Pilot Proposed to Track High School Sports Injuries; Prospects in Doubt

Even with increased attention of late on the prevalence of concussions in youth sports, the Connecticut Athletic Trainers Association (CATA) says there is no reliable sports-related injury data compiled by secondary schools across Connecticut – for concussions or other injuries. They’d like to change that, and are urging legislators to  The goal is to “make recommendations to decrease the number” of injuries, and to quantify the need for appropriate medical coverage for secondary school student-athletes.

The proposal is opposed by the state Department of Public Health (DPH), citing a lack of funding for such a pilot.  In testimony earlier this month for the legislature’s Public Health Committee, Commissioner Jewel Mullen said “DPH does not have resources to conduct a pilot program solely for the purpose of studying injury rates in school athletic programs.”

She went on to offer that “the DPH can assist in providing support to statewide injury prevention initiatives that would address systems and environmental change to prevent injuries and disabilities to Connecticut residents.”

The department’s Office of Injury Prevention (OIP) “ceased to exist” in August 2010, after 17 years, when it was unsuccessful in obtaining federal funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  A five-year grant from CDC, which had supported operations of the OIP, expired in 2010.

The new pilot program being proposed by CATA and a coalition of statewide organizations would:

• Collect injury data from 20 schools over a 2-year period
• Identify injury rates, patterns and trends among high school sports participants in CT
• Assist with the development of evidence-based interventions to improve the health and safety of participants by lowering the number and/or severity of injuries and illnesses
• Provide evidence that may drive rule or policy change to ensure athlete safety
• Quantify the need for appropriate medical coverage for secondary school student –athletes

Thomas H. Trojian, Sports Medicine Fellowship Director at the UConn Health Center and a member of the Connecticut Concussion Task Force, described the plan as “vital to the health and safety of the children of the state of Connecticut.”  He told the committee that “due to the lack of a data collecting process, both physicians and those involved in these sports at a regulatory level cannot make fully educated decisions regarding interventions or rule changes to protect the health and safety of our student athletes in Connecticut.”

A multi-disciplinary group has begun collaborating, and supports the initiative.  Included are the Connecticut Athletic Trainer’s Association, Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, Connecticut State Medical Society, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and University of Connecticut School of Medicine.

Nationally, there are 30 million high school students participating in organized sports, with more than 2 million sports-related injuries each year.  The Connecticut State Medical Society said the pilot program proposed in Connecticut is “the appropriate first step by putting in place the appropriate entities to study and report on incidence of injuries and concussions at the high school level.”  The organization added that “it has been estimated that up to 50% of injuries may be preventable or at least have the long-term consequences lessened if tracking and reporting occurred.”

In her testimony, Mullen noted that “unintentional injuries cause 25% of all deaths among Connecticut children 1 to 14 years of age and approximately half of all deaths among young persons between the ages of 15 to 24 year.”

Connecticut athletic trainers are licensed health care professionals who collaborate with physicians to optimize activity and participation of patients and clients.  Athletic training encompasses the prevention, assessment and intervention of emergency, acute and chronic medical conditions involving impairment, functional limitation and disabilities.

The National Athletic Trainers’ Association has formed a Youth Sports Safety Alliance, with more than 100 health care and sports organizations and parent activities involved.  Their goal:  to make America’s sports programs safer for young athletes.

The organization has developed a “Secondary School Student Athletes’ Bill of Rights,” and urges schools to adopt safety measures to protect students from injury or illness, particularly cardiac events, neurological injuries, environmentally-induced conditions and dietary/substance-induced conditions.

Antiques Trail May Be Mapped Across Connecticut

State legislators are considering the establishment of a Connecticut Antiques Trail, an effort to highlight the state's numerous antique shops, and boost tourism and economic development along the way. The proposal, by Sen. Rob Kane of Watertown, follows a 2009 initiative in which he worked with the state Department of Transportation to erect signs along Interstate 84 to highlight a collection of antique shops in his district, the Associated Press reported.  As part of that effort,  the town of Woodbury was designated as the “Antiques Capitol of Connecticut," centered around a local trail that features more than 35 diverse shops.

Highlighting the scores of antique shops throughout the state has generated other initiatives. Ed Dombroskas,   the current executive director of the Eastern Regional Tourism District (billed as “Mystic Country” ) and a past state tourism director, supports the statewide plan.  His organization recently put together an antiques brochure for his region and received thousands of inquiries seeking copies.  The brochure Mystic Country Antiques Trail, includes 30 locations across Eastern Connecticut and is now available on-line.

