At UConn, Lopez has taken a leadership role in innumerable activities, from planning and emceeing a recent benefit concert for Windham High School to serving as the student speaker for the Neag School\u2019s 2014 Commencement ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been part of so many amazing things and been inspired by other students doing great things,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Last year, he got involved with UConn\u2019s Hip Hop Collective, a student-run organization that seeks to empower, educate, and inspire the UConn community through exposure to hip-hop culture. The organization hosts several days of events in the spring, featuring artists, spoken word performers, a documentary screening, and more. Lopez is serving this year as the event\u2019s education chair, where his role centers on connecting the hip-hop community and education \u2013 in part by bringing together a daylong education conference in partnership with the Neag School.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we could recreate that [excitement] here at \u2026 Neag, our home base for education, we can inspire the future educators of the world,\u201d Lopez says of the education conference, which is one way in which he hopes to connect Neag with its partner schools in the community.<\/p>\n \u2018Someone Special\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n His fifth year at the Neag School has also been filled with travel opportunities. At the annual National Association of Multicultural Educators conference this past fall in Tuscon, Ariz., Lopez volunteered for and networked with faculty members, inspiring him to consider pursuing his doctorate and a possible career as a professor. The opportunity came through Justis\u2019 connection with assistant clinical professor Mark Kohan, who calls Lopez \u201ca catalyst for rethinking what is possible in classroom and schools. \u201cHe is a bridge-builder, not only between schools and communities, but also among students and educators from all walks of life,\u201d Kohan says.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, his participation in Neag\u2019s Social Studies Study Abroad Program \u2013 led by associate professor Alan Marcus \u2013 gave Lopez the chance to see Europe, where he visited museums and walked the beaches of Normandy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was incredibly transformative; being able to step outside my comfort zone, learn about life and history through another lens,\u201d says Lopez. A passion for becoming a global citizen, he says, is now something he envisions instilling in his future students.<\/p>\n Lopez\u2019s mentors can clearly see his potential in the field of education. \u201cJustis is one of the most energetic and humble people I know. As a classroom teacher, as a colleague, as a peer mentor, or even as the husky mascot, few people have as much energy and enthusiasm,\u201d says Marcus, who has known Lopez since his freshman year at UConn, when, he says,\u00a0\u201cJustis walked into my office with his big grin and told me he wanted to be a history teacher. It was clear from that first meeting he would be someone special.\u201d<\/p>\n Lopez has also studied closely with Marcus, including following\u00a0Marcus\u2019 work on the new social studies framework<\/a>, for which Marcus served as a lead writer. The framework provides the biggest change in social studies instruction in Connecticut in more than 15 years.<\/p>\n Through classes with Marcus, Lopez has become familiar with the new methods firsthand. \u201cDr. Marcus has been very proactive in preparing us to utilize these new frameworks,\u201d Lopez says. \u201cIt has a lot of cool components, like inquiry projects where the students are developing their own projects, and they develop questions. The ending component is really unique in that it has a community-based component where students get involved with the community \u2026 It brings a holistic approach to the student.\u201d<\/p>\n Future Plans<\/strong><\/p>\n For his master\u2019s year, Lopez is also taking part in a split internship between Manchester High School \u2013 his alma mater \u2013 and Manchester Middle School. At the middle school, he\u2019s working on a \u201cCool to be Kind\u201d initiative, an anti-bullying project. At the high school, his project focuses on \u201cdigital citizenship\u201d in which Lopez is teaching students about \u201cleaving a digital footprint, digital law, how to be digitally savvy, and how to be aware of what you\u2019re posting online.\u201d<\/p>\n Banas, that same teacher who inspired Lopez back in his high school days, is his supervisor on the project.<\/p>\n \u201cJustis truly loves people and sees them for their best qualities, not for their shortcomings,\u201d she says. \u201cThis will make him a truly exceptional educator because our kids need teachers who see them for their strengths. I think that Justis will inspire so many of students.\u201d<\/p>\n With graduate commencement around the corner, Lopez has laid a solid groundwork for his future. He will, no doubt, have lots of opportunities from which to choose.<\/p>\n Even as he is interviewing for teacher positions with different school systems across Connecticut, New York City, and Washington, D.C., Lopez has aspirations beyond that as well \u2013 with possible sights set on eventually pursuing a position in education administration, whether it is as a school principal, superintendent, or leader in educational policy.<\/p>\n That said, his experiences in school were not always positive, Lopez admits. \u201cI did not have a positive experience with my high school principal,\u201d he says. \u201cI received a lot of push back from our leadership, and I felt the student voices weren\u2019t included enough.\u201d<\/p>\n But, he adds, \u201cthe negative experience inspired me to want to change that \u2026 I want to become a principal so I can create a community where students feel like they can become whomever they desire. I want to create a community where teachers can lead the classrooms and create this community of people.\u201d<\/p>\n Desi Nesmith \u201901 (ED), \u201902 MA, \u201909 Sixth-Year, principal of Metacomet Elementary School in Bloomfield, has no doubt about what Lopez would bring to such a position. \u201cJustis has the type of personality that kids will be drawn to,\u201d says\u00a0Nesmith, a 2014 Milken Award honoree<\/a>. \u201cHe has an infectious personality that will immediate connect with both kids and parents. He cares deeply about the profession and those involved in it. When you talk to Justis, his passion for education and kids come through in such a rich and genuine way.\u201d<\/p>\n Marcus also looks forward to following Lopez\u2019s career. \u201cJustis will be a great educator because he is passionate, driven, and because he cares,\u201d he says. \u201cHe really wants to make a difference in society. This passion keeps him focused on his goals. He is always asking questions to learn more. He will learn from his students as much as they learn from him \u2013 and that is the mark of a good educator.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Among](\"http:\/\/education.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Justis-Lopez-IMG_78961.jpg\")
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\u201cI want to \u2026 create a community where students feel like they can become whomever they desire.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Justis Lopez \u201914 (ED), \u201915 MA<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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