Trumbull Awards and Breakfast

The following items come from press releases.

THS Scores at Distributive Education Clubs of America Contest

On Feb. 29, 2012, over 800 students from high schools across Connecticut convened at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville, CT to compete in the annual Distributive Education Clubs of America statewide marketing competition.  Over 30 students from the Trumbull High School club chapter competed for a chance to attend the International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City, UT.  Top three finishers took home a trophy and are eligible to compete in the national competition.  Taking first place were John Pacelli and Lauren Gregory in Principles of Finance and Retail Merchandising, respectively.  Second place went to Kelsey Owen in Principles of Hospitality and to Robert Nickson and Matthew Newcomer in a team event, Marketing Communications.  Kyle Bostick placed third in Accounting Applications.  Receiving medals and possible eligibility for the national competition were the following students: Prakriti Kumar (4th place in Principles of Marketing), Matthew O’Brien (6th place in Human Resource Management), and Hunter Teare (6th place in Business Services Marketing).  Hunter Teare and Stephanie Venditto were also selected to represent the state of Connecticut as well as Trumbull High School in the Senior Management Institute at the ICDC based on their performance in the state competition and their written request for admittance.  In total, nine students will represent Trumbull High School DECA program in Salt Lake City, UT and have spent many hours fundraising with the help of Trumbull local businesses supermarket and with “Shake the Can” and “Dine with DECA” activities.  The students would like to thank those that have made this once-in-a-lifetime experience possible.

Trumbull Middle School Student Takes First

Attorney General George Jepsen today congratulated Jonathan Tinker, 14, of in Trumbull for writing his way to first place in the 19th annual Law Day essay contest sponsored by the Office of the Attorney General.

Approximately 500 8th grade students submitted essays on the topic: “Should the government pass a law setting a minimum age for kids to join social networking sites? Or should it be left up to parents, kids and/or social networking sites themselves to determine and enforce age restrictions on such sites? If the government should make the rules, what should be the minimum age?”

Tinker, a student of Mrs. Alford, concluded that “the government should regulate social networking sites and it should do this by providing ratings for the various levels of maturity by discerning the appropriateness of the website for various age groups.” He argued that access to sites aimed at teens and adults, such as Facebook and Twitter, should be restricted to those 15 and older. 

Tinker’s was among the top five essays chosen by a panel of 13 judges, who also recognized five more essay writers with an honorable mention. Attorney General Jepsen will present a certificate to the winner at a school assembly at a later date.

“Our judges spent many hours evaluating this year’s entries before making their selection and I congratulate Jonathan,” Attorney General Jepsen said. “I am pleased so many students chose to participate and I commend the teachers who helped them take on this worthwhile exercise.”

“Analytical and writing skills are important for success in school and in the workplace. This contest gives students a chance to think critically and practice those skills on an important issue in their lives,” Jepsen said.

Bridgeport Regional Business Council Breakfast

"The Bridgeport Regional Business Council (BRBC) recently announced plans for two upcoming Capitol Breakfasts.  Capitol Breakfasts provide members of the business community the opportunity to hear from and interact with elected and appointed officials who make decisions each day that affect the business community on a local, statewide and federal level.  In addition to planning six Capitol Breakfasts each year, the Government Relations Core Group of the BRBC works to develop and communicate the BRBC Legislative Agenda to legislators and BRBC members, advocates on behalf of business in the halls of government and plans events that enable the business community to have access to local, state and federal leaders.   

Past speakers at Capitol Breakfasts have included sitting United States Senators, United States Representatives, Connecticut Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Speaker of the House and Senate President Pro Tempore.  The 2012 Capitol Breakfast series had a successful start in April with Howard Pitkin, Connecticut Commissioner of Banking.  Governor Dannel P. Malloy will join the BRBC at a Capitol Breakfast on May 15th, sponsored by People’s United Bank, Pullman & Comley LLC, University of Bridgeport and RD Scinto, Inc.   On June 5th, the BRBC welcomes Connecticut Office of Policy & Management Secretary Benjamin Barnes, sponsored by Pullman & Comley LLC.  Both of these events will be held at 8 am at the Bridgeport Holiday Inn & Conference Center, 1070 Main Street, Bridgeport. 

“We are honored to provide the opportunity once again for our members to hear first-hand from our Governor about his vision for our state and his initiatives to improve our business environment” said Paul S. Timpanelli, President & CEO of The Bridgeport Regional Business Council.

For more information about either of these events or to register, please visit www.brbc.org or call 203.335.3800.

C.E.S. Special Education Director Receives ASCONN Lifetime Achievement Award

Tony Maida, Director of Special Education at (C.E.S.) received the Autism Society of Connecticut’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual statewide conference held on Saturday, April 28 at the Convention Center in Hartford.

The award, given at the discretion of the ASCONN Board of Directors, is not given every year. 

“We heard Tony was retiring and wanted to thank him for all of his hard work,” explained Sara Reed, ASCONN Executive Director. “He’s a good friend to ASCONN and the [Autism] community.” 

Since 1986, Mr. Maida has served as the Director of Special Education at C.E.S., a regional educational service center whose mission is to identify and provide quality educational opportunities for educators, students, families and communities in coastal Fairfield County.

As director of special education, Maida manages and supervises all programs in C.E.S. Special Education. He oversees six administrators and approximately 200 teachers and support staff.

“Tony has demonstrated extraordinary devotion to the staff, students and families at C.E.S. for more than 35 years,” stated Dr. Evan Pitkoff, Executive Director at C.E.S. “Under his leadership, our special education programs flourished, and will continue to flourish because of the foundation for excellence he established and cultivated over the span of his career.”

C.E.S. Special Education is composed of both school-based programs and a variety of related services to assist local school districts in providing quality educational programs for students with special needs.  The school programs are designed to meet the unique and specific needs of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, (ASD), other Developmental Disabilities and students with Emotional Disabilities (ED). 

Mr. Maida became the agency’s first associate executive director when the position was created in 2003.

In his role in the special education community, Maida has presented workshops, served on several state committees including Autism Guidelines, ADD/ADHD Task Force, and Confidentiality of Student Records Committee, and belongs to professional organizations such as the Connecticut Council of Administrators of Special Education (CONN-CASE), the CEC Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE), and the Autism Society of America.

Mr. Maida has also taught as an adjunct professor in the Department of Special Education and Reading at Southern Connecticut State University.