Antiques shops – and some larger antique stores – blanket the Connecticut landscape, each noting their particular attributes and history.  The Connecticut Antiques Center, in Stamford, for example, touts its easy access to New York City.  Kane said it makes sense to expand the trail statewide to connect more antiques dealers with collectors, comparing the plan to the Connecticut Wine Trail.

Just this past weekend, the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington held an antiques and heirlooms appraisal day featuring a regular from the PBS program “Antiques Roadshow,” telecast locally on Connecticut Public Television and a perennial viewer favorite.  And the Connecticut Spring Antiques Show, celebrating its 40^th anniversary, was held earlier this month, March 16-17, at the Hartford Armory.

Immigration Becomes Focus at State Capitol

Immigration continues to be not only part of the American historical fabric, but one of the current hot button issues in Congress and the country. The Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance (CIRA) is organizing a rally that will march from the Old State House to the State Capitol on April 10, beginning at 3:30 PM.  Organizers say “the time is now” for a “realistic path to citizenship” and “reform that keeps families together, raises standards for all working people, and keeps the economy strong.”  They will be urging President Obama and Congress to pass “common sense immigration reform” this year.

The following day, April 11, the Connecticut Immigrant and Refugee Coalition will host the 16^th annual Connecticut Immigrant Day ceremony at the State Capitol’s Old Appropriations Room from 1:00 to 2:30 PM.  The keynote speaker will be Jose B. Gonzales of New London, associate professor of English at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and the recipient of the Connecticut Department of Education's Faculty of the Year Award in higher education.  A native Spanish speaker, he was born in San Salvador, and is an Essayist and Poet.

In a recent public opinion poll, sixty-eight percent (68%) of likely U.S. voters think immigration - when done within the law - is good for America. The Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey fund that only 19% disagree and feel legal immigration is bad for the country. Thirteen percent (13%) are not sure.

The recently formed CIRA is comprised of immigrant families, community leaders and elected officials -  a new statewide coalition calling for a path to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants, an end to family separations, and a moratorium on deportations.

The nonprofit Connecticut Immigrant and Refugee Coalition (CIRC) was established in 1996 as a broad-based network of community agencies, religious groups, legal service providers and immigrant rights activists committed to protecting the rights and welfare of refugee and immigrant communities in the state. Within this network, numerous refugee and immigrant groups are represented.

Amidst all the policy discussion, the Hartford Public Library conducts free citizenship classes on Saturday mornings, 10 am- 12 pm, for a 12-week cycle, at the branch at 1250 Albany Avenue.  They also offer DVDs, CDs and books to support the classes, and volunteer tutors are available on request.  The classes are funded in part by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, according to the Library.

After-School Network Highlights Accomplishments, Fights for Budget

The lengthy corridor between the State Capitol building and the Legislative Office Building routinely hosts informational poster displays on its walls, in two-week cycles, from a broad range of agencies, organizations and associations, highlighting their work and the impact it has on the state.  Reservations for the space are routinely made weeks in advance. One of the current displays, coordinated by the Connecticut After School Network, comes at a time when they – like many other nonprofit organizations and state agencies – are facing a potential budget cut from the state, at the urging of Gov. Malloy.  Ultimately it is the state legislature that will determine the parameters of the budget, a debate underway throughout the Capitol complex amongst legislators who pass by the posters each day, with messages and statistics that are hard to miss.  Among them:

• After-school programs cut the risk of juvenile crime by as much as 75%
• In Connecticut, 19% of children under the age of 18 experience food hardship.  Many rely on the meals they get at school and in after-school programs as a primary source.
• $1.7 to $2.3 million is saved by putting one high-risk youth on the right path.
• 73% of working parents miss less work when their children attend an after-school program.
• Students in after-school programs are 50% more likely to finish high school
• One in five Connecticut children (21%) regularly spends time after school unsupervised. This translates to more than 80,000 Connecticut children
• Children and youth involved in after-school programs have fewer absences from school.

March 7 was “After School Day at the Capitol.” The organization released a major report "Supporting Student Success in Connecticut: A BluePrint for Expanded Learning Opportunities".   The report calls on the state to make “7 smart, strategic investments,” reflecting that “after-school not be an after thought.”  The recommendations include addressing the issues of summer learning loss, incorporating expanded learning opportunities into the state’s education reform strategies, increasing alignment between systems and funding sources, rethinking the relationship between time and learning, and strengthening quality and accountability.

