Patrick Romero |
A Message from Your Professional Development Chair
CAEYC has long been a standard bearer in providing quality professional development to early childhood educators. This year’s Conference was one great example including extended Leadership Day sessions, Diane Levin’s keynote, more than 125 engaging workshops, more than 85 exhibitors and networking spaces throughout Pasadena that helped us develop as professionals. For me, the CAEYC Board of Director’s meeting was especially significant because I was voted in as the new Chair of the Professional Development Committee.
The committee has three goals:
(1) To promote evidence-based and effective approaches to professional development for adult learners,
(2) To bring community partners together to build a chorus out of the diverse voices that represent the science and practice of professional development, and
(3) To support equitable access to high-quality professional development.
We are still developing this year’s action plan, and if you are interested in developing CAEYC’s role in achieving those goals, email me at romero.patrick@gmail.com to participate on the committee.
Forum for Professional Development
In 2010, CAEYC’s annual “Train the Trainer” fall event was redesigned as the Forum for Professional Development to deepen our commitment to a broader scope of adult learning. As Heidi Thumlert, the Chair at the time, said, a forum is “a place where in-depth rich discussions and experiences can take place.” Then in 2014, CAEYC took a huge step toward connecting community partners by collaborating with the California Department of Education-Early Education and Support Division to develop an opportunity for learning and networking between public and private sectors including administrators, consultants, trainers, coaches, mentors and college faculty. Also in 2014, the Forum was expanded by repeating the event in both Northern and Southern California in the same year.
Whether you attend in San Jose, September 22-24 or in Palm Springs, November 10-12, the Forum for Professional Development in 2016 will continue to provide relaxed opportunities to engage and reflect with colleagues about innovative, evidence-based and effective approaches to adult learning while also creating spaces to network and build bridges between diverse providers of professional development. If you are responsible for developing early childhood educators as professionals and interested in developing early childhood education as a profession, this is the event for you.
Scholarships, Awards & Grants
An essential part of our effort to ensure equitable access to high-quality professional development is our scholarships, awards and grants program. These funds directly support new members and emerging leaders. Scholarships for new student memberships to NAEYC are available after conference on a first-come, first-serve basis thanks to the annual Honor an Early Childhood Educator fundraising event at conference, which is in itself a personal way to acknowledge a special educator in your life. All other scholarships, awards and grants will have application schedules so that recipients can be recognized at conference. More information about those opportunities will be available in the October eConnections.
Now, we would like to expand our program by helping you establish a named scholarship, award or grant to honor someone that you feel represents CAEYC’s mission to promote excellence in early childhood education. They can be honorary or memorial tributes. A family could honor the memory of a loved one by sponsoring a conference registration. A family could celebrate a birth by offering a scholarship or grant for a CAEYC membership in the name of the new family member. It doesn’t have to be a person; maybe you, or a family member, work for a company that would like to be recognized as a champion for early educators. Your gifts will help them continue their development as professionals and improve the lives of the children and families they work with. Contact us at info@caeyc.org to learn the details.