Feedback From Schools \u201cWe have been fortunate to hire Neag students every year and are consistently impressed with their ability,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Samuel Galloway<\/a> \u201901 6th Year,<\/strong>\u00a0director of human resources at Bristol (Conn.) Public Schools, participates in campus visits, during which he shares insights with seniors at the Neag School. \u201cI enjoy sharing information with the students. They are very engaged and ask great questions,\u201d he says. \u201cI am proud to say that I hired Amanda Powell, who is the [2019] Bloomfield Teacher of the Year. She helped me build an outstanding math department at Bloomfield High School.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNeag School students are some of the most intelligent and hard-working students we have the honor of working with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Christopher Wethje \u201902 JD, human resources director, East Hartford (Conn.) Public Schools<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Joseph Macary \u201994 (ED), \u201908 ELP, \u201916 Ed.D, superintendent of Vernon (Conn.) Public Schools, says Neag School graduates \u201care by far the best prepared students for education in the state of Connecticut,\u201d he says. \u201cThe Neag program is rigorous, and the faculty hold students to high standards.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur school district has hired dozens of Neag graduates, and we are very pleased with their performance and abilities,\u201d he adds. \u201cLast year, we needed three elementary music teachers, and we hired all of them from UConn \u2013 they have shined in their classrooms, and students are enjoying the musical arts thanks to their talents.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Poised, Professional, and Well Prepared\u2019 n their master\u2019s year, students are also assigned to a seminar class led by Neag School faculty. The seminar provides a space where students develop their master\u2019s-year inquiry project, engage in ongoing professional learning, and learn about job searching tools and resources that they will ultimately use in the interview process. Recent graduates also return to campus to share their experiences regarding the job search and their first year of teaching.<\/p>\n These opportunities have proven beneficial in preparing students, says Ann Traynor<\/a> \u201905 (ED), \u201916 Ed.D., director of advising and certification at the Neag School. School administrators who attend the Neag School\u2019s springtime career fair, she says, \u201coften remark how poised, professional, and well prepared our students are.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, many faculty and staff work with students individually on the job search. \u201cFor example, David Moss<\/a> and other faculty members often speak to students who are interested in teaching internationally,\u201d says Traynor. \u201cAll of us encourage students to spend sufficient time on reflection, preparation, and stress management during the career search.\u201d<\/p>\n One seminar leader, Professor Todd Campbell<\/a>, notes how \u201cseriously the Neag School faculty members take the importance of connecting and collaborating with state, district, and school leaders and teachers to focus on continual improvement that not only benefits schools, but also Neag students who take part in shaping innovative work in schools.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Neag School students presented themselves very well at the recruitment fair; they were engaging, passionate, and ready to lead classrooms. The students are ready to teach on day one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Samuel Galloway \u201901 6th Year, director of human resource, Bristol (Conn.) Public Schools<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Also in their final year in the IB\/M program, students attend a workshop on the teacher certification process, run by Traynor, as well as an interviewing workshop, during which local school administrators \u2014\u00a0some of whom are alumni \u2014\u00a0are invited to class to work with students on mock job interviews.<\/p>\n \u201cThey talk to our students about interviewing and answer all the students\u2019 questions, how should they respond to an offer, how to use their portfolio to talk about what they\u2019ve learned throughout their years in the program,\u201d says Hines. \u201cThey\u2019re all worried about if their experience is going to be enough to get a job. That session puts them at ease. The HR representatives usually tell our students, \u2018Students in the Neag School are highly sought-after.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The last workshop is focused on preparing for the Neag School\u2019s education career fair, which is held each April. This\u00a0workshop, a collaborative effort with UConn\u2019s Center for Career Development and the Neag School\u2019s Office of Alumni Relations, is led by Hines.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were already working with the Center for Career Development and brought in our alumni relations director, Caitlin Trinh<\/a>, who shared that alumni were reaching out to her, asking how they could help with students and get involved,\u201d Hines says. \u201cWe came up with the idea of having our alumni come back for [a] panel to talk about their experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n Dominique Battle-Lawson \u201907 (ED), \u201908 MA<\/a>, another academic advisor and a Neag School grad herself, shares with students her insights on completing the Teacher Education program and then teaching at a school, and works closely with the students as they move through the program.<\/p>\n Wethje, the human resources director from East Hartford, is also brought in to help with the workshop, offering guidance on the online application process that almost every Connecticut school district uses.<\/p>\n He is impressed not only with the students themselves, but also the advisors at the Neag School. \u201cNeag students are incredibly fortunate to have mentorship from Dominique Battle-Lawson and Mia Hines, who prepare students for the challenges of preparing for career fairs, interviews, and general advice about teaching,\u201d he says. \u201cMany educator preparation programs do not offer this type of support, and it is clear that Mia and Dominique\u2019s assistance is what helps set Neag students apart from other educator programs.