Local Eastern Connecticut State University Student Christina Cammisa Named Harris Fellow at Yale University

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Christina Cammisa works in the editing booth.

WILLIMANTIC, CT (05/04/2011)(readMedia)-- Christina Cammisa, a senior from Danbury majoring in sociology and early childhood education, has been granted the prestigious Harris Fellowship in Child Development and Early Childhood Education from Yale University. This fall, Cammisa will work and conduct research at Yale's Calvin Hill Day Care Center/ Kitty Lustman-Findling Kindergarten and the Yale Child Study Center. Details are at http://childstudycenter.yale.edu/services/education.aspx.

Fellows have a teacher mentor at Calvin Hill and a clinical mentor at the Child Study Center. They regularly meet with their mentors for support, focusing on blending educational and clinical understandings of young children and families.

Cammisa was chosen from a pool of nationwide candidates, including applicants from Duke and Lehigh Universities, to receive the Harris Fellowship. She has studied abroad in Spain and is currently engaged in research work with Jeffrey Trawick-Smith, Eastern's Phyllis Waite Endowed Chair for Early Childhood Education. Cammisa recently completed her student teaching at Chaplin Elementary School, and has worked with students at Kramer and Natchaug Elementary Schools in Willimantic.

In her home town of Danbury, Cammisa volunteered with the Danbury Youth Wrestling Federation, running wrestling tournaments for elementary, middle and high school students, and served as assistant coach for the Danbury Trojan Pop Warner Organization.

She also has been involved in numerous volunteer activities including Special Olympics; the Sisterhood Project in Mansfield; Big Brother Big Sister and special education students at Sweeney Elementary School in Willimantic.

Cammisa has received numerous awards at Eastern including induction in the Omicron Delta Kappa , Eastern's leadership honor society and Alpha Kappa Delta, the National Sociology Honor Society. Cammisa also was selected to appear in Who's Who in America's Colleges and Universities, which recognizes outstanding community involvement and scholastic achievement.

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Eastern Connecticut State University is part of the Connecticut State University System (CSUS) and is the state's public liberal arts university. Eastern serves more than 5,000 students each year on its Willimantic campus.

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