Revere Public Schools Teachers Awarded Scholarships for Emerging Latine Leaders

Special to the Journal 

Hale Education  awarded the Carmen M. Torres Scholarship for Emerging Latine Leaders to Melissa Alvarez (of CityLab Innovation High School), Christine Brito, and Nancy Uribe (both of East Somerville Community School).

Melissa Alvarez is an adjustment counselor in Revere Public Schools, a Revere District PSi Fellow, and a Massachusetts Partnership for Diversity in Education (MPDE) PSi Fellow. Her areas of concentration have included inpatient, outpatient, and school settings throughout Greater Boston. Alvarez seeks to remove the stigma specific to mental health challenges that routinely impact students navigating special education and urban school settings. She earned her B.S. in interdisciplinary studies from Boston University Metropolitan College/School of Medicine and her M.Ed. in mental health and counseling from Cambridge College.

The award will support these leaders’ participation in the 2023–2024 cohort of the Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership at Hale Education (PSi), a certificate program that expands educators’ skills, capacity, and confidence to lead innovative, equitable, democratic schools and organizations.

The scholarship continues the legacy of the late Ms. Torres, who co-founded PSi with Linda Nathan. Torres mentored countless administrators, teachers, and other education professionals in Boston Public Schools and beyond.

Alvarez’s work in various school settings has made her keenly aware of the value of trauma-informed care. She looks forward to helping families be heard and ensuring that children feel safe and are in environments where they can thrive.

“The scholarship will allow me to continue my education by following in Carmen’s footsteps,” said Alvarez, who looks forward to “fostering a sense of belonging in leadership and acknowledging Afro-Latinas in education who make a difference.”

Brito directly thanked donors for their faith in her: “Your valued contribution encouraged me to invest time, build skills, and acquire training to help students, teachers, and educational leaders at both local and district levels.”

“I am immensely grateful for this scholarship,” added Uribe. “I am proud of my cultural background as a Latina, and this scholarship represents an opportunity to advance my education in leadership. As a future administrator, I plan to advocate for multilingual learners’ equity and support their families in navigating school culture.”

Hale’s staff and the program’s faculty, participants, alums, and co-founders’ family members will celebrate the recipients at Hale’s Simches Family Center.

“We’re thrilled to support educators who are so committed to helping students make the most of their learning experiences,” said Hale’s executive director, Eric Arnold. “From Melissa’s commitment to improving equality of therapeutic interventions for BIPOC students, to Christine’s work with under-resourced and immigrant families, to Nancy’s experience developing bilingual curricula in Colombia and the US, these recipients are well positioned to reimagine learning through PSi.”