By Jessica Dunn

Discount Tickets

As part of the UConn ECE Community, Students, Instructors, Site Represen­tatives, Library Media Specialists, and Faculty Coordinators have access toattend select UConn athletic events and performances at the JorgensenCenter for the Performing Arts at discounted rates! UConn Early CollegeExperience has partnered with UConn Athletics to offer YOU the opportuni­ty to be in the stands and show your Husky pride with your friends andfamily. We have also partnered with Jorgensen who offers UConn EarlyCollege Experience Students and high school partners, with a valid UConn NetID, FREE tickets to a selection of their annual performances.
 
Available athletic event tickets and Jorgensen performance offers are an­nounced throughout the academic year to the UConn ECE Community. Take advantage of these great offers and opportunities to immerse yourself in the UConn culture. Hundreds of UConn ECE partners did this year! You may not be in Storrs, Avery Point, Hartford, Stamford, or Waterbury, but you are a part of UConn wherever you are. Bring your class, your friends, or your family to a game or a show! This is just one of the many benefits of being part of the UConn ECE family, and we hope to see you on campus.
 
Find your tickets here: s.uconn.edu/ece-discount-tix
 
Don’t forget, show your Husky Pride and tag us in your photos from the games and shows you attend!
 
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UConn Recreation Center Access – just for our partners

UConn ECE Instructors, Site Representatives, and Library Media Specialists are eligible foraffiliate membership to the UConn Recreation Center. UConn ECE administrative partners must provide a UConn One Card for purchase of membership.

 
By Jessica Dunn | Photos by Gordon Daigle and Mike Illuzi
 
UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator of the Year, Dr. Chunsheng Yang, brought back the UConn ECE Chinese Talent show to the benefit of 175 students this past March. With 100 UConn ECE Students, and about 75 UConn undergraduates, this event provided a space for students to work together to demonstrate their Chinese skills through various abilities and learn to embrace cultural diversity. As Dr. Yang explained in an interview for the UConn Daily Campus, “the Chinese talent show provides an avenue for both high school Chinese learners and UConn undergrad Chinese learn­ers to showcase their Chinese language skills and have fun while socializing with peers both from other CT high schools and UConn undergraduate students.”
 

 
Participants from Connecticut high schools were students enrolled in UConn Chinese 1114 through UConn ECE and represented Amity Regional High School, Simsbury High School, Granby Memorial High School, Hall High School, Miss Porter’s School, and Norwich Free Academy. Along with attendance from high schools across the state, there was also a wide variety of talents showcased at the event. From a Kung Fu performance from Amity Regional High School and a Gourd Flute performance from Miss Porter’s School to an authentic Dragon Dance from Hall High School, the talent was extraordinary, and it was evident the students worked very hard through­out the year to improve their Chinese language skills and gain the confi­dence to perform at UConn in front of their peers.
 
We commend all students for their willingness to participate and look forward to offering this event to fu­ture UConn ECE students.

 
UConn ECE项目负责人杨春生是 2023 年度 ECE Faculty Coordinator Award获得者，他于今年3月组织了UConn ECE中文才艺秀。此次活动汇聚了100 多名UConn ECE 学生和75名 UConn 本科生，为学生提供了一个共同展示中文技能、欣赏文化多样性的平台。正如杨博士在接受UConn Daily Campus采访时所说：“中文才艺秀为高中中文学习者和 UConn 中文学习者提供了展示中文技能、与其他高中和 UConn本科生社交的机会。”
 
才艺秀的高中参与者都是UConn ECE中文课程的学生，包括Amity Regional High School、Simsbury High School、Granby Memorial High School、Hall High School、Miss Porter’s School 和 Norwich Free Acad¬emy。来自不同高中的同学展示了各种各样的才艺，从 Amity Regional High School 的功夫表演，到 Miss Porter’s School 的葫芦丝表演，到 Hall High School 的正宗舞龙表演，同学们个个才华横溢，在展示中文语言能力的同时，也表现出精湛的表演才能。
 
