ALAS Educational Leadership Prize, $10K, Awarded to Connecticut Educator Daisy Torres
- By Kristal Kuykendall
- 01/04/23
The Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents recently named Daisy Torres as the recipient of its 2022 ALAS Scholarship, sponsored by Curriculum Associates, according to a news release.
Torres, the director of services for multilingual learners, dual and world languages at Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut, will receive $10,000 toward her doctoral degree in educational leadership.
Torres is an award-winning bilingual educator with more than 20 years of urban school experience at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. In her current role, she oversees programming and services for students in one of Connecticut’s largest school districts. Under her leadership, more than 400 students in Hartford Public Schools have been awarded the Seal of Biliteracy.
Torres is also leading efforts in the recruitment and retention of 14 teachers from Puerto Rico as part of an innovative Paso a Paso program to diversify talent in the district.
Previously, Torres served as the director of bilingual, ESOL, world language, and parent engagement for New London Public Schools in Connecticut, where she created New London’s first-ever Parent University, launched a college- and career-readiness program for middle school students called Latinos in Action, and led program development and design for the district’s magnet Dual Language and International Studies K–12 pathway.
She is also a published author: her bilingual children's book “I'll See You on the Bridge” was published in 2019.
Torres holds a Master of Arts in TESOL/Multicultural and Bilingual Education, a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, and a sixth-year professional diploma in educational leadership from Southern Connecticut State University.
Learn more about ALAS scholarship opportunities for educators at ALASEdu.org/Scholarship.
About the Author
Kristal Kuykendall is editor, 1105 Media Education Group. She can
be reached at [email protected].