\u201d<\/p>\n Career Fair \u2013 The Big Day After months of preparation, roughly 200 graduating teacher education students have the opportunity each spring to interview with school district representatives for positions in teaching, counseling, and school psychology.<\/p>\n This past April, school districts from across the state packed into the Student Union Ballroom for the annual Education Career Fair, with some districts overflowing into adjoining conference rooms to connect with students. Some students certified in shortage areas \u2014 including math, science, and world languages \u2014 had job offers before the Career Fair.<\/p>\n During the Career Fair, students interact with school district representatives, and many secure job interviews for later that same day.<\/p>\n \u201c[It] is the largest career fair East Hartford Public Schools attends, and we\u2019re always amazed at the level of preparation we see from students at this event,\u201d says Wethje. \u201cStudents represent themselves very professionally, and as a human resources director, I always appreciate the opportunity we have to interview candidates. The quality of programming at Neag is second to none!\u201d<\/p>\n Galloway, of Bristol Public Schools, had similar feedback. \u201cThe Neag School students presented themselves very well at the recruitment fair; they were engaging, passionate, and ready to lead classrooms. The students are ready to teach on day one.\u201d<\/p>\n Many graduating students, including Jes\u00fas Cort\u00e9s-Sanchez \u201918 (ED, SFA), \u201919 MA<\/a>, say they felt prepared to interact with school district representatives, thanks to the months of preparation and workshops. \u201cHaving people like Chris from East Hartford Public Schools and Sam from Bristol Public Schools, providing tips on how to prepare for interviews was so helpful,\u201d says Cort\u00e9s-Sanchez, who has landed an offer to teach music education in West Hartford (Conn.) Public Schools for this fall.<\/p>\n Jenna Bordieri, an aspiring high school Spanish teacher, says she wanted to get the best experience possible out of the Career Fair. \u201cI had my r\u00e9sum\u00e9 edited multiple times by my friends and the career services office,\u201d she says. \u201cI created business cards and did research on the districts I wanted to speak with. I also created a list of questions that were important for me \u2026 to ask during our conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n The Career Fair, she says, \u201cwas an effective and organized way for us to get one-on-one conversations with the school districts before the formal interviews. We were able to get a feel for the administration and ask questions to narrow down our search for the right school. Even if you did not decide to apply for a district, it was a great networking event for us to make connections.\u201d<\/p>\n View photos from this year\u2019s Education Career Fair<\/em><\/a>. Learn more about IB\/M at <\/em>teachered.education.uconn.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many school districts across Connecticut hold Neag School of Education teacher education graduates in the highest regard for potential employment.Throughout the Neag School\u2019s partner school districts, juniors and seniors in the Integrated Bachelor\u2019s\/Master\u2019s (IB\/M) program get firsthand student teaching experience in urban and suburban classroom settings; during their fifth year in the program, students receive further preparation through various professional development offerings and on-site internships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":150082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1855,1875],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1879],"class_list":["post-150081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neag","category-grad-school"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-01 13:40:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150084,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150081\/revisions\/150084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/150082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150081"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=150081"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=150081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>\u201cNeag School students are some of the most intelligent and hard-working students we have the honor of working with,\u201d says Christopher Wethje \u201902 JD, human resources director for East Hartford (Conn.) Public Schools. \u201cThey receive an incredible education and present themselves with a maturity and professionalism not often see in other educator preparation programs.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Dominique](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/2019-career-fair_7-225x300.jpg\")
\n<\/strong>IB\/M students start off the fall semester of their fifth year with a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and cover letter writing workshop, according to Mia Hines<\/a>, an academic advisor in the Neag School\u2019s Teacher Education program. \u201cWe coordinate with the UConn Center for Career Development<\/a>, and their liaison hosts the workshop,\u201d she says. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to overwhelm [the students]; we want them to just start thinking about their r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and cover letter.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Joseph](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/DSC_8464-300x200.jpg\")
\n<\/strong>UConn\u2019s Education Career Fair was run by the UConn Center for Career Development from 1996 until 2009, when the Neag School took over. \u201cWe have seen the number of participating school districts increase significantly over the past seven years, from 40 districts to a high of 67 districts in 2019,\u201d says Traynor.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n