Their website currently features a petition urging restoration by legislators of the $4.5 million proposed cut and is promoting the organization’s 7th Annual Literacy Essentials Conference, to be held on Saturday, April 6 in conjunction with Central Connecticut State University.

The organization’s web site also points out that “every dollar invested in after school programs will save taxpayers approximately $3, not including the savings from reduced crime.”

The Connecticut After School Network is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization originally founded in 1989 and incorporated in 1990 under the name Connecticut School Age Care Alliance (CSACA). In 1990, CSACA became affiliated with the National School Age Care Alliance (now the National After-School Association).

Following similar action by the national organization, CSACA changed its name and broadened its mission in 2006, becoming the Connecticut After School Network.  It is a partnership of individuals and organizations working to ensure that every Connecticut child and youth will have the opportunity to participate in high quality, affordable after school programs.

The State Department of Education is a significant partner and major funder of the Network, providing leadership, support and technical assistance. SDE also oversees the CT After-School Advisory Council which provides advice and direction to the Network.

Early Childhood Education Cabinet to Meet Amidst Changing Landscape

The Connecticut Early Childhood Education Cabinet next meets on March 28 in Middletown, less than two months after Governor Dannel Malloy announced the establishment of an Office of Early Childhood (OEC) by merging functions previously under the jurisdiction of five different agencies. The new agency is designed to provide a comprehensive, collaborative system for delivering improved programs and services to children ages zero to five and their parents. The meeting also comes a year after the Cabinet, which was reformed by former Gov. M. Jodi Rell in 2010, issued a Needs Assessment report, which included the following sit-up-and-take-notice statistics:

• There are approximately 212,504 children from birth to age five in Connecticut; 29,379 of those children live in poverty and 78,803 children are from low income families.
• Approximately 161,013 of children under the age of six are potentially in need of child care.
• The state currently has 2,173 child care centers, with 25% of the centers nationally accredited .
• The annual cost of center-based care for an infant is $12,469, approximately 15% of the state’s median family; income.  The annual cost of care for an infant in a family child care setting is $9,230, 11% of the median family income.
• According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 6% of Connecticut’s children under the age of six are experiencing extreme poverty.
• The percent of Connecticut children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment is 26%, with 10% of children having at least one unemployed parent.
• The number of children served in Connecticut’s emergency shelters increased by 15% between 2010 and 2011.

The new Office of Early Childhood is a product of work by agency commissioners, early childhood education and development advocates, parents, caregivers, and other stakeholders, the Malloy administration explained.  It is comprised of related programs that were previously housed in five separate state agencies, and builds on work done in 2012 when Connecticut invested $9.8 million in early childhood initiatives, created 1,000 new spots for early learners, invested $3 million for a tiered quality rating and improvement system.

The purpose of the Early Childhood Education Cabinet has been to develop a high-quality, comprehensive system of early childhood education among the wide array of early childhood programs in the state (including Head Start, child care and School Readiness). It is chaired by Fairfield Schools Superintendent David Title. The Cabinet’s 2012 report concluded by stating their commitment to serve as “the catalyst for ongoing coordination and collaboration with statewide stakeholders to ensure that Connecticut’s youngest children have increased access to high quality early learning experiences as a foundation for lifelong success.”

Under Gov. Malloy’s revamped Office of Early Childhood, 71 staff will move to the new office, and four new positions will be created—an Executive Director and three staff positions.  The OEC will require a $370,000 investment in fiscal year 2014, and will use the Department of Education administrative and back office support. It will phase in over two years.

The planning of the OEC was made possible by support from the William Casper Graustein Memorial Fund, the Early Childhood Collaborative funders, and the Early Childhood Alliance.

Small Business Development Center is Re-launched At UConn Campuses, Chambers of Commerce

The Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CTSBDC), a collaborative initiative of the federal Small Business Administration (SBA), State of Connecticut and University of Connecticut, is being rebooted, redesigned and re-launched in an effort to be more responsive to the state’s small and newly-forming businesses. CTSBDC is a five-year, $11.6 million program to provide financial and technical assistance to businesses with 500 or fewer employees – which accounts for roughly 93 percent of Connecticut employers.

