The success of early childhood education depends on educators who show up for children every day. Retaining those educators and helping them expand their skills are two of the field’s most difficult challenges.
Through the ECHO initiative, Community Connections for Children has developed workforce programs that help early childhood educators build skills, earn credentials, and grow as professionals. The Teacher Aide Program combines Child Development Associate (CDA) training with mentoring and financial supports for participating educators and ECE programs.
Building and maintaining a strong workforce
Nyree Hanes, director of Sunshine Christian Daycare and Learning Center, opened her business through her church with a passion to see children excel on their way to kindergarten.
“Some of my biggest challenges with running the center at Sunshine Christian Daycare is finding good staff, staff that’s reliable, and not just reliable, but have a passion to work with kids. And that’s hard,” she says.
Those difficulties are all too common in early childhood education, where programs often face significant challenges offering competitive wages, benefits, and professional development opportunities.
Nyree couldn’t cover the cost of Child Development Associate (CDA) training for her team on her own. She learned about ECHO’s Teacher Aide Program through her CCC Keystone Stars Quality Coach and decided to try it. Harrisburg Area Community College provides the CDA coursework, with training costs supported through a combination of ECHO and workforce funding. ECHO funding also provides stipends to participating early childhood professionals and their mentors, along with stabilization support for participating early childhood education employers.
‘They got their joy back’
Three teachers from Sunshine Christian have completed the program over the past two years. One of those educators has since become a mentor in the program and is continuing her education toward an associate degree.“They got their joy back,” Nyree says. “When they come from the program, they’re excited about what they learned.”
“Every week I learned something new and I brought it back,” she says.
Jereshia’s in-house mentor teacher helped her put her new skills into practice and to overcome her fear of leading a classroom. She now is lead teacher in the 4-to-5-year-old classroom at Sunshine.
CCC’s workforce investments support both participating educators and the ECE programs working to recruit, develop and retain qualified staff. ECHO funding also helped Nyree invest in professional development. She received a Professional Development Mini-Grant that allowed her to attend a national early childhood educator conference in Orlando, FL.
“The grants and the stipends through ECHO have been a tremendous help with being a small business,” she says.
Investment strengthens the system
At End of the Rainbow Daycare in Red Lion, assistant teacher Joey Zielinski is working toward his CDA through ECHO’s Virtual Teacher Aide Program. The virtual format allows Joey to participate in weekly CDA coursework while balancing work and time with his young family.
Before entering early childhood education, Joey worked in restaurant management. When his son was born, he became a stay-at-home dad, which helped him to realize the kind of work he wanted to pursue.
“Staying home with my son was the most fulfilling thing I had ever done in my life,” he says.
Joey’s mentor teacher, Colleen McGranaghan, has worked at End of the Rainbow for 31 years. Joey says the training and guidance from experienced educators such as Colleen have helped him believe that one day he can lead a classroom.
“I feel super well-equipped. I feel like I have a support system of very intelligent and educated individuals that have been in this field for a long time,” he says.
In addition to building skills and earning the CDA credential, participants can articulate their completed coursework into nine college credits, creating a pathway toward continued education. Joey hopes to apply those credits toward a degree in early childhood education.
Joey and Jereshia’s experiences show what can happen when early childhood educators have opportunities to learn, earn credentials and advance in their careers. Through the Teacher Aide Program and ECHO’s broader workforce initiatives, CCC is investing in educators while helping ECE programs build and retain the skilled workforce children and families depend on.
About Community Connections for Children
Community Connections for Children has served York County families, childcare programs, and businesses for nearly 40 years. It administers the Child Care Works program that helps low income working families pay for childcare, Keystone STARS, which provides coaching, mentoring, and training to improve the quality of childcare programs, and resource & referral services to help families find care.
Every Child Has Opportunities (ECHO) is an early childhood education initiative in York County, Pennsylvania, led by Community Connections for Children and the York County Economic Alliance. ECHO funding partners include WellSpan Health, the J. William Warehime Foundation, the Powder Mill Foundation, United Way of York County, the Kinsley Foundation, and the York County Community Foundation.
For more information on Community Connections for Children, visit www.cccforpa.org.
For more information on ECHO’s grant programs, including the workforce programs mentioned, visit www.echoyork.org/grants-and-programs.