It's been REAL!!! Farewell!

When I think back on this program of study I am reminded that nothing worthwhile comes easy. I have had some good days and I have had some bad days within this program but I won't complain. Three things that I have learned from the program are to know what my biases are and dispel them, I have learned that I can make my voice heard without having to stand on Capitol Hill screaming them, and I have learned that play is an important part of every child's development.

One long term goal that I have is to begin my own center and implement the things that I believe are important to the field of early childhood education.

I want to say thank you to all of my colleagues your input has been tremendous, and I want to say thank you to all the professors for their time, and understanding through the process of completing this degree program it has not always been easy but you've worked with me and through all of my  challenges of being a mother, wife , employee, and student and I have learned so much from you all. Take care and I wish all of you well in the future.

Jobs or Roles in ECE Community National/Fedreal

Three National/Federal organizations or communities of practice that appealed to me were:

1)      Shore Up Head Start which is a federal organization but is also in my community of practice.

I chose them because they are an early childhood program in my county that has income guidelines and I would like to know how to help increase the guidelines or change them so that more children are allowed the opportunity to attend this program.

There are no job opportunities available at this time.

 2)NAEYC’s is a National organization that I love. 

NAEYC’s is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 80,000 members, a national network of more than 300 state and local Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations.

They do have several job openings available but they are intense. The only one that I saw that interests me was the Conference Program Coordinator position.

Job Summary:

 Assist with Institute Conference (2000 attendees) and citywide Annual Conference (12,000 attendees). Responsibilities include coordinating the proposal review process; updating/maintaining the proposal/presenter/scheduling databases; preparing presenter, session, and scheduling reports and correspondence; updating the Conference websites; and managing the Conference meeting room inventory.

            Experience Needed:

BA/BS required. Candidate must be extremely detailed oriented and accurate; able to collaborate effectively within a team environment as well as work independently and take initiative. Must possess excellent interpersonal and organizational skills and work very well under pressure and tight deadlines. Must be proficient in Microsoft Office and comfortable working with databases/Conference technology. Excellent benefits, a professional work environment, and near Metro. Send cover letter, resume, and salary history to HR/CPC, NAEYC, 1313 L Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC, 20005 or e-mail hr@naeyc.org

3)      The Annie Casey Foundation which is in Baltimore, Maryland is community of practice that interest me.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private charitable organization, dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States. It was established in 1948 by Jim Casey, one of the founders of UPS, and his siblings, who named the Foundation in honor of their mother.

The primary mission of the Foundation is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families. In pursuit of this goal, the Foundation makes grants that help states, cities and neighborhoods fashion more innovative, cost-effective responses to these needs.

They have about 5 job opportunities available and this one interest me the most!! (maybe because it is the assistant to the Office of the President)

 Special Assistant in Office of the President

The Special Assistant provides day-to-day operational support to the Office of the President as requested and directed by the Vice President, Chief of Staff. The Special Assistant is an extension of the Office of the President throughout all aspects of the work of the Foundation. The Special Assistant serves as an advisor to the Vice President, Chief of Staff and will work closely with the VP across a range of responsibilities. The Special Assistant will also work closely with the senior management of the Foundation on various portfolio priorities.

Position Prerequisites

Qualifications:

• A Master’s degree in human services, social work, business, education or related field is required.
• Candidates should also have a minimum of three years of experience with community-based organizations and/or policy organizations focused on health and human services, education, and/or economic and community development.

Essential Skills & Abilities:

• Strong analytic skills and ability to prepare reports;
• Ability to work discreetly and independently;
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills;
• Capacity to work well with competing priorities and tight deadlines that requires a high degree of independent action with minimal supervision;
• Consensus builder with excellent interpersonal skills;
• Proficiency with databases, Internet and presentation software;
• Must be a team player with above average interpersonal skills.
• Outstanding judgment, initiative, and motivation.
• Commitment to improved outcomes for disadvantaged children and families.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State

Two local state organizations that appealed to me were:

 MDAEYC which is the Maryland Association for the Education of Young Children

http://mdaeyc.org/links.htm

MDAEYC offers
Accreditation support
• Professional development opportunities
• A chance to connect with other professionals in your community
• A voice in early care and education policy issues
I chose this group because in my field you always are looking or professional development opportunities and the ability to have a voice in early care and education issues
There are not job opportunities but membership opportunities available and volunteer positions.
Right now they are looking for members

The Maryland Committee for Children

http://www.mdchildcare.org/mdcfc/for_providers/childcare.html

The Maryland Committee for children is a resource for families helping them find care for their children.
MFN works in partnership with employers to explore and implement programs that help employees balance their commitments to work and family. These work/life initiatives range from assistance with dependent care to flexible working schedules to job sharing.
You can also search the site for licensed care
For licensed child care providers it provides information that will help with training and vacancies
Currently no employment opportunities offered
I am a member of this committee because I am a licensed provider.

