CAS is pleased to welcome three new part-time staff members to our student activities division!

Following the departure of Assistant Student Activities Director Jenn Buckley in August, the CAS leadership restructured her position, creating stipend posts to oversee the work of the Connecticut Association of Student Councils (CASC) and the Connecticut Association of National Honor Societies (CANHS). Last month, CAS hired three active educators to share responsibility for these critical statewide student leadership groups. Russell Crist from Farmington High School and Christopher Tomlin from Woodland Regional High School are the new co-directors of the CASC; and, Dr. Nadine Mills from E.C. Goodwin Technical High School is now leading the CANHS. We are thrilled to have these outstanding educators on board!

Russ Crist began his teaching career at Farmington High School (FHS) in 2001. Since then, he has dedicated his time to educating and developing students both in and out of the classroom, spending fifteen years coaching girls’ basketball and the last five years as the girls’ golf coach. Along with currently teaching English, he also teaches a capstone class called The Art of Leadership. Since 2016, Russ has served as the Student Activities Director at FHS and oversees the student council, over 80 clubs and activities, and Connect, the school advisory system.

Dr. Nadine Mills earned a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University, a master’s degree from CCSU and a doctor of education degree from Walden University. Nadine served for twenty years as an educator with the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System. During that time, she served in multiple roles including mathematics instructor, TEAM mentor, student council advisor, district manual reviewer, National Honor Society advisor, track and field coach, and academic supervisor. Nadine was recognized as an effective instructor and was awarded the Leadership and Dedication award for teaching and voted the Teacher of the Year at her school in 2010. In recent years, Nadine worked under the tutelage of numerous leaders including Betty Sternberg (former Commissioner of the CT State Department of Education) as a Teacher Leadership Fellow.

A history teacher at Woodland Regional High School (WRHS), Chris Tomlin has spent the last twelve years as the advisor of the WRHS student government program. Under his guidance, the program has developed into a nationally recognized program and, for five years in a row, WRHS was one of only two schools in CT to be named a National Gold Council of Excellence by the National Association of Student Councils. WRHS student government members learn essential 21st century leadership skills from participating in meetings that follow proper parliamentary procedures and where they plan, debate, and ultimately run a number of social, service and leadership events.