The initiative was announced by UConn’s Vice President for Economic Development Mary Holz-Clause and state Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Catherine Smith during Connecticut Business Day at the State Capitol.  They were joined by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, President and CEO of the Business Council of Fairfield County Chris Bruhl, UConn Board Chair and Middlesex Chamber of Commerce President Larry McHugh and business leaders from across the state.

“The new SBDC is designed to focus more like a private sector business: close to its customers, interconnected, efficiently using scarce resources, and offering a slate of innovative new services,” Bruhl said. “With a statewide network of 11 local SBDC offices, the Center strives to build the local ecosystem, recognizing that small business begins at the local level.”

The program will fund 16 full-time positions and two part-time positions, with individuals located at each of the 11 service centers, including seven local Chambers of Commerce and four regional UConn campuses, as well as the UConn campus in Storrs, and the Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center in Middletown.

During the news conference, Holz-Clause pointed out that the University is an ideal home for the SBDC, as the power of UConn’s network of more than 100,000 alumni can be tapped to serve as both mentors and connectors for small businesses to ensure they are successful. In addition, the six regional campuses provide the SBDC with an established network of satellite sites that are already engaged in local, state, and national business development efforts. She also noted the work of organizations such as UConn Ventures, which are helping to launch new businesses based on research and innovation at UConn.

“UConn is really focused on growing Connecticut’s economy from the ground up,” said Holz-Clause. “That’s why this partnership is such a perfect fit for us. It builds on some of our existing strengths and gives us a front-row seat for truly exciting developments in the state’s business community.”

Governor Malloy pointed out that “The reinvigorated Small Business Development Center takes our economic development strategy to a new level, combining the academic strength and resources of our flagship university with the knowledge and reach of our chambers of commerce, to bring technical and financial assistance to the sector responsible for the overwhelming majority of our jobs: small businesses.”

The Small Business Development Center program, administered by the federal government’s Small Business Administration, has been providing service to small businesses for more than 30 years and is one of the largest professional small business management and technical assistance networks in the nation with over 900 locations across the country.  In Connecticut, it had been based at Central Connecticut State University and the Connecticut State University System in recent years.  Previously, UConn had hosted the program.

For more information regarding the SBDC and its programs, please visit the newly designed  website at  www.ctsbdc.org. To learn more about UConn’s Office of Economic Development, please visit www.innovation.uconn.edu.

First-in-Nation Audio Service for Hospitalized Children Launched in Connecticut

In what may be the first program of its kind in the nation, CRIS Radio and Connecticut Children's Medical Center are working together to offer children who are patients at the hospital a new way to pass their time while receiving medical treatment. Connecticut Children's patients may now listen to CRISKids, a service that provides audio versions of articles published in nearly 20 award-winning children's magazines, through the hospital's in-house television system.  The audio alternative to printed magazines - through an in-house system streamed to each patient TV – can be tremendously comforting for young patients unable to read or turn pages of a magazine due to their condition or medical treatment.

CRIS (Connecticut Radio Information System) is a 34-year-old nonprofit based in Windsor and is Connecticut's only radio-reading service providing audio access to news and information for people who are blind or print-handicapped, including those unable to read due to physical, learning, intellectual or emotional disabilities.

CRISKids, the only extensive line-up of audio versions of children's magazines in the nation and Canada, was launched in December 2011.  More than a dozen titles are available, mostly for children aged 4 to 15, including National Geographic for Kids, Science World, Ranger Rick,  Junior Scholastic, Sports Illustrated for Kids and Scholastic News.

CRIS Board Chairman William H. Austin said that the Board “is excited to form a partnership with Connecticut Children's and thankful for the funding support received to bring this project to life.  Comcast provided technical assistance and a donation of special equipment necessary for the project. Other funders of the project include the Ellen Jeanne Goldfarb Memorial Charitable Trust, and the Ahearn Family Foundation.

"The availability of CRISKidsTM in patient rooms will allow children to enjoy educational entertainment, which is an extremely valuable offering and can be a helpful component of the healing process," said Martin J. Gavin, President and CEO of Connecticut Children's Medical Center.

