Schools of Distinction in Connecticut; 116 Earn Designation

Over 100 schools statewide across Connecticut have been recognized by the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) as 'Schools of Distinction' for the 2015-2016 school year. The state recognized 116 schools for high academic achievement and high growth, including 15 schools within the state's Alliance District program. The state's alliance district program is a targeted investment in Connecticut's 30 lowest-performing districts.

To qualify for the distinction designation, schools cannot have high achievement gaps or high graduation rate gaps, and must also meet participation rate requirements.  'Schools of Distinction' are schools that meet the following criteria, according to the CSDE.

• the top ten percent of schools using the Accountability Index score;
• the top ten percent of schools with the highest growth for all students or for the high-needs group (free or reduced price lunch, English language learners, and students in special education); or
• the top ten percent of schools (among those without growth) with improvement in Accountability Index.

Danbury, Greenwich and Ridgefield have six schools each on the list, the most of any district in the state.

Shelton, Stratford and Trumbull had four schools among those designated, and Glastonbury and Regional School District 12 each had three schools earn a slot on the list.  West Hartford had three schools named, Braeburn, Bugbbee and Whiting Lane..

Two Capital Region Education Council (CREC) schools made the list, The Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Elementary School and the University of Hartford Magnet School.  CREC renamed one of its magnet schools in 2014 in honor of Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, a former Hartford resident who was among the young victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting.

2015-2016 Schools of Distinction

• Anna H. Rockwell School, Bethel
• Frank A. Berry School, Bethel
• Bolton High School, Bolton
• Mary R. Tisko School, Branford
• Brass City Charter School, Waterbury
• Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Elementary School, Avon
• University of Hartford Magnet School, West Hartford
• Chapman School, Cheshire
• Norton School, Cheshire
• Lewin G. Joel Jr. School, Clinton
• M. Wright Technical High School, Stamford
• Ellsworth Avenue School, Danbury
• Hayestown Avenue School, Danbury
• Mill Ridge Primary School, Danbury
• Morris Street School, Danbury
• Park Avenue School, Danbury
• South Street School, Danbury
• Ox Ridge Elementary School, Darien
• Royle Elementary School, Darien
• Tokeneke Elementary School, Darien
• East Haddam Elementary School, East Haddam
• Dominick H. Ferrara School, East Haven
• East Lyme High School, East Lyme
• Lillie B. Haynes School, East Lyme
• Niantic Center School, East Lyme
• Windermere School, Ellington
• Burr Elementary School, Fairfield
• Timothy Dwight Elementary School, Fairfield
• Jennings School, Fairfield
• Riverfield School, Fairfield
• East Farms School, Farmington
• Noah Wallace School, Farmington
• Union School, Farmington
• West District School, Farmington
• Eastbury School, Glastonbury
• Hopewell School, Glastonbury
• Nayaug Elementary School, Glastonbury
• Wells Road Intermediate School, Granby
• International School at Dundee, Greenwich
• North Mianus School, Greenwich
• North Street School, Greenwich
• Old Greenwich School, Greenwich
• Parkway School, Greenwich
• Riverside School, Greenwich
• Northeast Academy Elementary School, Groton
• B. Butler School, Groton
• Guilford Lakes School, Guilford
• Regional Multicultural Magnet School, New London
• Litchfield Intermediate School, Litchfield
• Southeast Elementary School, Mansfield
• Casimir Pulaski School, Meriden
• Thomas Hooker School, Meriden
• Orange Avenue School, Milford
• Pumpkin Delight School, Milford
• Oakdale School, Montville
• Western School, Naugatuck
• East School, New Canaan
• New Canaan High School, New Canaan
• West School, New Canaan
• Conte/West Hills Magnet School, New Haven
• Anna Reynolds School, Newington
• Hawley Elementary School, Newtown
• Green Acres Elementary School, North Haven
• Ridge Road Elementary School, North Haven
• North Stonington Elementary School, North Stonington
• Wheeler High School, North Stonington
• Samuel Huntington School, Norwich
• Thomas W. Mahan School, Norwich
• Kathleen E. Goodwin School, Old Saybrook
• Moosup Elementary School, Plainfield
• Plainfield Central School, Plainfield
• Plymouth Center School, Plymouth
• Brownstone Intermediate School, Portland
• Redding Elementary School, Redding
• Harwinton Consolidated School, Harwinton
• Booth Free School, Roxbury
• The Burnham School, Bridgewater
• Washington Primary School, Washington Depot
• Burr District Elementary School, Higganum
• Haddam Elementary School, Higganum
• Lyme Consolidated School, Lyme
• Mile Creek School, Old Lyme
• Barlow Mountain Elementary School, Ridgefield
• Branchville Elementary School, Ridgefield
• Farmingville Elementary School, Ridgefield
• Ridgebury Elementary School, Ridgefield

