Local New Britain Resident Wins Prestigious Polaris Award

New Britain resident Jocelyn Tamborello-Noble, Spanish Teacher, Glastonbury High School and current Common Ground Liaison, was one of three distinguished graduates from Leadership Greater Hartford's Common Ground program to receive a coveted Polaris Award.  DeVaughn Ward, Attorney, Law Office of DeVaughn  L. Ward, LLC and David Rifkin, Sophomore, University of Connecticut, were also honored with an award.

The 2013 Polaris Awards event on October 1 celebrated the 25th anniversary of Common Ground, one of the region's most successful youth leadership programs. Common Ground is a fifteen-week program, offered each spring, that engages urban and suburban high school students from the Greater Hartford area for training in leadership, diversity awareness and community problem solving. The program focuses on youth leadership development with a very diverse group of teens.

Leadership Greater Hartford's Annual Polaris Event honors local leaders for their vision, skill and courage in serving the Greater Hartford community and being a "Polaris" - the North Star that lights and guides the way for others to follow. Ted Carroll, President of Leadership Greater Hartford, indicated that the three Common Ground graduates honored "exemplify the hopes and values that inspired the program founders back in 1986."

Jocelyn Tamborello-Noble was born in Santiago, Chile.  She was educated in West Hartford Public Schools; Conard High School recommended her to the Common Ground program.  According to Jocelyn, Common Ground not only taught her leadership and problem solving skills, but also how to be collaborative when looking for solutions.  As a result, Jocelyn feels that she evolved from being an individual in her school into a leader in her school and community.  

The summer after high school, and during her freshman year at the University Connecticut (where she was originally a political science and finance major), Jocelyn took her Common Ground lessons to heart; she connected her leadership skills to her community and volunteered with a reading program at Natchaug Elementary School in Willimantic.  Through her experience at Natchaug, and her volunteer experience the following summer with the Burns Latino Studies Academy in Hartford, she discovered her passion for teaching.  She changed her major to Education at UConn's Neag School of Education in order to further her goal to make a significant difference in her community and to positively impact children.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Spanish Education, a Master of Arts in Foreign Language Education, and a 6th year degree in Educational Administration.

Jocelyn teaches Spanish and English as a Second Language (ESL) at Glastonbury High School.  She is currently a Northeast Regional Director for the Connecticut Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages,  a Professional Rights and Responsibility Officer for the Glastonbury Education Association, and serves on the School Board for St. Thomas the Apostle School in West Hartford. She also coordinates professional development for new teachers, and is on the coordinating team for the "Names Can Really Hurt Us" program. Jocelyn also currently volunteers as a liaison for Leadership Greater Hartford's Common Ground program and has presented on topics about Social Media Responsibility, Diversity in Schools and Problem Solving.

Jocelyn is a passionate 21st Century Educator who has learned that through teaching a foreign language she achieves an expanded understanding of diversity in her community and in the world.   

Leadership Greater Hartford is the most comprehensive nonprofit community leadership organization in the country. It offers leadership training to individuals ranging from high school age to retirees, with community service projects featured in nearly all of its programs.  These projects and the program graduates continue to have lasting impact in the Hartford region.  For more information about how to be a participant or sponsor with Leadership Greater Hartford, call 860-951-6161 (x18), email info@leadershipgh.org, visit www.leadershipgh.org, or like it on Facebook.