The CRISKids initiative has received financial support from several foundations, including: Help for the Blind of Eastern Connecticut, Fund for Greater Hartford, The Gibney Family Foundation, and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

CRIS Radio records more than 70 newspapers and magazines to provide audio access to printed material for people who are blind and print-handicapped. The audio recordings can be heard with a special CRIS radio, toll-free through the CRIS Telephone Reader, online streaming live or on-demand at the CRIS Radio website, www.crisradio.org, or with any mobile device, including tablets or smartphones.  CRIS operates with nearly 350 volunteers at its broadcast center in Windsor and four satellite studios located in Danbury, Norwich, Trumbull and West Haven.  The CRISKids program is also available for individual subscription.

Connecticut Children's Medical Center is a nationally recognized, 187-bed not-for-profit children's hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Named among the best in the nation for several of its pediatric specialties in the annual U.S. News & World Report "Best Children's Hospitals" rankings.

CT Ranked #4 as More Students Succeed on AP Exams; Gap Widens for Latino, Black Students

The College Board, in its annual report on the state of the Advanced Placement program – known to high school students as AP classes – determined that mean scores and overall participation in the AP exam both grew last year, but inequities in the availability of the exams and programs persists across socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. Connecticut ranked #6 nationally in the percentage of 2012 public high school graduates succeeding on AP exams, but disparities continued in Connecticut and nationwide in the number of minority students taking and succeeding in AP classes.  The state ranked #4 in the nation for the largest change in the overall percentage of students scoring well on the AP Exam, from 15.5 percent in 2002 to 26.9 percent in 2012, a jump of 15.5 percent.

Data indicate that in Connecticut, however, the gap widened from 2011 to 2012 in the percentage of African-American students and Latino students in the graduating class who took AP classes.  Ten states eliminated the gap for Latino students; three states did so for African-American students.

The publication Inside Higher Ed noted that the report designated “promoting equity” as a major goal for the AP program in the coming years, and although lack of equal access and opportunity remains an issue, the findings reported several positive signs over the past year in this regard.  The report states that in 2012, disparities in participation and success shrank in 30 states for African-American students and in 17 states for Latino students.

Among the class of 2012, more than 300,000 students identified as having a high likelihood of success in AP did not take any recommended AP Exam. To succeed on an AP exam, students need to score a 3 or higher on a 5-point scale. Many colleges and universities offer college credit for passing scores. AP courses are offered in a variety of subjects, including math, science, foreign language, English and history.

According to the report, nationwide the number of high school graduates taking the AP exam in 2012 was 954,070, or 32.4 percent, up from 30.2 percent in 2011, and 18 percent a decade earlier, in 2002. Hundreds of thousands of academically prepared students with the potential to succeed in AP — including a disproportionately large percentage of underserved minority students — are graduating from high school without having participated in AP classes.

AP participation also increased among low-income graduates, who accounted for 26.6 percent of students who took at least one AP examination. This is an increase from 11.5 percent in 2003.

ctlatinonews.com cited ABC News Univision in reporting that more Latinos are taking the test than in previous years, according to the report, and more of them are succeeding. But the data revealed significant inequities in AP participation along racial/ethnic lines, with underserved minority students who demonstrated readiness for AP much less likely than their similarly prepared white and Asian/Asian American/Pacific Islander peers to experience AP course work.

Writing in the Miami Herald, Trevor Packer, Vice President of the Advanced Placement Program at The College Board, pointed out that “Under-represented minority students who show readiness to succeed in AP are less likely to actually take AP than their white and Asian peers. In AP math course work, for example, among every 10 students who are ready for an AP math course, 60 percent of Asian students, 40 percent of white students, 30 percent of Latino and African-American students, respectively, and 20 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native students participate in the program.”

Why are many minority students not enrolled in advanced placement classes? One reason cited in the report is a lack of access. Many attend school where the coursework is simply not available. The report offers suggestions for improving access to AP courses, while noting that schools can run into obstacles such as a lack of funding or properly trained teachers.  Schools need to do a better job of notifying students that they are eligible for the courses, the report says. Once students are enrolled, the report says that schools should provide support, in the form of peer-to-peer mentoring, counseling and tutoring.