One local community partner that appealed to me was

Jack & Jill Learning Center
Jack & Jill Learning Center is the only accredited center in Cambridge Maryland. It appealed to me because of the accreditation, and I want to one day have my own accreditated center. Jack & Jill is a preschool that serves children 2 and up.
There are no job opportunities at this time
Skills I would need to be a child care assistant:experience in a child care setting, CPR & First Aid, Orientation class through the state of Maryland.
Child care teacher: I would need a degree in early childhood.

Profile of a Volunteer

The job of my pastor is a volunteer job... no one pushed him or coercied him he said I WILL!!
Some of his duties include:
Being  responsible for providing the senior leadership and oversight of the church.
With God’s help, he will serve as the chief visionary to lead the church forward in fulfilling God’s purpose. He is expected to contribute to the team spirit of the staff through fellowship, encouragement, cooperation, prayer support and other appropriate ways, as he serves his Lord Jesus Christ
Provide for the overall health and welfare of the church. To be the primary preacher of the Word of God. This shall be done with love, faithfulness, impartiality and fearfulness knowing that he will be held accountable for the welfare of the flock (Heb. 13:17).See that Bible teaching is a primary function of the church.To conduct weddings and funerals, to see that related counseling is done.
To administer communion, perform baptisms and baby dedications.To work to facilitate peace among members of the staff and congregation; to seek to win back the estranged and to reconcile those with broken relationships, particularly when such conflict threatens the welfare of the church; at times, to work with the church leadership council to determine solutions to some problems of this nature.

To work with the administrator to develop new ministries and help with the overseeing of the current ministries.To oversee and lead other pastoral staff in their related ministries, keeping a uniform

“temperature” of the church.

To serve as an Elder on the Church leadership council.

His work has positively impacted others because over the 17 years that I have been there I have seen many saved, healed, delivered and set free from his pastorialship. 

A "take-away" message that is relative to his work in terms of my own volunteer efforts and advocacy is that "People are able to do what they really want to do." Our Pastor in an effort to help his lay people become more committed to the Lord and to the church always makes this statement and I believe that it also rings true in volunteering and working with families and children.

To lead the church in being a praying church. To call for corporate prayer times and

prayer and fasting times, to see that prayer is made for all people and places.

Using Social Media to Get Connected

My experiance with social media has been that I have had a facebook and myspace account. I have watched youtube but have not personally posted anything on youtube. I have only had a blog through this degree program.
I believe that facebook is a social media tool that lends itself to effective advocacy. You reach so many people all over the world. I have a friend right now who works for healthy families who is advocating that home visiting not be cut and she has used facebook.
I would use facebook to also educate and inspire others in my advocacy work because again it reaches so many people all over the world.
Help I would need from my colleagues on how to use social media would be how to get the word out on You tube. It seems like even our President was able to campaign with you tube so that is the next social media outlet that I need to learn how to use.

Advocacy Messages

Education is key to peace

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance

I think these messages are these messages are so effective in creating action because it basically points out what you need in order to be successful and that is to have an education. Whenever people read things like this it causes them to act. Either it causes them to think about change, or it causes them to want to get up to cause change. The same way ads on television cause us to buy things or to go shopping these ads do the same thing.

My Own Capacity



At work with the kids!!

The issues that fuel my passion that impact young children and families, and the early childhood field are that we have high quality programs in place that all children have access to, and that we have providers and teachers that have quality educations and are getting better compensation. It really urks me to see a program for children and they are not learning or the person in the classroom is not educated enough to do the things needed to teach the child. I really have an issue with compensation. If I put forth effort to educate myself so that I can better educate the children then I should see a higher compensation.
The skills that I have that will contribute to advocacy efforts are I am persistent, I have a passion for the field, I am capable of researching the issues. I am a minister in my church so I have spoken to big audiences standing up for Jesus Christ, compelling people to change their hearts and minds.
The resources that are at my disposal that could benefit my advocacy work are my links to the superintendent of our Board of education, the connection I have with community partners affiliated with the school I work for. I also have connections with ministerial partners in the community.
I think the fact that I love children, I am becoming current on the issues at hand, and that  I am driven to see change will help contribute to my advocacy work.
I hope to be able to reach out to elected officials and have my voice heard. I hope I can grow in this area of advocacy. I believe I can do it.