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(Hartford, CT) Approximately 100 school, mental health, and community leaders from across the state gathered at the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs on Wednesday, May 24, 2017 to discuss childhood trauma and the impact it can have on a child’s education, as well as possible strategies for responding to children who have experienced trauma or have behavioral health issues. The event, “Symposium on Trauma-Informed School Mental Health,” was the result of collaboration between the Capitol Region Education Council, the state Department of Education, the University of Connecticut Collaboratory on School and Child Health and Neag School of Education, the Ana Grace Project, Clifford Beers Clinic, and the Child Health Development Institute. The symposium’s main goals were to increase awareness among participants of important issues in childhood trauma, discuss creation of a common framework for addressing trauma, violence and mental health needs among children, and to stimulate the development of a trauma-informed school mental health plan.“We are excited to have this collaborative effort on behalf of students and families in Connecticut. This is our first united approach to determine how to best meet the needs of students with mental health needs and those impacted by trauma. We know that our school districts are anxious to become part of this initiative and to be at the table. Hopefully this is the first step in this process,” said Deborah Richards, CREC Director of Student Services.When asked about the value of hosting this type of event, Dr. Sandra Chafouleas, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in the Neag School and Co-Director of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health, indicated that “we are excited to facilitate important conversations about the what and how of a trauma-informed lens in our school systems. Collaborative efforts such as this symposium form an essential piece of moving toward why it might be important to how do we collectively work together to make it happen.”Following opening remarks by Connecticut State Department of Education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell and a kick-off discussion hosted by the Child Health and Development Institute’s Jeff Vanderploeg and Alice Forrester of the Clifford Beers Clinic, participants broke into groups, with each breakout session using a similar set of questions to focus on issues pertaining to a different topic in school mental health: workforce development; financing school mental health and accountability systems; promotion, prevention, and early identification; and interventions that bridge schools, families and communities. Participants later re-convened to summarize the big ideas, with plans to integrate the discussions into a document to drive next steps in facilitating a statewide framework for trauma-informed school mental health. CREC will continue its collaboration with the co-sponsoring agencies in order to continue this work across the state. ###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 changings 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 17 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(Hartford, CT) Communicating used to be a daily struggle for 29-year-old Freily Medina when she first arrived in Hartford from the Dominican Republic five years ago. She relied heavily on bilingual people to help her talk to doctors, run basic errands or simply navigate her new surroundings.Determined to learn English, Medina went to CREC Transition to Employment Services (TES) where English language and GED courses are offered free of charge. She enrolled in Family Literacy ESL, a beginner-level English class, and took advantage of the free Early Childhood Education classes at their safe and secure onsite facility for her two young children.“For me, this program is like my light in this country because I learned English here. When I have appointment for my kids, I don’t need interpreter. If I need to call on the phone, I can call. I feel very happy with me because my English is not a barrier for me anymore. For me, this open doors,” said Medina, who has since completed Intermediate and Advanced English classes, obtained her driver's license and citizenship, enrolled her oldest daughter at the CREC River Street school tuition free through a scholarship, and will be graduating from Manchester Community College with a Medical Office Assistant certificate in June.CREC Transition to Employment Services is a subset of CREC Community Education, which has been around for more than 20 years. They not only offer English and GED classes free of charge, but also provide much needed resources and supplies such as winter gear, hygiene products, back packs, clothing, diapers, baby formula, Thanksgiving meals, Christmas toys, furniture, and much more, all donated from local organizations. In addition, participants receive hot and nutritious meals from House of Bread and professional attire from Dress for Success for job interviews and career fairs. Perhaps most important of all, students are provided with the highest levels of holistic support and best-in-class case management services, which are key in helping meet their needs, allowing them to stay focused on completing their education.  The office’s new location is on the third floor of the Coltsville Armory Dome building at 55 Van Dyke Avenue in Hartford. The new facility has been recently remodeled, and is equipped with a large conference room, Smart classrooms, student cafeteria, family room, and is a certified Pearson testing site. Medina said there are few places like CREC TES where someone could find so many services, great classes, and an amazingly supportive staff all in one place.“For me, this is perfect place if you want to grow and start over in this country,” she said.Currently, students can enroll in Family Literacy ESL, Intermediate English, Advanced English or GED classes. The Advanced English Class is combined with a Medical Office Assistant certificate program at Manchester Community College. All free of charge.