CEF Scholarships Help Students Pursue Teaching Careers – Connecticut Education Association
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The Connecticut Education Foundation, CEA’s charitable arm, has awarded scholarships to four students this year to help them pursue careers as public school educators.
Most scholarships include $2,000 toward tuition for each year a recipient is enrolled in an undergraduate program leading to educator certification; the Gloria Brown Aspiring Educator Scholarship provides a one-time award of $2,000 that may be used toward tuition, professional clothing, or materials needed to start a career in public education.
Also included with scholarship awards are membership in CEA’s Aspiring Educator Program and participation in CEA’s Summer Conference.
“We are so pleased to award financial assistance and professional development opportunities to students who are interested in becoming educators, and we look forward to seeing them lead their own classrooms,” says CEF President and CEA Vice President Joslyn DeLancey.
Find out more about CEF scholarships.
Meet this year’s winners.
Luis Astacio – Racially and Ethnically Diverse Future Educators Scholarship
“The more I’ve learned about chemistry, the more I’ve wanted to learn,” says Trumbull High School graduate and UConn freshman Luis Astacio, who hopes to take a subject a lot of people find hard and confusing and make it clear, interesting, and fun.
“Science has always been one of my favorite subjects, and I want my future students to feel the same excitement about chemistry that I do,” he says. “My goal is to help students enjoy learning and feel proud of what they can do. I want them to ask questions, be curious, and maybe even discover a love for science, like I did.”
He adds, “I’ve always known I wanted to do something that helps people and has a real impact, and over time, I realized that becoming a teacher is the right path for me. Connecticut cares about education and helping students succeed, and I want to be a part of that.”
Astacio says his mother, a Spanish teacher, was a big influence on his decision to teach.
“Growing up, I saw how much she loved her job and how much her students respected her. She showed me that being a teacher goes beyond lessons—it’s about building relationships, supporting students, and making sure they know someone believes in them. Seeing the difference she made in her students’ lives made me want to do the same.”
Lindsey Houle – Phil DiGiovanni Future Teacher Scholarship
A 2025 Stonington High School graduate, Lindsey Houle is nothing if not deeply involved in her school and community.
Student government vice president and a member of the National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society, Houle organized and participated in events ranging from blood drives to holiday toy drives, veterans’ dinners, and Teacher Appreciation Week. She was also a high school peer mediator, helping students prevent and resolve disputes, as well as a freshman orientation volunteer, vice president of the school’s Women’s Empowerment Club, and member of its Civics Community Club.
Houle is attending UConn this fall, where she plans to major in special education.
“The reality is I didn’t know I wanted to become a special education teacher until my sophomore year of high school,” she acknowledges. “That summer, I needed to fill a hole in my school schedule, and the only option was Unified PE.”
Through the Unified program, Houle discovered a passion for working with students who have special needs.
“They are inspiring, talented, caring, and perfect exactly the way they are,” she says. “I want to be a special education teacher because I believe everyone deserves a quality educational experience, no matter how they learn.”
The Phil DiGiovanni Future Teacher Scholarship is awarded to the child of a CEA member who wishes to pursue a career as a public school educator. Houle’s mother, social studies teacher Ann-Marie Houle, is Stonington’s 2025 Teacher of the Year.
Laila Wilson – Racially and Ethnically Diverse Future Educators Scholarship
When asked why she wants to teach, Laila Wilson points to two core memories.
“When I was in third grade, I remember walking into the classroom on the first day of school and seeing a woman with light brown skin and hair close to mine,” she recalls. “Let’s call her ‘Ms. Smith.’ I’d never had a teacher who looked like me or who wasn’t white. I was so fascinated by her, I tried my best for her and wanted her approval. She was amazing—kind and with this confidence I looked up to.”
Wilson didn’t miss a day of school that year, and her perfect attendance paid off with an award on the last day of school.
“Besides that, there was one more award for me that I wasn’t expecting,” Wilson notes. “Our teacher announced to the entire class that I was getting the ‘future Ms. Smith award’ because I reminded her of herself, and she thought I would make an excellent teacher. I remember feeling so excited and honored.”
When COVID hit, during Wilson’s sophomore year of high school, her passion for teaching was reignited.
“I came across a documentary series that showed students around the world and their journeys to school,” she explains. “I watched kids younger than me walk miles through the blazing sun, rain, snow, jungles, and other rough conditions just to have the opportunity to learn. I realized how crucial education was and how much people were willing to go through to get it.”
Wilson is enrolled in Eastern Connecticut State University’s early start graduate secondary English education certification program as she completes her undergraduate English coursework. She hopes to foster a love of reading in students who find it boring or don’t necessarily think they’re good at it.
“Teaching truly is the most important job in the world, and I would pick it as my career path every time.”
Hannah Spinner – Gloria Brown Aspiring Educator Scholarship
Hannah Spinner is the first-ever recipient of a scholarship established in honor of the late CEA leader Gloria Brown, whose unionism and support for CEA’s Aspiring Educator Program (CEA-AEP) were defining features. A local president, member of CEA’s Board of Directors and Executive Board, and president of CEA-Retired, Brown was an outspoken advocate for teachers and students.
Spinner, the chair of CEA’s Aspiring Educator Program, has all the makings of a similar leader.
A student at UConn, where she is now completing her master’s degree and serves as president of the Future Educators Club, she has testified on education-related legislation, spoken at press conferences on issues affecting aspiring educators, facilitated meetings between lawmakers and pre-service teachers, participated in CEA’s Summer Conference and Early Career Educator Conference, and helped plan a variety of events connecting aspiring educators to their communities.
