In this issue...
Happy November, COAEYC members!
In this issue you will find: a new report from NAEYC containing experiences and advice from early educators of color, information about The Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program (link), ECCLA's brand-new Careers in Early Childhood Directory (link), our new ECE Spotlight featuring a conversation with an assistant teacher from Colorado Springs, reminders about the November election, upcoming events, and news from around Colorado and the US.
If you have not updated your voter registration or registered to vote, it's not too late! You can check and update your Colorado voter registration on the Colorado Secretary of State website.
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New Report: Increasing Qualifications, Centering Equity: Experiences and Advice from Early Childhood Educators of Color
 NAEYC, in collaboration with The Education Trust, released a new report, Increasing Qualifications, Centering Equity: Experiences and Advice from Early Childhood Educators of Color. This report explores the responses, reactions, and recommendations from 50 early childhood educators of color, located in New Jersey, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, around the structures, supports, and funding needed to support early childhood educators in attaining a high-quality degree, without depending existing divisions along racial, geographic, socioeconomic, and linguistic lines. Access and read the complete report here.
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Spotlight on You
 This month we spoke to Mei Tam-Li, a Head Start and Colorado Preschool Program teaching assistant from Colorado Springs, CO. Mei, a transplant from New York, has been working in early childhood for 5 years as an assistant teacher at Community Partnership for Child Development (CPCD).
"There are so many things I love about being an early childhood professional," she says. "I love watching the children grow and seeing them achieve tasks that gets handed to them. I love seeing the progress that they make from the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year. They come such a long way. Being able to sit at the table to eat with them and hear them share stories of what they did at home is very interesting. My favorite would have to be seeing those light bulbs above their head light up when ideas start to flow and they share with you." |
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How did you get into early childhood?
I have always wanted to be a teacher since I was in kindergarten. Back in New York, I was able to work at a summer school program. When my son went to preschool, I would volunteer at the classroom until one day his teacher told me to apply for a position in the company. After being at CPCD for a couple of years, I learned that being in preschool isn’t all just fun and games and cute children. There is so much work that goes into being a preschool teacher. It is about being able to give high quality education to children while providing a safe, loving environment to be in. Being a teacher has helped me understand more about children and finding ways to shape their minds.
What would you change about the early childhood field?
Being in Colorado, cost of living is getting higher every year. Parents need two incomes in order to support their families. They need childcare. Daycare centers are getting so expensive that the majority of one parent’s paycheck goes to daycare. I wish cost of living wasn’t so expensive and that it was affordable to put children in childcare and preschool. Working for Head Start and CPP means that our families don’t have to pay to put their children in preschool. It helps families get back on their feet and get jobs to support their families. I do wish we had more spots to serve more families.
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What do you like about being a teacher?
I think it’s great to be in early childhood when the children are able to learn to trust you and are able to feel comfortable to learn with you. Being in the field can be challenging but being at CPCD, we get so much help from other teachers, supervisors, coaches, therapists, and mentors. We get enough training that we feel confident in doing our job. I love seeing my class be able to implement strategies that we learned at school and bring it home to do the same. I have families that tell me that they sing songs at home all the time and everywhere they go. They would tell us how much better they play with other children here at school and being able to socialize with others. This is why I do what I do is because I want families to be proud of their children and express that. Being in this field isn’t just about the children but their families as well.
How do you impact children and families in Colorado?
We provide free preschool for families with children 3-5 years old and early head start for families with children that are 6 weeks to 2 years old. We also connect parents with community resources and provide services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, behavior health and also early childhood special education for any children that are on IEPs or needing an IEP.
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 Click to view Mei's classroom wishlist! When you shop through Amazon Smile, Amazon donates to a nonprofit of your choice! Search "Colorado Association for Education of Young Children" to donate. |
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As a thank you to Mei for participating in this month's Spotlight, we have gifted Mei an entry membership to NAEYC and COAEYC! Do you know someone who works with children and families (teachers, therapists, administrators, cooks, bus drivers--anyone!) who deserves to be in the spotlight? Fill out this form or tweet your nomination to @coloradoaeyc using the hashtag #COAEYCspotlight.
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The Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program is Seeking Applicants!
The Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program is currently seeking applications for their 2020-2021 cohort. This graduate certificate program will prepare you to be a transformational leader in early childhood. You’ll learn about leadership practices specific to child development, learning organizations, and community and systems change. Students are also able to apply credits earned in this 18-credit program into one of several master’s or doctoral programs offered at the CU Denver’s School of Education & Human Development.