• Scotland Elementary School, Ridgefield
• Veterans Park Elementary School, Ridgefield
• West Hill School, Rocky Hill
• Chatfield-LoPresti School, Seymour
• Booth Hill School, Shelton
• Elizabeth Shelton School, Shelton
• Long Hill School, Shelton
• Sunnyside School, Shelton
• South Windsor School District, Pleasant Valley School
• Eli Whitney School, Stratford
• Nichols School, Stratford
• Second Hill Lane School, Stratford
• Stratford Academy - Johnson House, Stratford
• Booth Hill School, Trumbull
• Jane Ryan School, Trumbull
• Middlebrook School, Trumbull
• Tashua School, Trumbull
• Yalesville School, Wallingford
• Braeburn School, West Hartford
• Bugbee School, West Hartford
• Whiting Lane School, West Hartford
• Edith E. Mackrille School, West Haven
• Seth G. Haley School, West Haven
• Daisy Ingraham School, Westbrook
• Coleytown Elementary School, Westport
• Green's Farms School, Westport
• Alfred W. Hammer School, Wethersfield
• Wilton High School, Wilton
• B. Sweeney School, Windham
• Frisbie School, Wolcott

Disparities Evident As Fairfield County Considers Its Community Wellbeing

Fairfield County’s sizeable immigrant population - twenty percent of Connecticut’s most populous county - grew 89 percent from 1990 to 2014. In some municipalities, foreign-born residents make up as much as a third of the population. That is among the findings in the Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index 2016, which examined regional demographics, economic opportunity, education, health, quality of life, and happiness.  The report includes analysis of the communities, populations, and neighborhoods of Fairfield County, as well as opportunities available and issues facing the area.

Since 1980, the size of the population living in neighborhoods that are considered most affluent – defined as those with an average family income more than 2.5 times higher than the state level - has tripled within Fairfield County. Meanwhile, the number of people living in poor neighborhoods is 3.5 times its 1980 size. The number of people in middle-income neighborhoods has decreased by sixteen percent.

Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, a major funder of the report, partnered with DataHaven, area hospitals, and government agencies to help launch a more robust and comprehensive resource that could serve as a part of the hospitals’ and health departments’ Community Health Needs Assessments as well as a broader county-wide indicators program.

“Fairfield County’s Community Foundation is committed to addressing the most pressing issues facing Fairfield County, but to do that we first need to be able to identify and understand those issues,” stated Nancy M. von Euler, Vice President, Programs, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. “The data in the Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index 2016 will help us to develop priorities for collective action to build a stronger, healthier Fairfield County where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their zip code.”

The report states that "Despite its overall affluence, Fairfield County is among the nation’s most unequal metropolitan areas. Inequities in well-being appear when evidence is stratified by income, age, race, gender, and zip code. These differences are often most apparent after considering data that were collected specifically for the age groups and neighborhoods that are most impacted."

Among the findings, between 2014 and 2025, adults ages 65 and over are Fairfield County’s only age group projected to grow significantly, with a thirty-seven percent increase. Disparities in the County were also evident:

• High and rising childcare costs are often prohibitively expensive for low and middle-income families. While Fairfield County has nearly enough spaces for all 3- to 4-year-olds to attend preschool, there are only enough regulated childcare slots for fifteen percent of the county’s children ages 0 to 2, and enough subsidized slots to cover only twenty-two percent of these youngest children in low-income households.

• The issue of dental care arose as an indicator of well-being, particularly among younger adults and families. The Index shows that for every 10,000 residents living in Fairfield County, 12 residents visit an emergency room to receive treatment for preventable dental conditions in any given year, whereas on the East Side of Bridgeport, 178 residents do.

