CONNECTIONS Fall 2022
Education News From Northeastern Connecticut Volume 43, Number 1
eastconn.org
EASTCONN Welcomes Eric S. Protulis as its New Executive Director EASTCONN is delighted to announce that Eric S. Protulis has been named the agency’s new Executive Director. Eric most recently served as the Director of Pupil Services for Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES) in Hamden. Before that, he worked in several leadership roles at EASTCONN, including Director of Special Services, Assistant Director of Special Services and Program Director of EASTCONN’s Educational and Vocational Center (EVC). Returning to EASTCONN, Eric said, “feels professionally like coming home.”
EASTCONN Executive Director Eric S. Protulis.
See Protulis, page 2
Technology Solutions Warns of Increased Malware Attacks
EASTCONN’s Technology Solutions division said it has seen an uptick in the number of malware attacks and offered advice for employees on how to thwart them. Malware – defined as any type of software that tries to harm your computer – takes many forms, including viruses, worms, ransomware, spyware, adware and trojan horses. Malware has been known to slow down devices, send fake emails and even rob employees of sensitive information. See Ransomware, page 3
EASTCONN 376 Hartford Turnpike Hampton, CT 06247
EASTCONN CONNECTIONS Education News From Northeastern Connecticut
Fall 2022
“ I think our greatest strength as an agency is our people.” - Eric S. Protulis, EASTCONN Executive Director
...Protulis, from page 1
“At EASTCONN, I felt like I grew at an exponential rate in terms of what we were doing, the kids we were working with, and the impact we were having,” Eric said. “It was one of a handful of times in my professional experiences where it just really felt like there was that synergy. People really understood the mission of what we were trying to do, and we were all going in the same direction.” Eric additionally served as Director of Special Education and Pupil Services and School Psychologist at Regional School District #8 in Hebron, CT and was a School Psychologist/Counselor in Plainville, CT. He holds a Specialist Designation, an M.S. and a B.A. from the University of Hartford, and is certified in both Educational Leadership and School Psychology. He also has his Superintendent of Schools endorsement. During Eric’s interviews and discussions with EASTCONN’s Board of Directors, two words – renaissance and collaboration – kept ringing in his ears. “The last three years have just turned things upside down,” Eric said. “There are so many challenges coming out of these last couple of years. So I’m asking: what can EASTCONN become that we haven’t been? Everything is new, everything is on the table right now, and I think our greatest strength as an agency is our people.” In his return to EASTCONN, Eric said that his goal is to reestablish relationships between the agency and its community partners. Many of those relationships, he added, were diminished during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We want EASTCONN to be first and foremost in the minds of district leaders,” Eric said. “The more we’re in their minds, the more that we’re in their vocabulary as being a partner in a solution. That’s the role I think EASTCONN is supposed to serve... When I think about northeastern Connecticut after spending time in greater New Haven County and Waterbury – communities that say they don’t have enough – my response was: you don’t know what it’s like not to have enough resources.” The lack of available services for communities and school systems, Eric said, is what makes EASTCONN’s region, which spans 33 towns and 36 school districts, a challenging part of the state for residents needing specialized resources. “When we talk about mental health services: people have to travel 45 minutes to an hour and a half to get to a counselor for a child who’s dysregulated, upset and having a hard time,” Eric said. “As a RESC, we can’t do everything, but we need to be present enough in conversations to hear the trend, to hear what districts are saying they need, to hear that three other districts are asking for something similar. That should be enough for us to say: how do we mobilize? How do we respond? How do we put ourselves in a position to be the resource or to help connect people? That’s what EASTCONN is all about.” To reach Eric, email eprotulis@eastconn.org or call 860-455-1540.
Agency Professional Notes EASTCONN’s own Amy Norton and Melissa McKeon represented the agency at the Assistive Technology Training Center (ATECH) conference in Mystic on July 18, 2022. ATECH hosted various workshops and vendors focused on providing opportunities for individuals with disabilities and their families to achieve independent living skills and access employment and the community through assistive technology. Amy presented two different workshops at the conference, including “Employment & Literacy: How to Access Text at Work and in the Community” and “All About Executive Function Apps at Work, Remote Job Coaching and More.” Amy T. Norton, M.Ed, ATP, CAPS is Coordinator of Assistive Technology. Contact Amy at anorton@eastconn.org. Melissa McKeon, MS, ORT/L is Coordinator of Related Services. Contact Melissa at mmckeon@eastconn.org.