To be considered for this program, you must have a conferred bachelor's degree by May 2020 and have direct experience working with or on behalf of children birth to 8 years old or their families.
The deadline to apply is December 6th, 2019.
You can download this flyer or visit the program's page for more information.
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ECCLA introduces their new Careers in Early Childhood: A Colorado Directory
This triennial publication features promising career opportunities to support young children and families. In partnership with the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® National Center, the Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance (ECCLA) is able to bring this resource to Colorado.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
COAEYC Listening Tour
We have just two more dates of our 50th Anniversary Listening Tour! Please join us and share your thoughts, concerns, and hopes for early childhood in your area. Your experience and perspective is so valuable to us! Refreshments will be served.
- 11/16: Colorado Springs, 9:00AM @ Family of Christ Lutheran Church REGISTER
- 12/14: Denver, 9:00AM @ Denver Public Library REGISTER
Colorado Election Day - November 5th, 2019
Statewide Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. We encourage you to look over Prop CC - an initiative on the ballot that asks Colorado voters if the state can keep revenue it collects over its existing revenue limit (that it usually returns to voters) and spend those funds on public schools, higher education, roads, bridges, and transit. An annual independent audit would show how the money is spent.
Please also check your local ballot information guide to see what education roles are up for election in your district.
NAEYC Annual Conference - November 20-23rd, 2019
This year's annual conference will take place in Nashville, TN from November 20-23rd! Join early childhood educators from across the nation in Music City for workshops, presentations, and special music events! Participants can earn CEUs or university credits for attending this event. For information on presenters, workshops, lodging, and registration, please click here.
Colorado Gives Day is December 10th, 2019
Colorado Gives Day is an annual statewide movement to celebrate and increase philanthropy in Colorado through online giving! You can schedule your donation early or stop by our Colorado Gives page on December 10th to donate. You contributions help us advocate for children, families, and educators in Colorado.
2020 Public Policy Forum - February 2020
The NAEYC Public Policy Forum is a member-only function where early childhood professionals discuss the challenges in early childhood education, strengthen relationships with policymakers, learn and advance advocacy skills, and build networks. This event will be held February 23-25th in Arlington, VA.
We are so proud to be part of a team of Colorado-based early childhood organizations, including Clayton Early Learning and the Colorado Children's Campaign, attending the 2020 Public Policy Forum! Are you interested in sharpening your advocacy skills and being a part of the effort to advance policies that benefit children, families, and early education? We would love to see you there!
From the NAEYC Website:
As a Public Policy Forum participant, NAEYC members have the opportunity to:
- Be part of a powerful team working to advance federal and state early childhood policy
- Hear from and network with national and state policy leaders and fellow advocates
- Get the resources and experiences they need to be an informed and effective advocate
- Meet with members of Congress and build relationships with their staff and teams
If you are interested in attending or learning more about this advocacy event, click here.
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ECE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Keeping up with the news can be hard when you're busy! Here are a few recent statewide and national articles about early childhood:
- Secondary traumatic stress--a condition affecting professions such as nurses, child welfare workers, first-responders, and counselors--is beginning to be actualized as a real condition affecting teachers (neaToday)
- Park County Strike ended after 10 days without an agreement (Denver7)
- Colorado lawmakers and advocates look into revamping how Colorado's schools are funded (CPR)
- Atlanta teacher Johnathon Hines becomes the first black man to win Georgia's Pre-K Teacher of the Year (EdLanta)
- House Democrats want to expand funding for CCAMPIS - a federal program to assist college students pay for childcare (NPR)
- Florida educator opens overnight childcare facility to serve families with non-traditional work schedules (WPTV)
- Teachers frustrated with 'room clear' method when dealing with aggressive behaviors and call for smaller class sizes, better training, and more mental health supports (NBC via Youtube)
- Chalkbeat fact checks claims made on Denver school board campaign mailers (Chalkbeat)
- Chicago Teachers Union strike ends after 11 days with an agreement to raise wages 16% over five years, create a committee to investigate and enforce overcrowding in classrooms, and provide additional funding to add social workers and nurses to schools (Chicago Tribune)
- New national report shows that families spend more on child care than housing in most states (First Five Years Fund)
- Gov. Pollis' 2020 budget proposal includes increased funding for family leave and preschool (CPR)
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