• Fairfield County residents are healthy when compared to national benchmarks. However, many conditions and risk factors—such as asthma, food insecurity, exposure to community violence, and the early onset of diabetes—are disproportionately prevalent in lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Sections of Bridgeport in particular fall very far behind the surrounding area in many of these measures.

• Disparities in access to reliable transportation persist between racial and income groups. A majority of Fairfield County workers, regardless of income, commute to another town for work. Many low-income (annual wages under $40,000) workers leave Bridgeport for work, while large shares of high-income workers commute to New York City.

“The process of developing this report allowed local partners and community members to identify links between the well-being of residents and the places where they live. Looking beyond typical measures like income levels or unemployment rates, the Community Wellbeing Index reveals a much more uneven distribution of opportunities in areas such as neighborhood walkability, economic development, public health, and education,” said Mark Abraham, Executive Director of DataHaven and a lead author of the report. “The impact that these barriers to opportunity have on overall well-being and happiness will serve as a call to action for many groups working to improve Fairfield County’s diverse neighborhoods and towns.”

The Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index 2016 was based on a variety of federal and statewide data sources. Partners of DataHaven’s Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index 2016 include Fairfield County’s Community Foundation; Bridgeport Hospital; Danbury Hospital; Greenwich Hospital; Norwalk Hospital; St. Vincent’s Medical Center; and Stamford Hospital.

CT Ranks 5th in U.S. in Dental Health, Best in New England

The neighboring states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and North Dakota have the best dental health in the nation, but Connecticut and Massachusetts break the mid-west logjam, ranking fifth and sixth in a new survey of nearly two dozen dental-health related categories by the financial website WalletHub. Connecticut ranked second in a series of oral health categories and 17^th in a group of dental habits and care categories, according to the survey, resulting in the 5th place finish overall.  Connecticut and Massachusetts ranked one-two in the highest percentage of adults who visited a dentist in the past year, and Connecticut placed third, after New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, in the highest percentage of adolescents who visited a dentist in the past year.

Connecticut also topped the list in two additional categories:  Lowest Percentage of Adults Who Experienced Pain in the Past Year Due to Oral Condition and Lowest Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Among Adolescents.  The state also ranked in a tie for third for having the lowest percentage of elderly population with no natural teeth.

Data used to create the ranking were collected from U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Healthy Grid, American Dental Association, Health Resources & Services Administration, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and Oral Health America, according to WalletHub.

With the state’s ranking in the background, the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative (COHI) will host a session on health equity during Oral Health Day at the State Capitol on Wednesday, March 8, from 10 am to 3 pm in the Legislative Office Building.

Connecticut oral health-related organizations will on hand throughout the day to raise awareness and educate decision-makers and the public about policies to improve the oral health of Connecticut residents. The organization’s focus this year is on preserving Medicaid coverage for adults and children, allowing children to remain on their parents' dental insurance until age 26, and integrating oral health into health systems.

Other legislative initiatives include a proposal to increase the number of adults aged 19 to 26 years covered by dental insurance to provide continuity of dental care into adulthood, and another to decrease the incidence of oral and other cancers by decreasing tobacco use by Connecticut residents. By raising the Legal Age For Purchase and Use of Tobacco Products.

COHI leads and collaborates in statewide oral health advocacy efforts; promotes the necessity of oral health to overall health; serves as an expert resource on oral health policy; and publicizes oral health policy analysis and recommendations.

Also at the Capitol, the Department of Public Health is proposing a mandate for dental hygienists to have at least one contact hour in cultural competency prior to the renewal of their license, as part of the commitment to health equity.

Collegiate Greek Life Leaders Descend on Hartford, Again

Hotel rooms were relatively scarce in downtown Hartford this past weekend as the Northeast Greek Leadership Association attracted about 1,000 college students involved in leading their campus fraternities and sororities to the Capitol City for the regional organization’s annual conference. The NGLA filled rooms at the Marriot and Hilton downtown, with overflow rooms at the Holiday Inn for the conference held at the Connecticut Convention Center, February 23 – 26.  The conference has become somewhat of a tradition in Hartford, held in the city in alternate years.

NGLA provides educational training and leadership development for collegiate fraternity and sorority members from college campuses across the northeast, and “builds community among students from a variety of fraternal experiences, challenges members to align their actions with fraternal values, and empowers advocates to transform and improve their communities,” the organization’s website points out.

