UConn Early College Experience

From the classroom to career pathways 🚑📚

We’re proud to see UConn ECE instructor Mary Narwid featured as part of Connecticut’s new career pathways initiative led by former U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Through UConn ECE’s AH 4092: EMT Training course at East Lyme High School, students gain hands-on experience while earning 4 UConn credits — building real-world skills that prepare them for careers in healthcare and emergency response.

Students in the course receive instruction in:
🩺 Basic life support skills
🩸 Bleeding control and shock recognition
🚑 Trauma and medical emergency care
👩‍⚕️ Supervised practice experience and hands-on clinical instruction

The course also includes a 10-hour observation experience and meets the performance requirements for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) certification exam.

Programs like this show the power of concurrent enrollment to connect academic learning with meaningful career preparation across Connecticut.

Read more from WFSB: https://www.wfsb.com/2026/05/13/former-us-education-secretary-leads-new-connecticut-career-pathways-program/

Last month, UConn ECE students from across Connecticut gathered at UConn Avery Point for the Marine Science Symposium to showcase their research, share discoveries, and connect with fellow young scientists🔬

From marine ecosystems to environmental challenges, students presented projects that reflected their curiosity, hard work, and passion for science. Thank you to the students, teachers, and faculty who made this incredible day possible!

Every spring, the Office of Early College Programs staff hosts a Site Representative Conference up in Storrs! As one of our largest events, coordinators meet with site representatives from schools statewide and introduce new program policies and procedures. Additionally, registration material is distributed to UConn ECE Partner schools to ensure that each school is prepared once the school year starts again. Thank to the site representatives for attending, as well as the amazing staff that organized this event!

Last month, newly certified UConn ECE Instructors participated in a New Instructor Orientation held at the Student Union on the Storrs campus. Participants learned more about the ECE program and course details, deepening their understanding of their roles as Instructors in their course area. Furthermore, new Instructors met with their Faculty Coordinators to receive more discipline-specific training. Welcome to the UConn ECE Instructor team, and we look forward to everything you will accomplish throughout your course!

Reminder! Spring and full-year course grades are due on July 1st.

Visit https://ece.uconn.edu/instructors/submit-grades/ with any questions!

What an incredible day at the very first UConn ECE Spanish Film Festival!
We welcomed students and educators from 5 schools and hosted 54 students on the UConn Storrs campus for a day of language, culture, film, and conversation. Students had the opportunity to watch four powerful short films from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic exploring themes of family and migration — and engage directly with the filmmakers during a live Q&A session.
A huge thank you to directors Hansel Porras García, Pamela Bencosme, Stephanie Camacho, and Lázaro González for sharing their work and inspiring meaningful conversations in Spanish.
We’re grateful to everyone who helped make this inaugural event such a success, especially our ECE Spanish faculty coordinators, participating schools, and students who brought such energy and thoughtful discussion to the festival. We can’t wait to do it again! 🇪🇸🎥🍿

Students from six high schools joined us at the second 2026 UConn Chemistry ECE Lab Day for an immersive day of hands-on science and discovery at the UConn Chemistry Building!
Hosted by Dr. Jie He, students explored the fascinating world of plasmonic nanoparticles and learned how materials at the nanoscale can behave in surprising ways. The day included tours of UConn’s chemistry facilities, a presentation on nanotechnology and color-changing nanoparticles, and a hands-on lab where students synthesized and modified nanoparticles themselves.
Thank you to UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator Dr. Fatma Selampinar, Dr. Jie He, and everyone who helped create this engaging experience for our UConn ECE Chemistry students and teachers!

Check out our ECE Quick Facts and Data! If you're interested in more from UConn ECE, take a look at our site at ece.uconn.edu/research!