{"id":194128,"date":"2021-03-12T12:31:16","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T17:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=194128"},"modified":"2023-06-27T12:46:11","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:46:11","slug":"neag-school-alum-and-educator-teaches-her-students-to-give-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2021\/03\/neag-school-alum-and-educator-teaches-her-students-to-give-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Neag School Alum and Educator Teaches Her Students to Give Back"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Animation
Madison Corlett and her students created a graphic of their fourth-grade class using Pixton, which was used for the fundraiser. (Image courtesy of Madison Corlett)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Madison Corlett started teaching, the idea of giving back came full circle with her desire to share that focus with her students.<\/h2>\n

From a young age, Madison Corlett \u201916 (ED), \u201917 MA, was excited about helping others, raising money through lemonade stands and other fundraisers, then donating the money to local causes.<\/p>\n

In elementary school, Corlett was hospitalized for a week with pneumonia. She saw other kids in the hospital who were much sicker than she was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t as sick as some of the other kids who were fighting these horrible diseases,\u201d she says. \u201cI realized that these kids weren\u2019t able to go to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recalled one of her mom\u2019s early fundraisers for her best friend in grade school, who had a rare disease that required a bone marrow transplant.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom had a hair-cut-a-thon that helped raised money for my friend\u2019s treatments. I remember at the time that these treatments would cost almost a million dollars in the end,\u201d she says. \u201cThat stuck with me, as she was out from school for a whole year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her friend\u2019s brother went through the same treatment a few years later. Luckily, both of them are now healthy and thriving. Her own hospitalization, her friend\u2019s hospitalization, and the realization that other children had it much worse, stuck with her.<\/p>\n

Today, as a fourth-grade teacher in Mansfield, Connecticut, she brings those life lessons to her classroom.<\/p>\n

Corlett Gets Her Students to Be Passionate <\/strong><\/h3>\n

When Corlett started teaching four years ago, the idea of giving back came full circle with her desire to share that focus with her students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk a lot about being a citizen of the world and doing more than just within yourself,\u201d she says. \u201cI think it\u2019s important to give kids opportunities to give back and learn why that\u2019s so important and how it feels good to give and to take care of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something that I always try and think about and share with my students,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Corlett came up with the idea of \u201cpassion projects\u201d for her students one day when before school after she was inspired by one of her own students who had created an animal sanctuary drive.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important to give kids opportunities to give back and learn why that\u2019s so important … to take care of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0<\/span>Madison Corlett \u201916 (ED), \u201917 MA<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As Corlett and students in her class talked about what was going on due to the pandemic, she asked, \u201cWhat are you passionate about helping?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ideas from the students included helping seniors, animals, and essential workers. To help seniors in the area, the students made greeting cards and delivered them to convalescent homes and senior centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenior citizens were alone during the holidays, and this small gesture meant a lot,\u201d Corlett says.<\/p>\n

They also collected items and goods for an animal sanctuary in nearby Ashford, Connecticut. Before the pandemic, a previous class of Corlett’s had made care packages for veterans and collected stuffed animals for a Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

This winter, the students decided to help local businesses in Mansfield, Connecticut. These local businesses were familiar to them, and some of their families knew the owners or managers.<\/p>\n

Corlett suggested they put together a presentation and set up a meeting with the Mansfield Public Schools\u2019 superintendent, Neag School alumna Kelly Lyman \u201988 MA, \u201901 6th\u00a0Year, \u201910 ELP<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In a Hartford Courant<\/em> article<\/a>, Lyman remarked that she wasn\u2019t surprised the Mansfield students came up with the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our district, we focus on providing authentic experiences that build life skills, and help find opportunities for students to apply what they are learning,\u201d said Lyman.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn our district, we focus on providing … opportunities for students to apply what they are learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kelly Lyman \u201988 MA, \u201901 6th\u00a0Year, \u201910 ELP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cSuperintendent Lyman was great and was able to ask them all kinds of questions to push their thinking and get them to think a little outside of the box, and that\u2019s where the idea of gift cards came from,\u201d says Corlett. \u201cThe students then thought they could encourage Mansfield citizens to buy the gift cards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyman suggested the student group meet with the Mansfield Downtown Partnership<\/a>, a local organization that supports Mansfield\u2019s promotion and economic development. During the meeting, there was a discussion about what they would do with the gift cards. The students decided the gift cards should go back to local essential workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir cool idea came full circle, and we started a GoFundMe page<\/a> to raise funds,\u201d says Corlett. \u201cWe are close to reaching our goal, and the students and their families are continuing to get the word out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Madison
Madison Corlett says she enjoys teaching in the virtual space, as it allows her the opportunity to know families at a different level than before. (Photo courtesy of Madison Corlett)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Managing Teaching Through the Pandemic<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Like all educators this past year, Corlett learned how to deal with the pandemic and remote teaching and learning. Her class of fourth-graders is a group of 22 students from across three elementary schools whose parents selected remote-only learning for their child during the academic year.<\/p>\n

Corlett acknowledges that it\u2019s been \u201ccrazy,\u201d but feels like her students are in a \u201creally good groove now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re able to access all of the academics almost exactly as they would in class,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She says she has enjoyed teaching in this space, as it allows her the opportunity to know families at a different level than before. \u201cMy class feels a strong sense of community because they\u2019re the only fourth-graders that are remote.\u201d<\/p>\n

When they transition to middle school in fifth grade, they will know kids from different schools. \u201cThat\u2019s a cool experience,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Pivoting to remote-only learning<\/a> was a transition for her, and it was trial and error at first.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would give the kids a whole week of assignments at the beginning of the week, thinking that it would be helpful for them to see across the week,\u201d she says. \u201cThat was not helpful at all. They like to get their assignments daily. That\u2019s one thing I learned.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also learned that using too many platforms became overwhelming and stressful for the kids, and found a balance between synchronous and asynchronous instruction. \u201cKeeping the classroom routines and community building activities, similar to regular learning, is key,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Like the passion projects, she says community-building activities have helped her and her students during this chaotic time. One of her favorite activities includes a daily \u201clunch bunch\u201d where the students go into a breakout room with their friends to have lunch.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cDoing things you and your students love and are excited about, in addition to the regular curriculum, is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Madison Corlett<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cDoing these activities makes your heart full and, at the same time, they benefit the kids,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The passion projects have helped keep Corlett, and her students, stay engaged in school on a different level. \u201cIt\u2019s been a bonus for them, and they have gained new communication and thinking skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

In reflecting on this past year, Corlett says that \u201cdoing things you and your students love and are excited about, in addition to the regular curriculum, is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTeachers forget they were people \u2014 and kids are people,\u201d she adds, \u201cand doing things a little outside the box makes learning meaningful, fun, and fresh.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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