我们为所有参与的同学喝彩，并期待将类似活动扩大到UConn ECE的其他项目中去。
 
Translated by UConn ECE Chinese Faculty Coordinator, Dr. Chunsheng Yang
 

 
by Dr. Sarah Lindstrom
SPAN 3178 and 3179
Bristol Central High School
UConn ECE 2023 Award Winner for Excellence in Course Instruction

 
 
Ways to Change Language Learning: Advocacy and Courses for Heritage Speakers

When I moved back to my hometown and began work¬ing at one of the high schools in 2020, I hoped to make a difference in a district that had done so much for me. After surviving the challenges and growth of that first year, the next year I felt energized to more closely examine the way things were in our language program in an effort to reach students who I felt were not engaged like I knew they could be even when back in the classroom.

 
As a teacher of Spanish, I quickly noticed there was not a great path for our heritage or native Spanish speakers to get to the ECE Spanish courses we offer. I had a good number of heritage speakers in Spanish 2, where they were being underserved by verb charts, vocabulary lists, and a level of input that was far below their proficiency level. At the same time, I had a relatively small ECE class with only one native speaker, who I happened to recruit from my study hall. There was so much Spanish being spoken in our school, I could not sit back while those students missed the chance to gain college credit for their home language.

 
When I set out to challenge what the current course offer¬ings were, I was careful to do my research and bring forth recommendations that could be implemented in ways that made sense for our district. The first thing I did was ask my Spanish-speaking students what they thought of the class they were taking. I listened to their concerns and asked them what they thought of having classes that could help them learn Spanish in a different way. Each student was not only interested but excited about the idea. With this information, and some research, I created a presentation to share with district administrators that highlighted some ways we could better serve our Spanish-speaking students and families. I shared a variety of possible solutions and offered ways I could help make these a reality. Fortunately, the administration spoke to the high school administrators and with the help of a supportive guidance department, they decided to run heritage Spanish courses in both of our high schools for the 2022-2023 school year.

 
After spending the spring of 2022 writing curriculum, the course was officially approved and this year we had four successful classes run between the two high schools. We are fortunate to have two highly qualified heritage speak¬er teachers who tell me that students and families have expressed gratitude for this opportunity to not only learn Spanish in a way that is more natural for them, but also to be seen as multilingual individuals who bring a great lan¬guage legacy with them into the classroom. I have an ECE class this year that is about half native speakers and next year I am going to have even more. The students, families, teachers, and administrators would all agree that in this case the change we made was for the better and I cannot wait to see how this program grows in the future.

Un camino hacia cambios en el aprendizaje de idiomas: Apoyo y clases para los hablantes de herencia

Cuando me mudé de nuevo a mi ciudad natal y empecé a trabajar en una de las escuelas secundarias aquí en 2020, quería tener un impacto positivo en un distrito que había hecho tanto para mi. Después de sobrevivir los desafíos y el crecimiento del primer año, el próximo año tuve la energía para examinar bien como eran las cosas en nuestro programa con el deseo de ayudar a los estudiantes quienes mostraban menos interés de lo que esperaba estando otra vez en las escuelas.
 

Como profesora de español, en poco tiempo me enteré de que no existía un camino fácil para que nuestros es­tudiantes hispanohablantes llegaran a la clase de ECE que ofrecemos. Tenía unos hablantes de herencia en mi clase de Español 2, donde les enseñaba con tablas de verbos, listas de vocabulario, y un nivel de lenguaje mucho menos de lo que tenían. Al mismo tiempo, tenía una clase pequeña de ECE con una sola hablante nativa, quien yo había reclutado de mi hora de estudio. Había tanto español en los pasillos de nuestra escuela que me parecía impensable no hacer nada para mejorar las opciones para nuestros estudiantes hispanohablantes.
 