“We’ve had teacher self-care nights, invited UConn professors to discuss multicultural literature in the classroom, had CEA staff discuss postcard-writing campaigns we can do with legislators, and more,” she says. Among the legislative proposals Spinner fought for were stipends for student teachers, tuition assistance for aspiring educators, and higher teacher salaries. Last year, she applied for and was awarded an NEA CREATE Grant to produce an art installation called Piecing Together for Political Action. A collaborative effort of all CEA Aspiring Educator chapters, the finished product—displayed at the State Capitol in 2025—illustrated issues important to aspiring and active educators.
“Two years ago, I would never have thought my voice as an undergraduate student in education had so much power,” she says. “I would never have thought I would be on the news, talking to those who shape the laws in our state, or being a reason that more aspiring educators want to get active in CEA-AEP. However, the moment that I took the chance to be a part of something larger than myself, I never looked back. It’s my long-term goal to use the voice I have gained through this work to steer the future of education.”
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Connecticut Education Foundation
c/o Joslyn Delancey
21 Oak Street, Suite 500
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CEA may be eligible to elect up to 30 state delegates to the NEA RA in 2020. Here are descriptions of the open positions:
Category 1 At-Large/State Delegate: Fifteen Positions (Term: two years)
Category 1 At-Large/Ethnic Minority Concerns: Four Positions (Term: 2
years)
These categories must have Active classroom teachers (Membership Type AC-1) or NEA Life members (Membership Type AC-7) in local affiliates are eligible for these positions.
Aspiring Educators: one Position (Term: 1 Year)
Only Aspiring Educators with a SEA and NEA membership are eligible for this position.
Membership Units: nine positions from specific Membership Units (Term: one year)
Only active members (Membership Type AC-1) or NEA Life members (Membership Type AC-7) who teach in a local CEA affiliate in one of the seventeen Membership Units may be nominated for these positions. The nine open units include E, F, H, J, K, L, M, P & Q.
Bethel, Brookfield, CEA New Milford, Easton, NEA Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman
Amity, Bethany, Branford, Derby, East Haven, Milford, Orange, Oxford, Seymour, Woodbridge
ACES, Cheshire, Hamden, North Haven, Wallingford, Wolcott
Berlin, Farmington, Newington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington, Thomaston, Wethersfield
Cromwell, East Hartford, Glastonbury, Manchester, Rocky Hill
Bloomfield, CREC, East Windsor, Enfield, South Windsor, Suffield, Windsor
Avon, Canton, East Granby, Granby, Simsbury, West Hartford, Windsor Locks
East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, Montville, New London, North Stonington, Preston, Project LEARN, Stonington, Voluntown, Waterford
Clinton, East Haddam, East Hampton, Guilford, Haddam-Killingworth, Madison, Old Saybrook, Regional 4, Regional 13, Regional 18, Portland, Westbrook
Category 2 At-Large: One position (Term interim position open this year)
Nominees for the Category 2 At-Large position must be Active members (Membership Type AC-1) in supervisor/administrator positions or NEA Life members (Membership Type AC-7) who are no longer teaching—but only if they are not also NEA-Retired members. (NEA Life membership is a special category terminated in 1973.) Members with Active Life Memberships who are not retired from teaching are eligible for Category 2. NEA-Retired Members for Life (Membership Type RT-7) or annual Retired members (Membership Type RT-8) ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR CATEGORY 2
Bethany Education Association
Education Association of Preston
Franklin Education Association
ISAAC Education Association
Lisbon Education Association
New Beginnings Education Association
Norwich Integrated Education Association
Sherman Education Association
Sprague Education Association
Voluntown Education Association
Waterford Education Association
Wethersfield Education Association
Barkhamsted Education Association
Canaan Education Association
Colebrook Teachers’ Association
Cornwall Consolidated Faculty Association
Gilbert Education Association
Hartland Education Association
Housatonic Valley Regional Faculty Association
Kent Center Faculty Association
New Hartford Education Association
Norfolk Teachers’ Association
North Canaan Faculty Association
Salisbury Center School Faculty Association
Shared Services Teachers’ Association
Sharon Center School Faculty Association
Winchester Education Association
Andover Education Association
Columbia Teachers’ Association
Hebron Education Association
Marlborough Education Association
Willington Education Association
Ashford Education Association
Brooklyn Education Association
Canterbury Education Association
Chaplin Education Association
Eastford Teachers’ Association
Hampton Education Association
Pomfret Community Education Association
Regional District #11 Education Association
Scotland Education Association
Sterling Education Association
Teachers’ Education Association of Union
Woodstock Association of Teachers
Standing Committees of CEA-Retired are appointed by the CEA-Retired President with the advice of the Advisory Council after the CEA-Retired Annual Meeting in May. This typically takes place in June with additional appointments made in September. Terms will be for one year commencing on August 1.
If you are interested in serving on one of the committees, please indicate your willingness below. Please remember that committees have a limited membership and not all of the requests can be filled. By giving a first and second choice, CEA-Retired members will have a better chance of being chosen. If you filled out a form and returned it at the Annual Meeting, please do not fill out another form.
For inquiries or donations, visit http://henrybarnardfund.org/index.html
Contact CEA Retirement Specialist Robyn Kaplan-Cho at 860-525-5641, 1-800-842-4319, or [email protected].
Your contract can serve as an important vehicle for protecting your rights and advancing your concerns as a teacher working with special education students. In this workshop, teachers will learn how to integrate special education issues into the collective bargaining process. Participants will study the pros and cons of negotiating contract provisions related to performing health procedures, teacher notification and scheduling of PPT meetings, professional development opportunities, class-size limitations, local dispute resolution procedures for special-education-related problems, placement decisions, and many more related topics. Model contract language will be provided. This workshop is ideal for negotiating committees and teachers with a particular interest in this area of the law.
Length 2+ Hours
Presenter: Robyn Kaplan-Cho, CEA
