over the summer.

Grocery store suggestions

 

Your typical grocery store:

Stop & Shop:  2.2 miles away

 

Your all-natural place:

Trader Joes: 4.5 miles away

 

If you need other stuff:

Walmart: 2.1 miles away

 

When eating in I suggest gathering a group of people to cook with. It’ll be more fun and you can alternate, so cooking won’t always be your responsibility.

 

Eating Out

One great thing about Hartford is the wide range of cuisine choices. There are certainly plenty of amazing places to eat out. Here are some Trinity College favorites:

Breakfast:

First & Last Bakery Café : 1.0 miles away

Bruegger’s Bagels: 4.6 miles away

Hartford Baking Co.: 2.7 miles away

Effie’s Place Family Restaurant: 2.5 miles away

Don’t forget about Goldberg’s on Campus! Located in Vernon Social.

 

Lunch:

Plan B Burger Bar & Tavern: 2.6 miles away

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana: 2.9 miles away

Piolin Peruvian Restaurant: 1.0 miles away

Chipotle Mexican Grill: 4.4 miles away

 

Dinner:

Trinity Restaurant: less than a mile

Salute Restaurant (Italian): 2.1 miles away

Agave Grill (Mexican): 2.1 miles away

U.S.S. Chowder Pot IV: 2.6 miles away

King & I Thai Restaurant: 2.1 miles away

 

Anytime:

Gold Roc Diner is open 24hrs, and makes a great late night spot! 2.8 miles away

 

Scavenging

There are lots of opportunities to score some free food around campus during the summer. Some departments hold lectures and other events during lunch hour and always have food. Bringing your own to-go container is encouraged!

Many of the cultural houses will host dinners. This is another way to grab a bite and maybe meet some new people too! Keep an eye out for these.

 

Editorial Note by Robert Cotto

Being in Harford, there are plenty of other restaurants that you can try from Ethiopian, Puerto Rican, Italian, Colombian, and a number of other styles in all price ranges. Looking for something we didn’t list? Ask one of us for other suggestions!

HartBeat Ensemble’s Summer Youth Play Institute: Looking for Hartford residents

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HartBeat Ensemble’s summer Youth Play Institute still has slots open for HARTFORD RESIDENTS!

Young people between the ages of 16 and 21 years old who live in Hartford and might be interested in a paid internship in acting, stage management, set design, sound design, costume design or lighting design.

To schedule an interview, contact Julia Rosenblatt at 860-548-9144 ext.113 or

julia.rosenblatt@hartbeatensemble.org

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Download (PDF, 73KB)

 

Loving Community Conversation on Housing Integration

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Photo by Defining Studios, Hartford, CT, 2016

On April 21, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center hosted a panel in Hartford’s downtown on housing integration that included Trinity College Professor Jack Dougherty (middle left), author Lisa Belkin (middle right), and Hartford City Councilwoman Wildaliz Bermudez (far right). Pinch hitting for Professor Jelani Cobb, Trinity Director of Urban Educational Initiatives, Robert Cotto (far left) moderated the panel. The panel served as a public, community conversation on housing integration before the Center’s annual awards dinner.

Before the panel, Professor Dougherty presented an 15-minute introduction to housing and school segregation in the Hartford, CT area based on his research and book-in-progress, On the Line: How Schooling, Housing, and Civil Rights Shaped Hartford and its Suburbs. He offered slides that showed the close connection between housing restrictions that segregated neighborhoods by race and class, which resulted in school segregation.

After the presentation, the panel weaved together Dougherty’s work on housing and schools, Belkin’s account of a housing desegregation case in Yonkers, NY, and Bermudez’s community activism and involvement as an early plaintiff in the Sheff v. O’Neill school desegregation case.

As the CT Fair Housing Center 2016 Loving Civil Rights Award recipient, Lisa Belkin drew on her research and writing of “Show Me A Hero”. The book chronicled the contentious housing desegregation case in Yonkers, NY in the 1980s. An adaptation of the book also recently appeared as a mini-series on the HBO channel.

