{"id":201458,"date":"2017-10-27T13:50:10","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T17:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=201458"},"modified":"2023-07-18T13:55:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T17:55:28","slug":"neag-school-hosts-annual-educational-leadership-forum-in-hartford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2017\/10\/neag-school-hosts-annual-educational-leadership-forum-in-hartford\/","title":{"rendered":"Neag School Hosts Annual Educational Leadership Forum in Hartford"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neag School of Education alumni, faculty, and administrators, along with educators from across the state, gathered at the Hartford Public Library\u2019s Center for Contemporary Culture earlier this month for an evening of networking and insights from two dynamic Neag School alumni.<\/p>\n

Miguel Cardona \u201900 MA, \u201904 6th Year,\u00a0\u201911 Ed.D., \u201912 ELP, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning for Meriden (Conn.) Public Schools, and Bridget Heston Carnemolla \u201913 Ed.D, \u201914 ELP, superintendent for Watertown (Conn.) Public Schools, each shared insights into their experiences in the Neag School\u2019s educational leadership program and personal revelations on leadership as the featured speakers for the Neag School\u2019s third annual Educational Leadership Alumni Forum.<\/p>\n

Neag School\u00a0Dean Gladis Kersaint<\/a>\u00a0kicked the event off with welcome remarks, while Richard Gonzales, faculty event co-host and director of the Neag School\u2019s educational leadership preparation programs, spoke on the strength and national prominence of the\u00a0University of Connecticut Administrator Preparation Program<\/a>\u00a0(UCAPP). Gonzales also touched on UCAPP\u2019s involvement in a\u00a0Wallace Foundation-funded national initiative<\/a>\u00a0known as the University Principal Preparatoin Initiative (UPPI), which is focused on improving principal preparation programs across the country.<\/p>\n

At a recent national meeting on UPPI, Gonzales said, he listened as the event\u2019s keynote speaker, Stanford University professor\u00a0Linda Darling-Hammond<\/a>, recognized UCAPP by name in her address as a principal preparation program dedicated to continuous improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a reputation from the past, and we are continuing that reputation,\u201d said Gonzales. \u201cOne of the questions I often get is around the\u00a0UPPI<\/a>\u00a0initiative: \u2018Why redesign? Why fix what\u2019s not broken?\u2019 The simple answer is because we\u2019ve learned along the way that we can do better \u2014 and why shouldn\u2019t we get better?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStay humble. Titles don\u2019t make you a good leader. Action makes you a good leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Miguel Cardona,\u00a0assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, Meriden (Conn.) Public Schools<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Leadership Lessons
\n<\/strong>As the first featured alumni speaker of the evening, four-time Neag School alum Cardona spoke about how much he has learned from Neag School\u2019s educational leadership programs and from his family. \u201cI\u2019m really pleased that I have both my UConn family here and my home family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Miguel
Four-time Neag School alum Miguel Cardona served as one of the 2017 Educational Leadership Forum\u2019s featured speakers. (Photo Credit: Shawn Kornegay\/Neag School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his address, Cardona went on to share personal stories on leadership,\u00a0including one anecdote starring members from the UConn men\u2019s basketball team. Spending time one evening on the Storrs campus with his son \u2014\u00a0a big basketball fan \u2014\u00a0Cardona and his family happened upon a group of UConn men\u2019s basketball players.<\/p>\n

This was, Cardona said, \u201cabout the same time the UConn men\u2019s basketball team was on their way to winning a championship, and my son and I watched basketball all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The players took pictures with his son, gave him a T-shirt, and shook his son\u2019s hand. To Cardona, \u201cThat was a leadership lesson: Stay humble. Titles don\u2019t make you a good leader. Action makes you a good leader. Be remembered by testimony, not titles,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s something I learned \u2026 from my experiences with UCAPP and the other UConn programs, and a life full of leadership experiences at Meriden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardona also spoke about his experience co-chairing a statewide commission focused on closing the achievement gap. The group had listened to testimony from stakeholder groups and experts, including faculty and administrators from the University of Connecticut and Neag School, Cardona said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are going to close any gap, leadership matters,\u201d Cardona said, reflecting on the leadership role Neag School faculty played in the effort. \u201cThey were trendsetters for reshaping leadership programming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t simultaneously be all things to all people. It\u2019s a necessary limitation, but requires us to be present at the moment \u2014\u00a0and to consider the role and the impact of that role at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bridget Heston Carnemolla,
\nsuperintendent, Watertown (Conn.) Public Schools<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Balancing Personal Life With Professional Life
\n<\/strong>Superintendent Carnemolla also served as a featured speaker at the event, sharing how her Neag School journey as part of the\u00a0doctoral program in educational leadership<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Executive Leadership Program (ELP)<\/a>\u00a0helped develop her as a leader.<\/p>\n

\"Bridget
Alum Bridget Heston Carnemolla serves as a featured speaker at the third annual Educational Leadership Alumni Forum. (Photo Credit: Shawn Kornegay\/Neag School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carnemolla spoke in part about juggling her family life and her position as a school principal while attending the Neag School\u2019s Ed.D. program. Recalling classes led by instructor\u00a0Robert Villanova<\/a>, she shared what she learned from him on leadership: \u201cYou can\u2019t simultaneously be all things to all people,\u201d Carnemolla said. \u201cIt\u2019s a necessary limitation, but requires us to be present at the moment \u2014\u00a0and to consider the role and the impact of that role at that moment. You also have to know your role as a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

In having shifted from a role as principal to one as superintendent, Carnemolla also says she saw how each of her Neag School educational leadership program experiences served her. \u201cBoth the doctoral and executive leadership programs [at the Neag School] prepared me to think of these roles differently and how I could impact positive change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Carnemolla reflected on the impact of gender in leadership as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly I\u2019m a female role model, and I have a very specific obligation,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is often very different for girls and women who want to be leaders. We face different challenges from our male counterparts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, as strong, competent women who take these positions of power, it\u2019s our moral obligation to teach young people to value everyone and to value everyone\u2019s perspectives,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Carnemolla credited educators with inspiring her and giving her a tangible goal for who she could be. She was taught, she told the audience, \u201cto find her own voice and to use it for good and challenge things that are unjust.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are in a current leadership position, I congratulate you and I applaud you,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you are just starting, I encourage you to continue. You can, and you will, make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interested in taking your education career to the next level? Find further information about<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Neag School\u2019s Executive Leadership Program (ELP)<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>or<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP)<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>today.<\/em><\/p>\n

View\u00a0photos from this year\u2019s Educational Leadership Forum<\/a>, or\u00a0check out video coverage<\/a>\u00a0of the event.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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