Cuando empecé a cuestionar nuestro programa de estudios en español, tenía cuidado con investigar y recomendar ideas que serían posibles y beneficiosas para nuestro distri­to. La primera cosa que hice fue hablar con mis estudiantes quienes hablaban español y les pedí sus opiniones sobre
 
las clases que tomaban. Presté atención a sus dudas y les pregunté sobre la idea de aprender español en una manera diferente, una manera más natural. A todos los estudiantes les gustaba la idea y estaban emocionados. Con esta infor­mación y las investigaciones que leí, presenté a la admin­istración algunas recomendaciones para mejor apoyar a los estudiantes y a las familias hispanohablantes. También ofrecí mi ayuda. Afortunadamente, la administración tenía interés y hablaron con los directores de las escuelas secund­arias. Con el apoyo del departamento de consejeros, decid­ieron añadir clases de español para los hablantes nativos en el año escolar de 2022-2023.
 
Después de pasar la primavera de 2022 escribiendo el currículum, la clase nueva fue aprobada y este año tuvimos cuatro clases exitosas entre las dos escuelas secundarias. Tenemos la suerte de tener dos profesores muy cualifica­dos para enseñarlas y me dicen que tienen estudiantes y familias que les han comentado el agradecimiento que se sienten por tener la oportunidad de aprender su idioma en una manera más natural y además tener una clase donde se sienten como individuos bilingües quienes traen un rico legado lingüístico consigo. Mi clase de ECE este año tiene más hablantes nativos y el año que viene va a tener aún más. Los estudiantes, sus familias, los profesores, y la ad­ministración están de acuerdo que en este caso los cambios que hemos hecho han mejorado nuestro programa y tengo muchas ganas de ver cómo va a crecer en el futuro.

 
By Janet Belvel
CT State Director, CT Science Olympiad
UConn ECE Instructor at South Windsor High School
(UConn AH 1000, Intro to Allied Health Professions & AH 2001, Medical Terminology)

 
UConn ECE was happy to host the return of the in person 2023 CT State Science Olympiad Com­petition (ctscioly.org) on March 11th. This annual event brought together some of the brightest young minds from across the state to showcase their scientific skills, problem-solving abilities, and teamwork. The day was filled with excitement, collaboration, and intense competition as these bud­ding scientists left no stone unturned in their quest for victory.

 
Science Olympiad is a highly regarded competition that challenges students in various scientif­ic disciplines, including biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and more. With an impressive lineup of over 23 events, the participants were required to exhibit their knowledge, innovation, and analytical thinking. Over 40 Science Olympiad teams from around the state showed remarkable dedication, preparing rigorously for months lead­ing up to the event.

 
This year South Windsor High School defended their title to emerge as the State Winners and will represent Connecticut at the National Tour­nament in Wichita, Kansas in May. Rounding out the top high school teams were Glastonbury, Hopkins, and Staples with outstanding perfor­mances. Wilton was awarded the Best New Team for this year by demonstrating their exceptional skills throughout the competition. The spirit of camaraderie was palpable as team members encouraged and supported each other, showcasing the true essence of the Science Olympiad. Their passion for science was reflected in every task. It was apparent that their hard work, combined with their commitment to excellence, propelled them towards success.

Participating in Science Olympiad is more than just a competition; it is an opportunity for young minds to explore their passion for science and ignite their curiosity. Teams are challenged in building and engineering events as well as written performance and experimental design. On campus, you could see everything from glider planes being flown in Hawley Armory to a Forensic Crime Lab run in the Chemistry Building. These are the experiences that create lasting memories for high school students and inspire them to join the next generation of scientists.
 

The success of the Connecticut Science Olympiad competition reflects the importance of cultivating scientific curiosity and encouraging students to pursue their passion for science. This would not be possible without the support of the coaches, parent and community volunteers, and the staff of the ECE program.
 

• UConn ECE Chinese Talent Show
• Connecticut High School Ethics Bowl
• UConn Chemistry May ECE Lab Day
• Connecticut Science Olympiad
• Connecticut History Day Returns