“Hartford has always graciously welcomed our conference and its 1000+ conference attendees from across the northeast. We are thrilled to be back at the Convention Center,” said Emily Perlow, Chairman of the association’s Board of Directors. 

This year’s program highlights included education on motivating members, values based decision making, diversity and inclusion, and sexual assault prevention. Students, campus based professionals, national fraternity and sorority professionals and volunteers, as well as vendors and speakers attend the event, which offers a range of educational opportunities for participants.

The program also includes an Advisors Academy, which was recognized as an Outstanding Educational Program by the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors. There also is programming specifically for culturally based fraternities and sororities and local fraternities and sororities. In addition, opportunities to “sit with brothers and sisters from the region at the affiliation luncheon.”  The weekend culminates with a closing banquet during which NGLA Awards are presented, recognizing outstanding achievement.

Among the sessions held during the conference: Curiosity, Courage and Cake: Surviving Mental Illness Through Sisterhood; Know Better/Do Better: A Frank Talk About Campus Racism; and Retaking Our Story: Reframing the Sexual Assault Conversation.  Speakers providing insight for the student leaders address topics including: Be An Action Hero: The 4 Traits of High Impact Leaders; Why We Need to Talk with Our Members About Race and Every Student Needs to Know About Alcohol.

NGLA, which formed in 2011 with the merger of two fraternal organizations in the region, states as its vision:

• Fraternities and sororities in the northeast provide co-curricular learning experiences that prove to be essential in furthering the mission of their host institution
• Fraternities and sororities in the northeast are high performing and are looked to as a model of best practices
• Fraternities and sororities members in the northeast can articulate their founding principles, strive to live these principles, and challenge peers whose behavior is inconsistent with these principles.
• NGLA is known to members on every campus as a valuable resource that provides a demonstrated return on investment.

There were just over one thousand attendees at last year’s conference in Pittsburgh, PA.  The conference returns to Pittsburgh next year, and then will be back in Hartford in 2019.

Survey Says: Hartford Is Among Nation’s Top Up-and-Coming Cities

What do Milwaukee, Syracuse and Hartford have in common? They are all – believe it or not – the nation’s most notable “up-can-coming place to live,” according to a new national analysis of the top places to live in the U.S.

In calculating the second-annual ranking of the Best Places to Live in the U.S., which evaluates the 100 most populous metro areas in the country based on qualities that Americans care about most, U.S. News looked at affordability, employment opportunities and the overall quality of life in each place.  Hartford’s ranking jumped from number 59 a year ago to number 31 this year, among the largest leaps of any city in the nation.

The leading reason cited by the publication is the increase in jobs.

"The Hartford region has seen some strong employment growth in a number of high-productivity sectors, including professional, technical services, education and health services," said Alissa DeJonge, vice president of research at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center.

The types of job opportunities that are available in the Hartford area tend to pay well, the publication points out, “with residents earning nearly $57,000 per year on average, which is significantly more than the average American's salary of $48,320 per year. United Technologies Corp. provides employment to residents in the manufacturing and engineering sectors, and the region is home to some of the country's largest financial institutions, including Aetna Inc. and the Hartford Financial Services Group.”

"Hartford is known as the 'insurance capital' of the U.S., a title substantiated with Connecticut ranking No. 1 in the U.S. for insurance employment per capita, with many of those employers located in the Hartford region," added Susan Winkler, executive director of Connecticut Insurance and Financial Services. "Connecticut is also home to the highest concentration of actuaries – many located in the Hartford region."

The U.S. News review also notes that the region features a diverse selection of restaurants and cultural attractions. Paul Pita, CEO and executive creative director of Hartford-based digital marketing firm The Pita Group, told U.S. News "Hartford is a great place to live because residents have access to what they need: great options for housing, great educational options and a wide variety of lifestyle options for food, arts, culture, entertainment and outdoor activities."

Syracuse moved from #53 to #28, and Milwaukee climbed from #72 to #47.  The top 10 places to live in the U.S., according to the rankings, are Austin, Denver, San Jose, Washington D.C., Fayetteville, Seattle, Raleigh/Durham, Boston, Des Moines, Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs.  Portland, Maine ranked #26 and Albany ranked #30, just ahead of Hartford.  New Haven ranked #81 in the top 100.

