WTNH.com (WTNH) — East Hartford Public Schools held its first ever ‘Adaptive Field Day’ on Monday catered towards kids in kindergarten to fifth grade living with physical and cognitive impairments East Hartford Public Schools physical therapist Chelsea Apanovitch helped to organize the event “I am doing this event because they don’t get to really get to participate in their regularly scheduled field days so I’d say like 80 to 90 % of the things they aren’t able to do,” she said There were 22 activities for the students to experience More than 130 students were there to participate from seven different schools in the district Special education and physical education teachers with East Hartford Public School partnered with Doctor of Physical Therapy Students at the University of Hartford a clinical applied professor at the university told News 8 “I really believe in experiential learning for our students and to learn about children in general and children with disabilities we have to actually interact with them.” This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Queen City News (AP) — About 3,000 labor union members went on strike early Monday at jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut retirement benefits and job security broke down Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers were picketing at manufacturing locations in East Hartford and Middletown after about 77% of nearly 2,100 union members voted to approve their first strike since 2001 “Pratt and Whitney is a powerhouse in military and commercial aerospace products because our membership makes it so,” David Sullivan the union’s eastern territory vice president ”This offer does not address the membership concerns and the membership made their decision — we will continue to fight for a fair contract.” Picketing workers lined and crossed streets near the entrances to the East Hartford and Middletown plants on a rainy Monday morning against Pratt & Whitney,” while some read “Solidarity for Security” and “Together We Rise.” Some workers said they were concerned that the company may move jobs and manufacturing out of the state to its plants in Georgia We need time to be here,” union member Scott Westberg told WFSB-TV They’re trying to deteriorate the middle class called its latest wage and retirement proposal competitive and said its workforce is among the most highly compensated in the region and industry “Our message to union leaders throughout this thoughtful process has been simple: higher pay more days off and more flexibility,” the company said in a statement “We have no immediate plans to resume negotiations at this time and we have contingency plans in place to maintain operations and to meet our customer commitments.” The strike comes as RTX faces a potential $850 million hit on profits this year because of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump if the tariff rates remain the same through the year During its first-quarter earnings call on April 22 the company said its Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace subsidiaries would each shoulder just over $400 million of the potential tariffs hit RTX is predicting $83 billion to $84 billion in adjusted sales companywide in 2025 The company’s first-quarter earnings were $1.5 billion Pratt & Whitney’s adjusted operating profit in the quarter was $590 million The company said its latest contract proposal included an immediate 4% wage increase followed by a 3.5% increase in 2026 and a 3% increase in 2027 It also included a $5,000 contract ratification bonus and enhanced pension and 401k plan benefits Pratt & Whitney makes engines for commercial and military jets including the GTF line for Airbus commercial jets and the F135 for the military’s F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft fleet issued a statement urging the company and union to continue negotiating Members of Connecticut’s all-Democratic congressional delegation and Democratic state lawmakers said they were supporting the union workers Our websites may use cookies to personalize and enhance your experience. 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For more information, please see our University Websites Privacy Notice Students and staff benefit from strategic actions aligned with the Whole School An eighth grade student from East Hartford is making new friends outside of class several teachers have applied for loan forgiveness programs in order to reduce financial stress These are the direct impacts middle schools in East Hartford are enjoying after embracing the Whole School Whole Child (WSCC) model and they serve as examples for schools beyond their district is to protect and improve the health and well-being of school-age children and adolescents in Connecticut The WSCC model is the CDC’s framework for addressing health in schools It focuses on meeting the needs of the whole child by ensuring students are healthy The model emphasizes the integration and coordination of evidence-based policies and practices across a range of domains related to health and learning as well as the important role of the community in supporting schools “There are two arms to the partnership,” says Chafouleas a Board of Trustees distinguished professor in Educational Psychology which involves the delivery of professional development and technical assistance to help districts strengthen their implementation of evidence-based policies and practices aligned with the WSCC model The other arm of the project is our work with one priority school district to provide in-depth training and ongoing support over five school years East Hartford Public Schools is that priority