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The Hartford Region Open Choice Program Awards its Annual Scholarships for 2022
On Wednesday, May 18, The Hartford Region Open Choice Program awarded its Annual Scholarships for 2022. The scholarships are awarded each year to Open Choice high school seniors, all Hartford residents.The Mary Carroll-Kennedy Scholarship was established in honor of the founding director of Open Choice, formally Project Concern, where she dedicated more than 30 years to providing opportunities for Hartford residents who desired a diverse and quality education. Carroll began her career in education in Connecticut in 1964. In 1966, Project Concern was developed and managed by the Hartford Board of Education, and she accepted a position in 1968 as a support teacher for the program. As a result of her dedication and passion for serving children, Carroll became director of Project Concern in 1982 and successfully worked to provide Hartford students with educational opportunities. The 2022 recipients of the Mary Carroll-Kennedy Scholarship are: Juliana Garcia Chincilla of Berlin High School will attend Central Connecticut State University and major in Business.Akeva Koulla of Avon High School will attend University of Connecticut and major in Biomedical Engineering. Sarah Antoine of Hall High School will attend Southern Connecticut State University and major in Digital Production.In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Hartford Region Open Choice Program, formerly Project Concern, CREC Established the Marjorie Little Book Award. The award recognizes the contributions of parents and employees to the program and is given in honor of Marjorie Little, a parent and a former employee who comiited 29 years of her life to ensure that Hartford residents have a choice when it comes to their education. The 2022 recipients of the Marjorie Little Book Award are:Noelle Blake of Avon High School will attend Dartmouth College and major in Government.Didismay Yedra of Portland High School will attend Eastern Connecticut State University and major in Education. “The Hartford Based team is ecstatic to be able to continue this annual scholarship to this years recipients. Congratulations to this years recipiences. They have worked incredibly hard and we look forward to hearing about the positive impact they will make as they enter into the next stage in their lives.” concluded Kristina Jordan, Director of School Choice. ###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings over five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changing needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 16 interdistrict magnet schools and two magnet programs. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org.
Girl's Future Firefighter Camp and CREC Academy of Science and Innovation's prom gown giveaway
(New Britain, Conn.) On Monday, April 25, Girl’s Future Firefighter Camp (GFFC) and CREC Academy of Science and Innovation (ASI) distributed prom gowns to juniors and seniors at ASI. Shelly Carter, who is the first female African American Fire Captain in Operations in Connecticut history, founded the GFFC and will be present at the event. Carter and the GFFC collected over 500 brand-new gowns in all colors, sizes, and styles to share with the juniors and seniors. “Each of us can aspire to be a firefighter,” said Carter. “Each of us, too, deserves to feel beautiful, wrap ourselves in exquisite fabrics, and attend prom in the gown of our dreams!”ASI also received contributions from several other local businesses to help dress students for their prom at this event, including DXL Men’s apparel in Manchester, Men’s Warehouse in South Windsor, David’s Bridal in Manchester, and K&G Fashion in Manchester."I felt like the Girl's Future Firefighter Camp was a big opportunity for us. We've never had a gown giveaway this big here before. The gowns were new and beautiful--all the girls felt the same,” said BriAsia Barnes, a junior at ASI. “All of us were super happy with our gown choices. And, I think the GFFC is also a wonderful opportunity to see what a career in firefighting could be like. When I was younger, I'd thought about it for a career. I might like to consider it again as a potential career. All in all, great opportunities!" The mission of GFFC is to educate and empower young women and inspire them to pursue a career in the fire service or a related field. “I strive to speak to the importance of addressing the whole female so she can become confident, courageous, and strong,” added Carter. “I will endeavor to teach her that whatever she puts her mind to she can accomplish.” "We came together with our school and family community to offer a glimpse of short and long-term futures: a night for our girls to feel gorgeous, and a potential firefighting career of service and purpose. It worked out well!" said Joan Hurley, the ASI teacher leading the event with GFFC. GFFCs provide hands-on experiences in all aspects of the fire service: EMS training, First Aid, CPR, ropes and knots, babysitting, HP dispatch, hoseline operations, confined space training, paramedic skills, hierarchy of command (command officers, supervisors, firefighters) explorations, fitness, nutrition and more.A camp will be held at a New Britain Firehouse this summer (as well as GFFCs in Rhode Island, New Jersey, and other Connecticut locations). They hope to engage many girls from CREC to join the program.“It was encouraging, for people who didn’t want to go to prom or didn’t think they could find a dress, they were able to go in and find something,” said ASI senior Trinyty Thomas. “I am thankful for the people who put this together because they made it possible for girls to find dresses and not stress about paying for expensive dresses and having to put money toward something for just one night.”“I felt like it was uplifting, having so many people come together and help young girls. I thought it was really nice,” said ASI senior Ariana Vicens.CREC Academy of Science and Innovation School’s website is http://asi.crecschools.org Girl’s Future Firefighter Camp’s website is https://girlsfuturefirefightercamp.com/###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings over five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changing needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 16 interdistrict magnet schools and two magnet programs. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org.