The metro areas included in the rankings were evaluated by U.S. News using data from sources including the United States Census Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Labor and U.S. News' own internal resources. This data was categorized into five indexes – Job Market (including salary and unemployment rates), Value Index (including cost of living), Quality of Life Index (including education, crime, commuting, and health care), Desirability Index, and Net Migration - and then evaluated using a methodology determined by Americans' preferences. The percent weighting for each index was determined by the answers to a public survey in which people from across the country voted for what they believed was the most important thing to consider when thinking about moving, according to U.S. News.

Red Cross, Local Fire Departments Team Up in 4 CT Cities for Free Smoke Alarms, Education

The American Red Cross in Connecticut is partnering with four communities across the state for the first-ever Red Cross Install-A-Thon, part of the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries. During the week-long event, scheduled for four communities in Connecticut and one in Rhode Island in March, Red Cross workers will be joined by the members of the local Fire Department and community volunteers to visit homes throughout the city. They will share fire safety and preparedness information and install free smoke alarms in homes as requested. Among the program goals is to install 1,200 free smoke alarms in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Participating cities in the Install-A-Thon include Torrington on March 6: Norwalk on March 7; New Britain on March 8 and New London on March 10. Volunteers will help families understand the importance of fire safety and help them develop personalized family escape plans to use in case a fire breaks out in their home.  A similar effort took place in New Haven in January.

“Home fires are the biggest disaster threat faced in the U.S.,” said Mario Bruno, CEO, American Red Cross Connecticut and Rhode Island Region. “Our goal is to reach as many homes as we can with this program to help ensure people know what to do and are prepared in the event they experience a home fire. We know that for every 1,000 smoke alarms the Red Cross installs, one life is saved. Our goal is to save at least one life as a result of our Install-A-Thon.”

Sixty percent of house fire deaths occur in homes with no working smoke alarms, officials indicated. This campaign is in direct response to that threat. The Red Cross is committing to install 2.5 million free smoke alarms in neighborhoods at high risk for fires, and to educate those residents about fire prevention and preparedness.

As of August 2016, the Red Cross and partners have saved at least 100 lives as part of this campaign, according to officials. Since the program began, the Connecticut and Rhode Island Region of the Red Cross has installed more than 10,000 smoke alarms between the two states.

Individuals interested in having representatives visit their homes to have free smoke alarms  should make an appointment via the websites www.redcross.org/ct/schedule-a-visit or by calling 1-877-287-3327.

In addition to providing free smoke alarm installations and education, the Red Cross is looking for volunteers to help install the alarms, and to educate and provide safety information for this event and in their community throughout the year. Home Fire Campaign Volunteers are trained by the Red Cross, can volunteer during the day or on weekends and can help make a difference in their community. For more information on volunteering visit: https://volunteerconnection.redcross.org/?nd=vms_public_form&form_id=1078.

The Red Cross Install-A-Thon is made possible, in part, due to a grant from the William and Alice Mortensen Foundation. Since October 2014, the Red Cross has worked with fire departments and community groups across the country as part of a multi-year campaign to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries by 25 percent. Home fires remain the biggest disaster threat to individuals and families in the United States.

Red Cross officials point out that residents who reside outside the Install-A-Thon cities can always make an appointment for a free Red Cross fire safety visit and free smoke alarms at any time. The program is free and open to anyone in Connecticut.

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches life-saving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization, depending on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission.

Health Consultants For Pre-School Age Children Can Improve Health; Report Urges Policy Changes in CT

Research shows that the presence of a health consultant, usually a nurse by training, in child care centers leads to positive outcomes including improved nutrition, better sanitation and infection control, increases in access to preventive health care, specialty health care, mental health care, and oral health services. That’s according to a report by the Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI), which recommends health consultation as a “key strategy for integrating health into early learning systems and maximizing the contribution of early learning programs to children’s healthy development.”

“We rely on child care health consultants to ensure children’s health and safety in early care settings according to child care licensing regulations, but these providers are not fully supported nor utilized by our child health systems,” said Lisa Honigfeld, co-author of the report and vice president for health at CHDI. “Policy reform can strengthen and expand the role of child care health consultants to connect parents, child health providers, and child care centers to better promote health and developmental outcomes for children.”

