The Connecticut Education Foundation (CEF), CEA’s charitable arm, supports students who wish to pursue careers in public education. Through a range of scholarship funds, CEF helps aspiring educators overcome financial barriers, honors legacies of service, and builds a more diverse education workforce in Connecticut.
Scholarships include $2,000 toward college tuition for each year a recipient is enrolled in an undergraduate program leading to educator certification as well as membership in CEA’s Aspiring Educators Program and participation in CEA’s Summer Conference.
“We are so pleased to award financial assistance and professional development opportunities to students who are interested in becoming educators, and we look forward to seeing them lead their own classrooms,” says CEF President and CEA Vice President Joslyn DeLancey.
Meet this year’s scholarship recipients.
“From the jump, teaching interested me,” says Academy of Science and Innovation graduate Kaliyah Vaughns, whose passion for working with younger children developed in elementary school. As she got older, she enrolled in a summer youth employment program, working as an assistant teacher at a daycare facility, and engaged in community service with her volleyball, basketball, and softball teams, where student athletes visited an elementary school and read to students. “After many visits, I completely fell in love with teaching, inspired not only by my experiences but also the teachers, who made me think highly of our education system.”
Vaughns is an incoming freshman at Manchester Community College, where she plans to study elementary education and psychology. She is a recipient of CEF’s Racially and Ethnically Diverse Educator Scholarship, which provides financial support to high school seniors and college students who intend to pursue teaching careers in Connecticut. The scholarship fund helps strengthen diversity within the educator workforce and supports a more inclusive, representative public education system across the state.
Also receiving a Racially and Ethnically Diverse Educator Scholarship is Bernardo Bizinoto, a rising junior at UConn majoring in both environmental sciences and political science. He plans to enroll in UConn Stamford’s Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates (TCPCG), earning his master’s degree and teacher certification after completing his undergraduate coursework. A TCPCG clinical faculty member who observed Bizinoto mentoring third-grade students through structured, small-group activities described his demonstrated leadership, ability to work effectively with diverse learners, and strong commitment to improving the lives of children, saying, “He built strong connections with students, creating a supportive and engaging learning environment and expressed a deep appreciation for the school’s commitment to linguistic diversity.”
While he hadn’t previously considered teaching as a career path, that changed after a meaningful conversation with a professor.
“The ability to entertain and connect with the younger generation while guiding them in directions that benefit them seems incredibly rewarding,” Bizinoto says.
Growing up, Catherine Webster describes herself as shy. When two close family members faced serious illnesses, she began to understand the need for connection and support. “The things I went through allowed me to understand my classmates in a new way. Some battles are bigger than others, but everyone is going through something.”
A 2026 graduate of Wethersfield High School, Webster has been accepted to UConn, where she plans to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Marcy, and pursue a teaching career. While Marcy is a music teacher at Haddam-Killingworth High School, Catherine hopes to study elementary education. She is this year’s recipient of the Phil DiGiovanni Future Teacher Scholarship, awarded to children of CEA members who wish to pursue careers as educators.
“I hope that I can become the kind of teacher who makes a difference and whose impact on students lasts into their adulthood,” Webster says.
“I’m proud that my daughter is continuing the tradition of teaching that started with my own mom,” her mother says. “I know she will love it as much as we do!”
In addition to meeting children’s essential needs, uplifting students and educators, and supporting literacy, the Connecticut Education Foundation is proud to invest in the next generation of Connecticut teachers. Learn more about scholarships and other opportunities at cefgives.org.