“We are the bridge for people. While many of our students had careers in their native countries, we help them develop their English skills and guide them in continuing their professions here,” said Sixmaritt Pagán-Peña, Program Coordinator and Case Manager at CREC Transition to Employment Services.Pagán-Peña said she brings in representatives from Central Connecticut State University to advise students on the steps they need to take to transfer credits from their country of origin or the classes needed to, for example, practice law or accounting here in the U.S. English and GED classes are offered in fall and spring semesters. Students who complete the advanced English class and go on to the medical office assistant course at Manchester Community College also get help finding an internship, which sometimes leads to a fulltime job.Pagán-Peña keeps photos that former students send her or post on Facebook – a photo of a student’s green card, another of an ID badge from a student’s new job at Charter Oak Health Center, a picture of a student’s name engraved on a stethoscope.“I absolutely love my job!” says Pagán-Peña, adding that she gets energized seeing students’ progress and growth throughout program. After spending just a few minutes with her, it quickly becomes very obvious that this is her passion and that her students’ success is what drives her every day.Goodwill Industries recently presented a Community Partner of the Year Award to CREC Transition to Employment Services for their success in helping people obtain their GEDs. TES has been managing a GED program in partnership with Goodwill for about five years. TES attributes this successful partnership to the kindred spirits and mutual goals demonstrated by both organizations. CREC and the Goodwill organization share the same level of standards and expectations for serving the community. Flor M. De Hoyos, Program Manager, had this to say: “We don’t do this work for awards or recognition. We do it because of our passion for improving our community and creating opportunities for others. We are very humbled by this award, and are forever grateful to Goodwill for their support and partnership.”For more information, follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CREC.TES or call 860-509-3638. ###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 changings 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 17 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(East Hartford, CT) A group of eighth graders from CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School, whose algae experiment will fly into space this summer, visited Iowa State University recently to get some insight from algae experts. The students toured the campus and visited the Center for Crops Utilization Research facility to learn more about the work that ISU is doing with bio renewable resources for fuel."The trip was an incredible opportunity for the students to experience a real world application of science research. They not only got a feel for the precision needed to conduct experiments, but they also got a better sense of just how broad the fields of science and engineering are," said Kennan Poulakos, Environmental Theme coach at CREC Two Rivers Middle School.The students’ experiment, "How does microgravity affect algae growth?” was selected to fly aboard a SpaceX-12 rocket to the International Space Station in late summer of 2017. The students are among 21 groups whose experiment will fly as part of Mission 11 of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.The students connected with Dr. Martin Gross at ISU while researching algae for their experiment. Dr. Gross agreed to help the students and flew them to Iowa for a dry run and to show them the innovative programs that ISU does with bio renewables, especially with corn and ethanol production.Of the five students who worked on the experiment, three of them made the trip to Iowa: Jack McCann of Vernon, Angel Soto of East Hartford, and Kieran Yanaway of South Windsor.The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S. and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with DreamUp PBC and NanoRacks LLC, which are working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.###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 changings 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 17 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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ELLEN RETELLE - Director of Teaching & LearningThe Capitol Region Education Council has released the catalog for the 2017 Summer Institutes (www.crec.org/summer), a variety of professional development workshops and seminars for teachers, principals, social workers, psychologists, and technology and educational professionals who work in public, private, charter, and international schools.CREC’s summer institutes are opportunities for educational professionals in kindergarten through grade 12 schools to deepen their understanding, knowledge, and skills on various topics that align with content areas and grade levels and to engage in learning communities. The institutes also support educators looking to meet the eight Standards for Professional Learning (SPL) developed and adopted by the Connecticut State Department of Education. ( HYPERLINK "http://www.crec.org/c/SPL" www.crec.org/c/SPL)Professional learning…“is the process by which, alone and with others, teachers review, renew and extend their commitment as change agents to the moral purposes of teaching and by which they acquire and develop critically the knowledge, skills and emotional intelligence essential to good professional thinking, planning and practice with children, young people and colleagues through each phase of their teaching lives” (Day & Sachs, 2004, p. 34). Connecticut SPLs define the characteristics of a high-quality system of professional learning for all educators and staff to support, enhance, and enrich student learning and performance. Connecticut’s eight standards include cultural competence, learning communities, leadership, resources, data, learning designs, implementation, and outcomes. Learning Communities (LC) is a vital element of the Connecticut’s SPLs. A learning community is a group of people who share values, beliefs, and ethics about engaging in learning from one another and others. That is, a learning community shares expertise, knowledge, skills, and experiences, and works collaboratively to engage in continuous learning to expand teaching skills, deepen teacher knowledge with the goal of enhancing and enriching student learning and academic performance. CREC’s institutes will help you renew and recharge your commitment to education, and you will learn and reflect with like-minded colleagues. For more information visit: HYPERLINK "http://www.crec.org/summer/" www.crec.org/summerDay, C., & Sachs, J. (2004). International handbook on the continuing professional development of teachers. Maidenhead: Open University Press.