CHDI’s “IMPACT, Promoting Children’s Health in Early Care and Education Settings by Supporting Health Consultation,” summarizes research on the role and benefits of health consultation in early learning settings, and reviews policies, regulations, training, and payment structures used in Connecticut and other states. The report concludes that Child Care Health Consultants (CCHC) can be “instrumental in contributing to the achievement of pediatric population health goals in Connecticut by monitoring the health of young children at the community level and contributing to community health system efforts.”

The 30-page report provides a framework for Connecticut to integrate health into early learning systems by taking advantage of opportunities presented as part of the state's overall health reform efforts. Recommendations include:

1. Develop infrastructure within the State to support health consultation with training, reimbursement, and quality improvement.
2. Strengthen licensing requirements to collect and report detailed health consultation information for all licensed child care sites.
3. Advocate for inclusion of CCHCs in Connecticut’s health reform plans.
4. Use a multi-disciplinary oversight group to develop a system of health consultation services to the meet the needs of Connecticut’s child care programs.

The report notes that a majority of children younger than age five spend “significant time” in early care and education settings, with more than 98,000 children enrolled in licensed child care centers, Head Start programs, and family child care homes.

“Unlike mental health consultation,” the report states, “overall health consultation is not supported with state level infrastructure and payments for health consultants to early Childhood Education sites. For private child care or preschool programs, the cost to hire a health consultant is borne by the program, with no system in place to ensure the quality of the CCHC workforce or ensure that health consultation is implemented to maximize the health and safety of children in child care.”

Connecticut regulations allow child care sites to employ a registered nurse, advance practice registered nurse, physician, or physician assistant to serve as the site’s health consultant.  Child care licensing requires child care sites that serve children ages three to five have quarterly health consultation visits.

Indicating that “several states and initiatives are testing innovations to better support integration of primary care medical services and community services,” the report suggests that “Connecticut, too, is poised to promote increased cross-sector collaboration in early childhood,” citing the establishment in 2013 of the Office of Early Childhood at the state level, which brought under one roof a range of services and responsibilities that had been housed in a number of different state agencies.

In most states, including Connecticut, a CCHC is typically a licensed registered nurse, according to a survey of states undertaken for the report.  Two states (Hawaii and Indiana) require that the CCHC be a physician, the research found, and four states (Illinois, Maine, Maryland, and North Carolina) allow licensed practical nurses to be health consultants. North Carolina allows other disciplines (sanitarian, nutritionist, and dietician) to be trained and credentialed as a health consultant.

The report points out that “CCHCs need specialized training, skill sets, and experience to address health issues for individual children and for the group setting as a whole. They also need to be aware of health and community resources so they can link child care facilities and families to appropriate services when needed. Programs with a significant number of non-English speaking families benefit from the services of a CCHC who is culturally sensitive and knowledgeable about community health resources for parents’/guardians’ native cultures and languages.”

The Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut (CHDI), a subsidiary of the Children’s Fund of Connecticut, is a not-for-profit organization working “to ensure all children have a strong start in life with ongoing supports to ensure their optimal health and well-being.” CHDI advocates for “effective policies, stronger systems, and innovative practices.”

Combating Opioid Epidemic in Connecticut Schools - Officials Team Up for Educators Workshop

The Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS), in partnership with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and victims of drug abuse, will be offering a one-half day workshop for administrators, teachers, and counselors on the devastating opioid epidemic that is growing in severity in Connecticut an across the country. This video-based educational program is designed for high schools and geared specifically for teens and adolescents, officials explain, and will be accompanied by an educator’s discussion guide. The guides will be available for participants to immediately use in a variety of educational settings.

Projections for 2016 by the State Medical Examiner indicate that close to 900 people died of accidental drug overdoses in Connecticut. That is almost three times the number of people who died in car accidents last year, organizers point out. Even more devastating, they note, is the fact that a majority of these deaths are of young people ages 18 to 25, many of whom developed an addiction to opioids after misusing prescription pills while in their teens or early adolescence. Sports injuries, dental pain and other illnesses are common reasons for the original prescription.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths nationwide in 2015, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999.Significant increases in drug overdose death rates from 2014 to 2015 were primarily seen in the Northeast and South Census Regions. States with statistically significant increases in drug overdose death rates from 2014 to 2015 included Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, and West Virginia.  In Connecticut, between 2014 and 2015 the rate increased by 25 percent.  