district and we are so grateful to be collaborating with their district and school leaders.” East Hartford’s school WSCC teams – formerly Health & Wellness teams – participated in a series of professional learning sessions led by UConn The series began with a focus on building knowledge of the WSCC model and whole child development the teams completed structured assessment activities including analysis of current practices and school-level data such as Health Services or Physical Education & Activity teams wrote goals and action plans to strengthen their practices within those domains over this school year East Hartford Middle School (EHMS) identified Social and Emotional Climate as its domain of focus and developed a plan to improve that climate through physical activity “Since the pandemic we have seen a rise in anxiety and emotional dysregulation,” said EHMS principal Joe Pearce “Couple this with the normal middle school stressors and challenges teens and preteens face and we felt this would be beneficial for our school.” After developing the action plan, the school’s WSCC team, led by teacher Meredith Krauss, created a program called Empower Health. This takes place daily during the school’s 15-minute advisory period. On Mondays, students participate in classroom activities based on the CASEL framework for social and emotional learning which reinforces the social and emotional learning in the classroom EHMS purchased supplies for team-based games such as soccer as well as independent activities such as jumping rope and hula hooping Student and teacher surveys demonstrate the positive results this program is already creating among the student body “This is something that I can use to let off some energy after class.” Several others indicated that engaging in physical activity through the project has helped them socially “I met people from my team that I don’t have classes with and I made new friends,” said one sixth grader A seventh grader believes the program helps students “feel more welcomed in their team and the school,” and an eighth grader said “some of my friends are usually quiet but I get them to engage.” Pearce said this program is the “number one success from this school year.” The social emotional lessons coupled with the physical activity time outside has led to students feeling better get fresh air and be around their peers in a safe environment,” he said “This program has provided so much to our school.” East Hartford’s International Baccalaureate middle school identified Employee Wellness as a key area for improvement and a domain to focus on during the 2024-2025 school year recognized that the well-being of its staff directly impacts the overall school environment and student success “Many educators experience stress related to day-to-day expenses and long-term financial security,” Wysocki said “By providing financial literacy and support opportunities helping teachers feel more secure in their current and future financial standing creating a positive and stable foundation for our students The WSCC team hosted the district’s financial advisor who presented financial planning strategies and retirement benefits tailored to educators The team also hosted a session focused on college tuition reimbursement and discounts available to teachers “I enjoyed having the variety of opportunities at our meetings that we might not think to seek out ourselves in our busy schedules.” several staff members made financial changes and decisions such as starting retirement accounts and filling out paperwork for teacher loan forgiveness all of East Hartford’s school WSCC teams have worked to implement and measure the impact of their action plans teams will repeat these assessment and action-planning processes to continue to strengthen their whole child practices The East Hartford District WSCC Team is also engaged in work that parallels that of the school teams Their focus is on integrating and coordinating whole child practices across the district and in collaboration with the Town of East Hartford and community partners the health care provider for East Hartford’s school-based health centers I think the efforts of East Hartford Middle School and Sunset Ridge School are incredible examples of the WSCC model in action,” says Tracy Stefano K-12 supervisor of health and physical education in East Hartford who leads the district’s collaboration with UConn on this project “The UConn team really believes that it’s not meant to be a prescriptive approach The model is meant to provide an organizing framework that is flexible based on context allowing educators to identify the priorities in their settings That’s exactly what you see with the middle schools in East Hartford – two different yet highly meaningful whole child initiatives.” Districts interested in learning more about the CT WSCC Partnership can visit ctwholechild.collaboration.uconn.edu. Registration is now open for the 2025 WSCC Academy a day of free professional learning for district wellness teams in Connecticut on May 21 Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInEAST HARTFORD CT (WFSB) - More than 3,000 Pratt & Whitney employees voted to go on strike after unresolved issues in contract negotiations with the aerospace manufacturer A union official said the plan was to go on strike at 12:01 a.m on Monday after members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) took completed Sunday’s vote at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford 77% of the union workers voted yes to the strike 3,100 workers are on strike out of the 11,000 Pratt and Whitney employees in Connecticut The machinists say they were offered