Throughout the afternoon, the audience of roughly 75 people had opportunities to ask the panelists questions. This generated a great deal of discussion. In the end, comparing efforts in Hartford, CT (school desegregation) with Yonkers, NY (housing desegregation) helped the audience understand each case better, along with the history and persisting challenges towards racial integration of housing and schools.

 

Additional photographs can be found at the CT Fair Housing Center Facebook page here.

Puerto Rican Tiple Construction Workshop: August 2016

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Learn how to build your own personal tiple using wood-working tools at Trinity College’s Sculpture Studio.

Read and see more about the tiple workshops in this article in Centro Voices by Trinity College Professor Pablo Delano, “Teaching Tiple Fever: Pedagogy, Heritage, and Activism.”

Download the application here.

Contact: Nate Fox at nfox@cchartford.org

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Download (PDF, 126KB)

The High School to College Transition of Latinos in Greater Hartford on Friday, April 29, 2016 at University of Hartford

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This one-day conference will examine the high school to college transition landscape for Latino/a students in greater Hartford and identify practices that improve their educational experiences, including their graduation and postsecondary enrollment rates. The conference will bring together the minds and perspectives of education professionals, researchers, and community leaders among others.

Register here.

Schedule

9:00 AM Welcome – Dr. Kevin A. Ball, Associate Dean for Research and Community, College of Education, Nursing, and Health Professions

9:15 AM – 9:50 AM Keynote Speaker: Dr. Enrique Sepulveda, Associate Professor and Department of Education Chair, University of Saint Joseph

Critically Engaging Latino Youth Identities in the Transition from High School to College

Panel 1. 9:50-10:50 AM

Examining the role of K-12 education

Moderator: Dr. H. Kenny Nienhusser (Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, UHart); Panelists: Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Leadership of Hartford Public SchoolsDr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, Consolidated School District of New Britain Superintendent Ms. Nancy Sarra

Panel 2. 11:15 AM-12:30 PM

Examining the role of Institutions of Higher education

Moderator: Dr. Josiah Ricardo; (Professor Capital Community College) Panelists: Mr. Robert Cotto (and student participant) Trinity College; Ms. Awilda Reasco, Central Connecticut State University; Director Pre Collegiate Access Services; Professor Madeline Perez (and student participant) University of Saint Joseph.

Lunch 12:30 – 1:30 PM

1:30 – 2:15 PM Keynote Speaker: Dr. Estela Lopez

Best Practices in Supporting Latino Graduation

Panel 3. 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM

Examining the role of Community Based Organizations

Moderator: Dr. Anthony De Jesús, Panelists: Tammy Lorenzo, Career Beginnings Counselor, Hartford Consortium for Higher Education, Paul Holzer Executive Director Achieve Hartford!

3:15 PM – 4:00 PM Closing Panel: Perspectives of Latino Students in Transition

Moderator; Mr. Raul Irrizary, Center for Latino Progress, Panelists, Shakira Padilla, University of Saint Joseph

***For participants who register after April 22nd, breakfast and lunch is not included. However, there is a reasonably priced cafteria on campus.

WHEN
Friday, April 29, 2016 from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM (EDT) – Add to Calendar
WHERE
Auerbach Auditorium, Hillyer Hall, University of Hartford – 200 Bloomfield Ave, West Hartford, Connecticut 06117 – View Map

Issuing penalties to districts when families opt out of testing?

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Recently the CT State Department of Education set penalties for school districts where large percentages of students and families “opt out” of testing. The CT Mirror reported on this strategy by the CT State Department of Education a few weeks ago. Note that there is also a bill in the CT Legislature to prohibit the CT SDE from issuing penalties to district rankings when families and students “opt out”.

Based on your understanding of the issue,  what is your reaction to this proposal? (Respond before class on April 20, 2016!)

Here is the web link to the video, extra readings, and links related to our “Challenging the Test” panel last month.