Bailey's Open Arms : March 2021

I have several local organizations of practice that appealed to me, and they are the following:

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). https://www.naeyc.org/. NAEYC is the premier membership association for early learning professionals. Whether you're a teacher, assistant teacher, program director, higher ed faculty, student, family member, researcher, policy maker, administrator, or somewhere in between, NAEYC is here to help YOU on the journey to improve educational opportunities for all young children. (NAEYC, 2021).
Durham’s Partnership for Children. (DPFC). http://dpfc.net/. Ensures every child in Durham enters school ready to succeed, we lead community strategies for children birth to age 5 and their families that promote healthy development and learning and enhance access to high-quality care. (Anon, 2021).
Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). https://acei.org/about-us/how-we-work/. CE International works for the education of all children but has a special interest in ensuring that our energies are focused on meeting the education needs of the most fragile and vulnerable children (ACEI, 2021).
National Head Start Association (NHSA). https://www.nhsa.org/. Head Start is the national commitment to give every vulnerable child an opportunity to succeed (Caitlyn, 2021).
National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC). https://nafcc.org/About-Us/. The National Association for Family Childcare (NAFCC) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting high-quality childcare by strengthening the profession of family childcare for nearly one million paid home-based early learning programs serving almost 40% of the 6.7 million children who receive care from a nonrelative (NAFCC, 2021) regularly.
Families & Communities Rising. (FCR). https://fcrinc.org/. We educate and empower children, families & communities (FCR, 2021).
Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2020). https://www.zerotothree.org/. To ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. At ZERO TO THREE, we envision a society that has the knowledge and will to support all infants and toddlers in reaching their full potential.
North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation. https://buildthefoundation.org/. Each North Carolina child has a strong foundation for lifelong health, education, and well-being supported by a premiere birth-to-age-eight system. To marshal North Carolina’s great people, ideas, and achievements to build a foundation of opportunity and success for every child by the end of third grade. (NC Early Childhood Foundation, 2021).
The UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. https://fpg.unc.edu. The UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute transforms children's and families' lives through interdisciplinary research, evaluation, implementation, technical assistance, and outreach. We generate knowledge, inform policies, and support practices to promote positive developmental and educational outcomes for children of all backgrounds and abilities from the earliest years. Our ultimate aim: to help each and every child reach their full potential. (unc.edu, 2021).

As a parent and Chair of Policy Council for Families & Communities Rising (FCR), most of the associations mentioned above held a seat on our Policy Council Board and brought different contributions to the organization. All contributed to either helping our teachers, children, and families with any difficulties that may arise or educational advancements for the better for the children we serve. Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute states its goal is to help each and every child reach their full potential (unc.edu, 2021). All organizations mentioned above have the same goal, which is to serve the needs of children.

The job that is unavailable at this present time, but I aspire to achieve is; the title of Founder for establishing standardized schooling for ages 0-4, same as K-12. I would use the same steps Families and Communities Rising (FCR) created. Anne Sanford, the founder, received a small grant from the US Department of Education to develop strategies and materials to assist with the education of young children with disabilities. With this funding, FCR became part of a national effort to address this overlooked and underserved population's needs. (FCR, 2021).

FCR became involved with Head Start in 1973 when it was asked to create a network for training Head Start staff in Region IV. Its involvement increased when it began to provide Head Start services directly to families and children in its local areas. Its KidSCope program serves children with disabilities in Orange and Chatham Counties and its FRIENDS and ARCH programs serve national priorities in community-based child abuse prevention and respite care for all ages. (FCR, 2021). I intend to take early childhood education to the next level and become a lobbyist. I hope to obtain funding by applying for grants from The US Department of Education in North Carolina to help reach the goal of early childhood education being free for all. Working at The UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute will allow me to simultaneously assist in transforming children’s lives (unc.edu, 2021).

I am obtaining the skills of a Master's degree in Early Childhood education to help me accomplish the work I have to do. I will continue my education to a doctorate level so I can participate in a greater variety of opportunities in the Early Childhood Education field. I hope there is a position available for me as a CEO or Executive Director position in a Durham Early Head Start Program.

Resources

Caitlyn. (2021). National Head Start Association (NHSA).

https://www.nhsa.org

Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). (2021).

https://acei.org/about-us/how-we-work/

Durham Early Head Start- Durham’s Partnership for Children (DPFC). (2021). Durham Partnership for Children.

http://dpfc.net/our-work/durham-early-head-start/

Families & Communities Rising (FCR). (2021). Families & Communities.

https://fcrinc.org

The UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. (2021).

https://fpg.unc.edu

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (2021). NAEYC.