###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 changings 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 17 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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Scanning the radio stations on his way home from work one day, CREC John J. Allison Jr. Polaris Center Facilities Manager John Danco listened intently as he heard about the Big Red Box initiative popping up in communities around the country. The program crossing America involves ‘big red boxes’ containing food donations. The intent is to encourage anyone in need to take what they need and those who have extra to give what they can. Since the Polaris Center is fortunate to receive regular donations from Whole Foods, Danco thought the Big Red Box would be ideal to have in an easily accessible area on campus. Director Timothy Carroll liked the idea of being able to serve the needs of the clients from the Center’s Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, the Polaris Educational Community, as well as those who live in the East Hartford community who walk or drive by regularly. Upon approval, Danco constructed the box using scrap materials from around campus and his own home. Painted bright red, with a plexiglass door, the box is adhered to the brick exterior of the Polaris Outpatient Mental Health Clinic building. The Big Red Box has truly been a team effort as students from the Polaris Educational Programs have joined in to assist with the project. Under the supervision of Lorin Charanian, a job coach at the Polaris Career Center, students will monitor usage and stock the box with food and items that are donated by staff members, organizations and from the Polaris Food Service Program. With a simple sign to Take What You Need and Give What You Can, members of the John J. Allison Jr Polaris Center community work to promote full bellies through kind hearts.###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 changings 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 17 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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Seeing people in need motivates Two Rivers Magnet High School sophomore Elaine Jackson to give back. When she learned of an opportunity to volunteer through her school at a local soup kitchen, she didn’t hesitate to sign up.“With opportunities like these, you have to grasp them,” said Elaine, 16, of Hartford. “I like helping people. I have a passion for that.”Elaine was among nine Two Rivers High School students who raised more than $600 in one day in April for the Community Meals at Christ Cathedral Church in downtown Hartford. The money was used to purchase care packages and meals, which the student volunteers, including Elaine, recently prepared and served.Terri Olson, the Community Service Program Coordinator at Two Rivers, organized the event with Hands on Hartford, a social service nonprofit organization that manages the community meals at Christ Cathedral Church. She also recruited students to brainstorm ideas for fundraisers.They decided to host a “Dress Down Day.” Students donated $3 and got to wear casual attire instead of their school uniforms. Staff also participated by donating $5. “It makes me feel good to have these students take time out of their busy schedules to help others,” said Olson.Sophomore Ninoshka Mendez, 16, volunteered to collect donations at the school entrance as students arrived for school in the morning. With the money raised the students were able to purchase enough food to serve dinner to 120 people. The student volunteers prepared and served a dinner of chicken thighs, baked beans, pasta salad, juice and cookies and cupcakes for dessert. Leftover funds were spent on 24 care packages – tie bags containing a bottle of water, toothpaste and toothbrush, a comb, bar of soap and lip balm. “It’s a good experience because we get to do something we haven’t done before,” said Mendez.This is one of several projects that the students have participated in this year. They also volunteered to set up and to work the registration table for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer at Bushnell Park in October, helped with a luncheon in November and volunteered at open houses at CREC Two Rivers High School.###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 changings 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 17 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(Windsor, CT) The CREC Academy of Aerospace and Engineering captured first and third place in the physical sciences division of the 2017 Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair at Quinnipiac University. Senior High Team members, Chris Rinaldi, Vishakh Talanki and Jean Pasato won first place for testing the effect of aerodynamic leaf design on electrical power generation through a network of vertically aligned micro wind turbines. Senior High School teammates, Janine Albert and Chandni Patel, won third place for their work with polymer blends. Other students who were recognized or participated include:Finalist – Jay Aindow2nd Honors – Nikhil BhatArshad Bhura, Malavika Madan, and Alexa Wilson – Pfizer Life Sciences Award- Finalist Life Science Senior High Team – CSF medallionPreksha Gupta, Artem Boyko, and Zirui HaoAlexandra Smith and Sreenidhi NairMarissa Guzzo – Award from the Society for In Vitro BiologyJason Vailionis – Mu Alpha Theta AwardBrianna Mailloux Ashley ShafranSpencer Scutt Kyla ThomasThe Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair is a yearly, statewide science and engineering fair open to all students in 7th through 12th grades residing, or enrolled, in Connecticut schools and Fishers Island. An important objective of the program is to attract young people to careers in science and engineering while developing skills essential to critical thinking. Through science fair participation, students are encouraged to pursue independent work using proper research methods. About 120 schools and regional fairs send students to the CSEF. These students compete for the 600 available spaces at the state fair.###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 changings 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 17 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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