Top 10 States in Percentage of 2012 Public High School Graduates Succeeding on AP Exams

1. Maryland (29.6%)
2. New York (28.0%)
3. Massachusetts (27.9%)
4. Florida (27.3%)
5. Virginia (27.2%)
6. Connecticut (26.9%)
7. Maine (24.8%)
8. California (24.7%)
9. Colorado (24.2%)
10. Vermont (22.8%)

Quinnipiac Skates to New Heights; Games Over for MCC

While one is flying high, the other is grounded.  That’s the world of difference now facing student-athletes at two Connecticut higher ed institutions.  Quinnipiac University’s hockey team is ranked number one in the nation, the first time that’s happened for a team from the Hamden school.  Over at Manchester Community College, officials have announced plans to eliminate all sports at the school, due to budgetary cutbacks, abruptly ending the collegiate sports careers – and possibly the college attendance – for student athletes in soccer and basketball.  Baseball was eliminated earlier this decade. Quinnipiac was just voted atop the USCHO.com poll on Monday for the fourth successive week, according to The New Haven Register.  The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll consists of 50 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division I conferences and 22 beat writers and sports professionals from across the country.

The Bobcats (24-5-5) received 36 of 50 first-place votes to keep them ahead of No. 2 Minnesota, which had 12 first-place votes. The nationally-ranked No. 1 Quinnipiac team defeated No. 18 Dartmouth, 4-1, in its final regular-season game of the 2012-13 season. Quinnipiac improves to 24-5-5 overall and will finish the ECAC Hockey regular season at 17-2-3. The Bobcats were 11-0-0 against ranked opponents for the year.

In Manchester, college President Gena Glickman told The Hartford Courant that the athletic program costs the school about $370,000 - at a time when hard decisions and cuts need to be made.  While announcing plans to eliminate the sports program, she acknowledged that some students who would otherwise not attend college do so because of the athletic opportunities, and have a high rate of academic success, with many continuing on with their education after earning their Associate’s degree.

Men's soccer coach Darren Foster said that he would not be where he is now without having attended Manchester CC, after his military service in Afghanistan. Athletic director Cynthia Washburne attended MCC for a semester in 1981 before going on to play softball at Eastern.

No word on whether the funds can be located – or donated from an outside benefactor – to reverse the decision and keep the programs alive at MCC for at least another year.  Such a rescue appears unlikely.  Of Connecticut's 12 community colleges, only New Haven's Gateway Community College is slated to offer sports next year, even though education officials acknowledge that athletics is a way in to higher education for some students - students who might not otherwise pursue college.  .

After winning its first Cleary Cup, for the ECAC Hockey Regular-Season Championship, two weeks ago, Quinnipiac earned the top seed and a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey Tournament. The Bobcats will host an ECAC Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals series on Mar. 15-17.

The thinner ice, it turns out,  is in Manchester.  In Hamden, there’s solid ground.

CT Girlcott Set to Make History, Opens Make-Up Free Photo Exhibit

March is Women’s History Month, and a number of local organizations in Greater Hartford have come together looking to make some history of their own.   They’ve organized CT Girlcott, a movement of women willing to go makeup free for the month (or part thereof) and to donate the money usually spent on cosmetics to organizations that benefit women and girls in Connecticut and around the world.  The effort also aims to raise awareness around body image and the relationship between women and the makeup they wear. Among the organizers are Charter Oak Cultural Center, YWCA Hartford Region, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, University of Hartford Women for Change, Women’s Education and Leadership Fund, CT Humanities, and the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women.  A website, www.ctgirlcott.org has been launched highlighting the initiative.

The Charter Oak Cultural Center is hosting a photography exhibition as part of CT Girlcott which features the images of the women leaders who have “dared to bare it all for the camera.” Revealed: Images of Women Leaders Who Bared to Make Change opens with a reception on February 28, 6-8 PM, and runs through April 13.  Photographs of over thirty women leaders from the Greater Hartford community will be revealed without their make-up, including many familiar names (and faces).

Girlcott is "a movement of Connecticut women raising consciousness" on behalf of women around the world and the issues currently confronting women in 2013.  Girlcott asks women to “girlcott” (as opposed to boycott) make-up for the month of March and to donate the monies spent on cosmetics to organizations and programs that help and support women and girls in Hartford and internationally. Connecticut Humanities provided funding for the exhibition, which includes the work of photographers Nilofer Haider, Lena Stein, and Nicolette Theriault.

CT Girlcott hopes to encourage conversations among women about body image, definitions of beauty, and what cosmetics are really covering up, and support the flourishing of women and girls in Connecticut, as well as in developing and war-torn countries.  The initiative also seeks to raise awareness about the representation of women in the media, the pressures women live with to look a certain way, the objectification of women, and the impact all of this has on women’s lives and the life of the nation and world.