{"id":204491,"date":"2014-11-12T08:56:36","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T13:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=204491"},"modified":"2023-09-11T09:00:40","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T13:00:40","slug":"uconns-neag-school-of-education-celebrates-15th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2014\/11\/uconns-neag-school-of-education-celebrates-15th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn\u2019s Neag School of Education Celebrates 15th Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 250 students, faculty, and alumni recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of the naming of the Neag School of Education. The name honors Ray and Carole Neag, who in 1999 generously donated $21 million to the school\u2013the largest gift ever given to a U.S. school of education at that time. Since then, the Neag School has grown to become a nationally ranked school, with additional recognition for teacher preparation, educational research, and educational leadership.<\/p>\n

The event began with remarks from Dean Richard L. Schwab, who noted he has witnessed \u201ctremendous growth\u201d at the school and expects to watch much more be achieved in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

Since becoming the Neag School of Education, the school has awarded more than $1.5 million in scholarships, expanded its teacher education program by 60 percent, risen from an unranked public school of education to a highly ranked school of education in the U.S., expanded and renovated the Gentry building, grown its faculty from 50 to over 80 professors, increased the number of endowed professorships from one to seven, and expanded both its donor base and endowment fund. Schwab estimates that during the last 15 years, Neag graduates have gone on to teach as many as 266,000 schoolchildren.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis number only represents our teacher preparation program. It does not include those who\u2019ve graduated from our doctoral, psychology, school counseling, principal or superintendent programs,\u201d Schwab continued. \u201cAdd those graduates into the mix, and that 266,000 increases exponentially. The Neag School is significantly shaping the way teachers teach and students learn. It\u2019s a job we tackle with enthusiasm, excellence and expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among other notable graduates, he cited Neag Scholars\u2013those who received scholarships to attend the school\u2013who have gone on to receive recognition for accomplishments in their fields. Among them are 22 teachers of the year, three assistant principals of the year, two superintendents of the year, two counselors of the year, and 58 others who have received a variety of similar education awards, Schwab said.<\/p>\n

Just last month, Neag alumnus Desi Nesmith, principal of Metacomet Elementary School in Bloomfield, was presented with a 2014 Milken Educator Award, which is nicknamed the \u201cOscars of Teaching.\u201d He was the only Connecticut educator to receive the honor.<\/p>\n

\"Guests<\/a>
Guests at the Neag Investiture and Medals Ceremony thank Ray and Carole Neag for their generous support.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Schwab said the $21 million given by the Neags\u2013which was matched with $3 million in state funds\u2013has provided countless opportunities for students, as well as has allowed the Neag School to become one of the top research institutions in the nation and the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur faculty consists of a healthy blend of new talent, and established scholars, who are all distinguished in their areas of expertise,\u201d Schwab said. \u201cI believe a great faculty is like a great symphony. You can\u2019t have all who play the same instrument. Our school cannot prosper without people who make partnerships work, provide service to a broad range of committees, carefully advise and support students, and who excel in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among other faculty members, he cited educational pioneers Don Leu, the John and Maria Neag Endowed Chair of Literacy and Technology; George Sugai, the Carole J. Neag Endowed Chair in Special Education; Joseph Renzulli, the Ray and Lynn Neag Chair of Gifted Education and Talent Development; and Sally Reis, the Letitia Neag Morgan Chair in Educational Psychology. The hiring of these four faculty members alone has resulted in more than $150 million in grant support for the Neag School, UConn and the state overall, Schwab said.<\/p>\n

After Dean Schwab\u2019s opening remarks, 2006 Neag alumna Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis gave the keynote presentation, which addressed the \u201cincredible impact\u201d teachers have on the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was recently asked, \u2018What would the world be like without teachers?\u2019 I replied, \u2018It wouldn\u2019t work.\u2019 Everyone starts with school,\u201d Roig-DeBellis said.<\/p>\n

A first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School when the tragic December 2012 shooting occurred, Roig-DeBellis is the founder of the non-profit Classes 4 Classes, an organization that uses engaging projects to connect students from different classes across the country. Through these projects, young people discover ways to learn from, and care for, each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was something that grew out of the Sandy Hook shooting, when students from not just throughout our nation, but from throughout the world, were sending things to our school. Teddy bears, cupcakes\u2013so many things were sent to us,\u201d Roig-DeBellis said. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018I need to take this moment to teach my students that when you get, you have to give.\u2019 Because that\u2019s what ultimately makes our world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The work led to her being named one of\u00a0Glamour Magazine<\/em>\u2018s 2013 Women of the Year and sitting next to first lady Michelle Obama at the State of the Union address. During the Neag School\u2019s celebratory weekend, she received the UConn Alumni Association\u2019s Humanitarian of the Year Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing surrounded by this group of educators, and listening to the speakers, reminded me even more of how much I want to be a teacher,\u201d said current fourth-year elementary education student Krista Hespeler. \u201cThe message from Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis was one of so much power because, as teachers, we do more than what people think we do. I\u2019m so lucky to be part of the Neag School of Education, and I\u2019m so excited to continue my teaching journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The evening prior to the Oct. 25 celebration event, Dean Richard Schwab and Provost Mun Choi hosted an Investiture and Medals Ceremony recognizing Preston Green III as the John and Carla Klein Professor of Urban Education, and Jonathan Plucker and Suzanne Wilson as Neag Endowed Professors. Scott Brown was also recognized as a new Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, the highest recognition UConn bestows.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur students get to work on some of the most critical issues facing our nation, with some of the most accomplished faculty in the world,\u201d Schwab said. \u201cFaculty get the support they need to conduct groundbreaking research. It\u2019s a win-win situation with incredible benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among other activities during the celebratory event, breakout sessions were held for students, faculty, alumni and friends. Sessions led by Neag faculty members Preston Green, Suzanne Wilson, Sally Reis, Joseph Renzulli, George Sugai, Scott Brown and Jonathan Plucker addressed issues as varied as charter school funding, the achievement gap, student behavior and educational creativity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe anniversary celebration was a great event in which I was able to personally connect with professors and leading researchers one to one,\u201d said past scholarship recipient, Justis Lopez. \u201cIt was also heartwarming to meet Mr. and Mrs. Neag, and thank them for all they have done, through a meaningful conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To view videos from the Keynote and Faculty talks,\u00a0click here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

To view pictures from the Investiture & Medals Ceremony event, click\u00a0here<\/a>. To view pictures from the Keynote and Faculty Talks, click\u00a0here.\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 250 students, faculty, and alumni recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of the naming of the Neag School of Education with events over two days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":204492,"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],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2455],"class_list":["post-204491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 06:18:41","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\/204491","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\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204491"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204494,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204491\/revisions\/204494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/204492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204491"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=204491"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=204491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}