Recognizing that law enforcement is only one facet of the solution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is fighting this epidemic on several fronts, including criminal prosecution and outreach to schools for prevention, officials said. The office has formed a Heroin Education Action Team (HEAT), which includes parents of local overdose victims, to further assist in this effort.

“Opioid Epidemic in CT – Stemming the Tide” will take place on March 3, 2017, 8:30 to 11:00 a.m., at the CAS-CIAC Conference Center in Cheshire.  Registration deadline is February 24, 2017; the cost is $15.00

CAS officials are also calling for schools to show, “as soon as possible, and no later than the end of the school year,” videos about the crisis.

“Please ensure that every student in your high school sees at least one of the following two films,” the association urges:

• 1) a 15-minute film called The Opioid Crisis Hits Home: Stories from Connecticut that can also be used to educate educators, parents and the general public about the opioid epidemic; and
• 2) the FBI/DEA documentary film Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict, which is 45-minutes long and accompanied by an educator’s discussion guide geared specifically to teens and adolescents.

Since last September, a number of Assistant U.S. Attorneys have partnered with parents of overdose victims, young recovering addicts, FBI, DEA, and local law enforcement to facilitate Chasing the Dragon presentations at high schools in Milford, New Haven, Danbury, Plymouth, Shelton, East Hartford and New Fairfield.

The films “are provided as a public service for the sole purpose of saving lives,” officials underscore. School officials can schedule an opioid awareness presentation by contacting  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vanessa Avery or Robert Spector at 203-821-3700.

The Connecticut Association of Schools,  a non-profit, tax-exempt educational organization, has grown to represent well over 800 of Connecticut’s public and parochial schools.

First Television, Now Picture Books – Contributors to Less Healthy Eating Among Children

Concerns about the impact of television promoting products such as snack food and soda have been well documented for some time, but academic research is now suggesting another culprit for childhood obesity and a growing lack of healthy eating among youngsters. Children’s picture books – the books filled with brightly colored drawings and basic themes that are staples of bedtime stories, pre-school readings and local story hours.  How they depict food – and eating – has led a UConn researcher to raise red flags.

The study – conducted by Jane Goldman, professor emerita in UConn’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies, and Lara Descartes, a former assistant professor with the department and now a professor of Family Studies at Brescia University College in Canada – found that while the ratio of healthy to unhealthy foods depicted in books is higher than it is on television, books more often link positive events and concepts – such as love and nurturing – to treats, such as ice cream and baked goods, rather than fruits or vegetables.

The findings were first published a year ago in the journal Appetite and were the subject of presentations last fall by Goldman and Descartes at the University of California at Irvine and a global conference on food in the United Kingdom, and reported this month by UConn Today.

“It’s not that you shouldn’t have ice cream in books, but people should be aware of what the underlying message is,” Goldman said. “What are the messages children are getting about foods when a picture book is read to them, and are those messages related to the obesity epidemic among children?”

The researchers evaluated 100 picture book titles in Scholastic’s “Favorite Books for Preschoolers” collection – a mix of classics and newer titles, fiction and non-fiction. Sixty-nine of the 100 books in the collection included one or more food items in the text and/or illustrations. Although “the ratio of healthy foods to nutrient-poor foods was higher in the books,” according to the researchers, there was bad news as well as good in their findings.

Goldman and Descartes first identified books in which food is mentioned one or more times – 48 titles fit into that category – and others in which food is a theme or sub-theme, a group that included 21 titles. The pages on which food is mentioned were then coded based on the placement of the food, or centrality; the level of emotion expressed, or affect; and the number of times, or frequency, with which the food is mentioned. Using characters’ expressions as a guide, researchers assigned a rating of positive, negative, or neutral to each food reference.

The researchers found that vegetables are depicted in more than a third of the books and centrally portrayed in more than half, but only 18 percent of the depictions received a positive “affect” rating.  Conversely, sweetened baked goods are both centrally positioned, and have a positive “affect” about 80 percent of the time.  And ice cream, although not in many books, always was associated with positive outcomes - five of the seven times ice cream is mentioned, it’s offered as a treat, to make someone feel better, or as a happy ending.  Among the other findings:

• Almost all 69 picture books in the sample depict one or more healthy foods.
• Twenty-nine (42 percent) depict only healthy foods; and thirty-three (48 percent) depict both healthy and nutrient-poor food, but the majority of the depictions are healthy foods.
• Fruits, while depicted in more than half the books, are most often in the background, and only one-third of fruit depictions received a positive “affect” rating.