a contract with an 18% pay increase over three years but that it also weakened their retirement benefits and increased healthcare costs “There’s no mention in the contract of job security at all,” said Thomas Devanney The striking workers said they were responsible for building and testing aircraft engines for both commercial and military planes at Pratt & Whitney’s East Hartford and Middletown facilities There is concern that whoever is now designing manufacturing and inspecting world class engines won’t be able to do that same great job these workers have done for decades workers gathered outside company headquarters in East Hartford and outside its facility in Middletown on Monday to take part in the strike “The company fell short on every area they needed to hit on for these people,” said Sarah Borowy Sarah has worked at Pratt & Whitney for 46 years Her son Nathan also works for the company as an inspector “We’re middle class workers trying to raise our families we’re proud taxpayers in the state of Connecticut,” said Wayne McCarthy “We just need our wages to keep up with inflation so that this generation has a chance to live the American dream Many huddled under tents as they voiced concerns about job security “We’re all on the same team,” said Nathan Drake “We all want to get us back to work to make world class engines if it takes a week to do that or two weeks to do that I’m too ready to wait as long as it takes to get on the same page.” “Our committee worked tirelessly to advance our member’s voices to the company and the company simply failed to bring to the table an agreement that we felt comfortable recommending to our membership The company’s offer reportedly included an 18.6 percent wage increase over three years but union leaders said it failed to address other key concerns including potential cuts to retirement benefits and increased healthcare costs “We will be down in front of Pratt and Whitney letting them know what we want and why we’re there and waiting until the negotiating committee can get back to the table with the company and make a better deal for us,” said Michael Lamoureaux “If they don’t want to address our concerns we’ll be here as long as it takes They’ll get the message pretty quickly and hopefully they’ll do right by us and come back to the table,” McCarthy said Eyewitness News obtained a statement from Pratt & Whitney in which the company defended its offer: “Pratt & Whitney’s offer competitively compensates our workforce while ensuring P&W can grow in an increasingly competitive marketplace creating ongoing economic opportunity in the state of Connecticut Our message to union leaders throughout this thoughtful process has been simple: higher pay  Our local workforce is among the highest compensated in the region and the industry – our offer built on that foundation We have no immediate plans to resume negotiations at this time and we have contingency plans in place to maintain operations and to meet our customer commitments.” The strike was expected to significantly impact production operations at both the East Hartford and Middletown plants East Hartford police were expected to increase patrols around the area to manage traffic and ensure safety near picket lines The plan is to have someone outside Pratt plants In East Hartford and in Middletown 24/7 until a deal is done We’re ready to get back to the table,” McCarthy said Monday’s strike was not the first labor action at Pratt & Whitney Workers previously went on strike in 1985 and 2001 over similar contract disputes Several political leaders weighed in on the strike “I stand with Machinists in fighting for basic workplace fairness— decent Workers need long term certainty in jobs and income to make the American dream real Our state’s prosperity and progress depends on proper especially at Pratt where their products are critical to our national defense.” “Pratt and Whitney is a world leader in manufacturing aircraft engines because of their amazing workers who are critical to the success of our nation’s manufacturing future We strongly encourage the company’s leadership and the machinists union to come together to reach a fair deal that is negotiated in good faith,” said Gov Governor Susan Bysiewicz in a joint statement Refresh this page and watch Eyewitness News for updates Details: cache-fra-eddf8230070-FRA 1746481642 2653159126 CT (WFSB) – Two people were injured in an apartment fire in East Hartford early Wednesday morning Fire crews responded to reports of smoke in a hallway at an apartment complex located in the 300 block of Burnside Avenue around 2:26 a.m they said they found a single apartment unit engulfed in flames Channel 3 has learned the fire was intentionally set by a man who lived in the building He told police he was having suicidal thoughts and doused himself and his unit with transmission fluid He was in the woods when emergency crews arrived He was injured and is at the Bridgeport burn unit Information about the second injured person was not available No other apartments in the building were damaged in the fire and no firefighters were hurt during the response The cause of the fire remained under investigation by the fire marshal’s office (WFSB) - A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the owner of a severely emaciated dog was found today on Daniel Street in East Hartford they said the dogs body temperature 30 minutes after some warmth was 95.7 degrees “Another hour or so and she likely would have died from exposure,” they said They also said the dog had a body score of 0-1 meaning she had 0% body fat to help her stay warm please call East Hartford Animal Control at 860-291-7572