Scholarship Recipients Are Making a Difference

Since 1996, the Alma Exley Scholarship Program has been promoting diversity in the teaching profession by providing financial support and recognition to outstanding persons of color who have gone on to have a lasting impact on students in many schools.

Miguel Cardona, a 1998 recipient, began his career as an elementary teacher in his hometown of Meriden, Conn. In 2003 he became the youngest principal in Connecticut when he was named principal of Hanover School in Meriden. He has received awards from the NAACP and the Meriden Puerto Rican Festival Committee, and was named Wilcox High School Alumni of the Year in 2007.

Chi-Ann Lin, 1999 recipient, is a history teacher in Westport, Conn. Her Asian history classes have been enriched by her travel to Japan in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund program, to China, Dubai and Turkey in a Yale institute focusing on the Silk Road, and to Korea in a Korean Studies Workshop for American Educators sponsored by the Korea Foundation.

Desi Nesmith, 2000 recipient, was named Teacher of the Year at Mayberry Elementary School, East Hartford, Conn., for 2005-06. He served as a Teacher in Residence at the State Department of Education and as an Intervention Specialist, mentoring and guiding elementary teachers in Hartford, before being named principal of America’s Choice SAND Elementary School in Hartford in 2009.