CREC Holds Ribbon-cutting Ceremony for new Ana Grace Academy of the Arts School Building
(Bloomfield, Conn.) On Wednesday, March 30, CREC held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its newest school building in Bloomfield. The state-of-the-art facility houses the CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts, a pre-Kindergarten to eighth-grade school that combines two existing CREC schools – CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Elementary School and CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Middle School. These schools successfully moved to the new location in mid-January 2022. “Six years ago, I took a very muddy walk on this property and couldn’t imagine what would be here,” said CREC Executive Director Greg Florio, “but to see it today. I stand in awe and amazement, and I’m so proud of the work that we’ve done.”CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Elementary School was previously in Avon for Kindergarten through fifth grade, and CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Middle School was in the Colt Building in Hartford and is grades six through eight.“We are so happy to be here today, for all those years before we really maintained our two school communities,” said Patricia Phelan, principal of the elementary grades. “Telling our families, don’t be concerned about what the roof looks like. Just consider what is going on under the roof.”In 2014, CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Elementary School was renamed in honor of Ana Grace Márquez-Greene, daughter of CREC alumni and former staff members Nelba Márquez-Greene and Jimmy Greene, who was one of the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy. “Ana Grace loved to express herself through music and dance. She also loved learning and never hesitated to display her affection for family and friends,” said Márquez-Greene prior to the event. “It is fitting this beautiful school that bears her name is a place where talented children from all backgrounds are nurtured in a loving, supportive environment. We are humbled and grateful her legacy serves as a reminder of how love wins.” “Every room, every swatch of fabric, every paint color, her presence is here,” said Greene speaking at the event.Members of the school community, the Bloomfield Board of Education and Town Council, the State Department of Education, US and Connecticut state legislators, and many other special guests were invited to attend the event. The ceremony featured performances by the students and remarks by the school’s Principals Patricia Phelan and Bo Ryan, CREC Executive Director Greg Florio, CREC Deputy Executive Director Sandy Cruz-Serrano, Superintendent of CREC Schools Tim Sullivan, Márquez-Greene, Greene, Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Bloomfield Mayor Danielle Wong, State Senator Doug McCrory, State Representative Bobby Gibson, and CREC Council Member and Chair of the Bloomfield Board of Education Donald F. Harris Jr. A surprise treat for the audience and students was an impromptu, a cappela performance of “Tomorrow” from the musical “Annie,” by stage and film singer and actress Anika Noni Rose. Rose is a native of Bloomfield and a close friend of the Márquez-Greene family, best known for voicing Princess Tiana in Disney’s 2009 animated feature “The Princess and the Frog.” “You’ll never know what’s happening in a child’s home, but when they can sing it, when they can dance it, when they can draw it, that’s when something really special happens,” said Rose speaking about the arts opportunities presented to the students at the school.“We have recognized this country when it’s at its worst, but we took something that was so negative and nasty and turned it into something that is so beautiful as the educational benefit for our children to have an opportunity at quality education,” said McCrory.“Through the incredible courage and fortitude of her parents, Nelba and Jimmy Greene, something so dark was turned into a beacon of light and hope and symbolizes the future,” said Bysiewicz. The new building is on a 29-acre lot, with more than 156,800 square feet of space, to accommodate over 850 students. The bus loop is lined with painted steel walkway canopies with photovoltaic panels, serving as a roof covering. The East portion of the site has a grass playfield, while the West portion has playscapes adjacent to the elementary school program. The school also boasts middle school science labs, magnet-themed classrooms, and a combined lobby and art gallery space, which surrounds a Black Box Theater for student performances. “We choose to fight for opportunity, we choose the opportunities from parents to make a choice, we choose for education to be the forefront of the conversation,” said Sullivan.Guest were treated refreshments, an optional guide tour of the building after the ceremony, and a performance by the Middle School’s “Band & Beyond” group.CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Elementary School’s website is http://agaaems.crecschools.org. CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Middle School’s website is http://haams.crecschools.org. ###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings over five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changing needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 16 interdistrict magnet schools and two magnet programs. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org.
CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School Selected as Amazon Future Engineer School for 2021-22
(East Hartford, Conn.) CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School, a grades 6-8, STEM-themed school, is pleased to announce that it has been selected as an Amazon Future Engineer (AFE) school - a partnership between Amazon and Project STEM to improve access to computer science education in communities currently underrepresented in the technology field.“This opportunity, to be an AFE school, is an absolute game-changer for our students,” said Jill Wnuk, Two Rivers’ principal. “Building more engineering and computer science focus into our already science and technology-rich curriculum will create limitless experiences for Two Rivers students.”According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, there are a projected 1.4 million computer science-related jobs available and only 400,000 computer science graduates with the skills to apply for those jobs. Many students eager to fill that gap and obtain a high paying job in technology do not have access to computer science in their middle and high schools. Often schools want to offer these courses to their students but do not have access to curriculum and/or teacher support materials.Amazon and Project STEM are partnering to address this gap by sponsoring teachers and administrators who demonstrate this need and are committed to bringing computer science to their school with access to content such as: CS Explorations 1: Fundamentals in Scratch, Computer Science Fundamentals, AP Computer Science Principles, or AP Computer Science A courses. This content also includes fully sequenced and paced digital curriculum for students, and professional development for educators new to learning or teaching computer science. Interested schools can learn more at www.amazonfutureengineer.com, including how students can access college scholarships and internships at Amazon. ###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings nearly five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changing needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 16 interdistrict magnet schools and two magnet programs. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org.
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