The researchers say it’s important to look at the context in which foods are presented as well as the frequency, observing that the people they interviewed rarely noticed that food was mentioned in children’s books, nor what messages were being conveyed, UConn Today reported.

Goldman was not surprised, UConn Today reported, that many of the picture books surveyed in the study portrayed sweet and comparatively unhealthy foods as very desirable or that they were associated with positive outcomes.  When nutrient- poor foods are presented both frequently and positively, she indicated, it may well contribute to children’s view of them as more desirable.  This is especially likely given the fact that picture books are just one part of a child’s total media consumption and that television content is known to promote a positive association with nutrient-poor foods.

“What we hope the study  does is make people aware of how food is presented in picture books, in the same way they have become aware of how gender roles are presented in books,” Goldman says. “Books are a tool we use all the time, so how can we use books to promote healthy ideas about food. In early childhood there is an emphasis on helping children read and on healthy eating and lifestyle, so why not think about the messages in books that support or contradict that healthy lifestyle message.”

College Students in Connecticut Gather for Study Abroad Conference in Changing Context

Timing, as the saying goes, is everything.  This Saturday, February 4, the fourth annual Connecticut Area Study Abroad Conference will held, sponsored by eight higher education institutions and hosted at the University of Hartford.  The conference offers sessions for students who have studied abroad, highlighting “unpacking your time abroad, and learning how to use your study abroad experience to network and get your dream job.” Developed by a committee of study abroad professionals, the conference will also offer sessions on topics including career paths of study abroad participants, volunteer and non-profit opportunities abroad and internationalizing your résumé and interviews.

Organizers from eight colleges and universities in Connecticut could not have imagined, when the date was set months ago, that international travel through the United States would be the focus of world-wide attention in the wake of a presidential executive order.

Participating universities include University of Bridgeport, University of New Haven, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield University, Quinnipiac University, UConn Law School, Trinity College and University of Hartford.  Last year’s conference was hosted by the University of New Haven.

“Now more than ever, studying abroad is important,” said Trinity College’s Zachary Macinnes, one of the individuals developing the conference.  “In addition to setting students apart on the job market after graduation, participation in study abroad is positively associated with a host of benefits, including higher GPA, retention, increases in critical thinking and writing skills, greater appreciation for diversity, increased lifetime earnings and deeper engagement overall.” 

Macinnes, Outreach Coordinator and Study Away Advisor: Spain, Latin America & the Caribbean at Trinity College in Hartford, also notes that only 10 percent of U.S. students study abroad during college.  Taking the lead for the University of Hartford is Meaghan Murphy, international program administrator for the school’s Study Abroad program.  Nationwide, 33 percent of college students participating in study abroad programs are juniors, 26 percent are seniors and 13 percent are sophomores.

The top nations for U.S. students participating in study abroad programs are the United Kingdome, Italy, Spain, France, China, Germany, Ireland, Costa Rica, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, India and the Czech Republic, according to data compiled by the Institute of International Education.   The most frequent academic areas studied include the STEM fields, business & management, physical or life sciences, health professions, engineering, math or computer science, and agriculture, the organization’s data reveals.

The website promoting the event tells students that “Your study abroad experience is not an isolated activity that has a definite beginning and end. Instead, study abroad is a life-changing event that continues to develop and evolve long after you have returned home.”  The site adds that “You will find yourself changed, sometimes in surprising, unanticipated ways. Your academic and personal goals may be different, and you may now have a better appreciation for the international students on campus.”

The plan was for student resumes to be reviewed, and for information to be provided to enable students “learn more about how to go abroad again.”  Organizers indicate that will still take place, but clearly in a very different context.

The event is open to any student from a college or university in Connecticut who has studied abroad, in any foreign country, for any length of time. The conference, hosted by Trinity College and the Univeristy of Hartford, will take place on Saturday, February 4, 2017 from 9:30am-3:00pm at the University of Hartford in the Great Room of Konover Campus Center.