Executive Editor: Dona Prindle, Director of Marketing & Communications, dprindle@eastconn.org Editor/Writer: Michael Hamad, Communications Specialist, mhamad@eastconn.org Graphic Designer: Angela Dean, adean@eastconn.org EASTCONN Administration: Eric Protulis, Executive Director, eprotulis@eastconn.org EASTCONN, 376 Hartford Turnpike, Hampton, CT 06247, 860-455-0707 • eastconn.org
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EASTCONN CONNECTIONS Education News From Northeastern Connecticut
Fall 2022
...Ransomware, from page 1
Kristin Hempel Named Director of Adult & Community Programs EASTCONN is pleased to announce that Kristin Hempel has been named Director of Adult & Community Programs. She succeeds Richard Tariff, who retired in August. A longtime educator and former elementary school principal, Hempel most recently worked as Associate Director of Adult & Community Programs at
For Hempel, having both education and employment/training staff sitting around the same table is particularly exciting. “We’re always looking for solutions together: what can we do? How can we do it better?” Hempel said. “We need to be having those conversations about making sure our neighbors have the skills that they need to be gainfully employed, to
We’re really poised to continue “ to develop and provide meaningful,
transformative services in our region.” – Kristin Hempel, EASTCONN Director of Adult & Community Programs EASTCONN. She currently serves as an executive board member of the Connecticut Association for Adult and Continuing Education (CAACE), where she chairs the Professional Development Task Force. Hempel is also a Connecticut representative to the New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC) Advisory Board and is an elected member of the Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) board representing the northeast region. “I’ve been lucky to work at EASTCONN and with this team for a number of years,” Hempel said. “I feel like we have a very strong team in place across both the adult education and the employment and training divisions, and we’re really poised to continue to develop and provide meaningful, transformative services in our region. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”
have a life-sustaining wage, to be able to help their kids in school, and to be able to advance in their chosen careers.” By working together with community partners, Hempel said her division can better cultivate career pipelines and support individuals in the region as they face the barriers that are unique to northeastern Connecticut, including limited access to transportation, employment and literacy services. “It’s a group of people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and ready to go above and beyond,” Hempel said. “This population is very vulnerable because they do not have the literacy skills, never mind digital literacy skills. We’re very honored and humbled by the work that we have ahead of us, and I’m just excited to be a part of the team.”
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Unfortunately, these types of intrusions are no longer rare, said Andrew DePalma, EASTCONN’s Director of Technology Solutions. “It’s pretty much a daily occurrence in some form,” he said. “We get spam and questionable emails every single day. It’s happening constantly.” What’s at stake, DePalma said, are risks to the agency – loss of employee and student information, financial loss and disruption of services – and also personal risks to employees, such as identity theft, credit issues and even threats to physical safety. DePalma said that bad actors typically attempt to hack into networks after an employee clicks on a phishing email. From there, some programs attempt to spread from computer to computer, encrypting files within the network while trying to defeat its security systems. Eventually they try to penetrate a file server, which could lead to additional machine-to-machine encryption as users sign onto that server. “When we encounter a threat to our network, we slam the door on it,” DePalma said. All EASTCONN employees are currently working with a two-factor authentication system. DePalma reminded all employees to back up essential files whenever possible and to take the agency’s mandatory cybersecurity training. (Though the cybersecurity training is currently required once a year, the agency may soon bump it up to twice-annually.) To protect one’s email account, DePalma recommend the following: • use a strong password that’s different from other accounts • be cautious about using public Wi-Fi networks • sign out whenever stepping away from a computer • never send log-in credentials or other personally-identifying information through email • protect passwords and any personal information – age, birthday, home address, physical location and any and all financial and health information – at all times • personal devices should not be used for work • save important files to a network folder or Google Drive at regular intervals Most importantly, DePalma said, employees should question the intent of every email they receive and always keep their guard up. “We’re always watching for suspicious activity,” he said. “We face intrusions every day, so we really need everyone to remain vigilant.”
EASTCONN CONNECTIONS Education News From Northeastern Connecticut
Fall 2022
Principal Nicole Constantine cuts the ceremonial ribbon.
EASTCONN Transition Academy Grand Opening
Igniting Change for Equity The RESC Alliance – ACES, Cooperative Educational Services, CREC, EASTCONN, EdAdvance and LEARN – has designed a year-long, equity-focused professional learning initiative called Igniting Change, which kicked off on October 19th with a full-day conference at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. Igniting Change was developed to support all Connecticut school districts in the critical work of addressing equity in education. Rather than a single event, the design of the initiative includes four year-long pathways – Grading Reform, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Inclusive School Culture and Equity-Focused Leadership – that allow participants to develop skills to create lasting change in their schools and districts. Additionally, the RESC Alliance is offering opportunities for educators to participate in communities of practice and customized coaching to help districts attain their specific goals. These targeted professional learning options will support school and district leaders in developing their own knowledge and leadership skills to build stronger, more inclusive learning communities. Visit ignitingchangect.org for more information.
The EASTCONN Transition Academy (ETA) is officially open! Principal Nicole Constantine cut the “Grand Opening” ribbon on August 9th at the new facility at 1320 Main Street in Willimantic. Formerly known as the Regional Transition Program, ETA serves students aged 18 through 21 with a variety of learning, behavioral, and social-emotional needs. ETA is committed to the practices found across all of our specialized programs, including explicit instruction; data-based decision making; team collaboration; and universal, proactive approaches.
SCAN THE QR CODE TO WATCH RIBBON CUTTING
QMC Yearbook Staff Earns Gold Level Recognition The yearbook staff at Quinebaug Middle College, which is supervised by art teacher Jennifer Wilkosz, recently earned national Gold Level recognition in the Jostens National Yearbook Program of Excellence. Along with a plaque and banner, staff members were also entered into a yearly raffle, which resulted in Wilkosz winning a scholarship to attend the Jostens Renaissance Global Conference (JRGC) in Orlando, Florida in July. “JRGC was a wonderful experience for students and educators alike and brought back to mind many of my experiences as a young student leader,” Wilkosz said. “I walked away from experience with many new tools in my tool belt to revive and awaken the student leaders in our building.”
SCAN THE QR CODE TO SEE A SHORT VIDEO RECAP OF THE CONFERENCE Jennifer Wilkosz represented QMC at the JRGC in July.
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