AREA CHILDCARE PROVIDERS INCREASE EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Childcare providers from throughout the Treasure Valley are improving their skills while bringing very tangible benefits to the child care facility where they work and the parents and children they serve.

They are participants in the T.E.A.C.H. (Teacher Education and Compensation Helps) Early Childhood Project and the QCCI (Quality Child Care Initiative) Apprenticeship Project administered by the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children.

The two statewide projects work together to increase the quality of child care and wages for the early childhood profession. Apprenticeship participants receive structured, on-the-job training with support from a qualified early childhood mentor in their area. The T.E.A.C.H. Project provides financial assistance to pay for the majority of their college tuition, books, travel and work release time as needed to complete either a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or an associate of applied science degree in child care and development. Child care providers who work 25 hours or more each week in a licensed child care facility, earn less than $15 per hour and commit to continued employment are eligible to participate.

"T.E.A.C.H. provides a very affordable and accessible way to improve my knowledge about children and how to best meet their needs," one T.E.A.C.H. scholar noted. "It also gives me a personal sense of success and pride in my work. I now feel like a professional instead of just a babysitter."

The Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children receives funding for these projects from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, the Idaho Health & Welfare Quality Funds and other private, state and federal grants.

The following is a list of local participants, the child care program where they are employed, and the program they are enrolled in at Boise State this year:

- Ellen Bartlett of Boise, Sunshine Preschool and Daycare, Boise, associate degree

- Casie Brooks of Boise, Doodle Bug Child Care, Boise, associate degree

- Debra Bishop of Kuna, YMCA, Boise, associate degree

- Eugenia Dodson of Boise, Imagination Station at Wings, Boise, CDA

- Carla Enrico of Boise, Garden City Head Start, Garden City, CDA

- Rhenda Evans of Boise, Advantage Preschool, Boise, CDA

- Anne Frost of Nampa, Annie's Kids Daycare, Nampa, CDA

- Heidi Hawks of Boise, YMCA, Boise, associate degree

- Erlinda Kessler of Payette, Sweet Pea Child Care, Payette, associate degree

- Lika Knight of Boise, YMCA, Boise, associate degree

- Francisca Mata of Nampa, YMCA, Boise, associate degree

- Arisa McRoberts of Kuna, A Touch Of Home, Kuna, CDA

- Deb Pochardt of Boise, Deb's Child Care, Boise, associate degree

- Tonnette Stettler of Boise, Friends of Children and Families Head Start, Boise, associate degree

- Paula Wallin of Boise, YMCA, Boise, associate degree

- Arron Walton of Boise, YMCA, Boise, associate degree

- Lydia Wilson of Mountain Home, Friends of Children and Families Head Start, Mountain Home, associate degree

- Teresa Wood of Boise, YMCA, Boise, associate degree

- Deanna Eldredge of Nampa, St. Alphonsus Early Learning Center, Boise, associate degree

- Vicki Fisk of Boise, Vicki's Child Care, Boise, CDA

- Charlotte Flatt of Boise, Camelot's Castle Child Care, Boise, CDA

- Stephanie Gerla of Boise, St. Alphonsus Early Learning Center, Boise, associate degree

- Nancy Gomez of Mountain Home, Idaho Migrant Council, Caldwell, CDA

- Jackie Kay of Boise, St. Alphonsus Early Learning Center, Boise, associate degree

- Carina Madrigal of Hammett, Idaho Migrant Council, Caldwell, CDA

- Flor Sanchez of Caldwell, Idaho Migrant Council, Caldwell, CDA

- Zoe Thomas of Nampa, St. Alphonsus, Early Learning Center, Boise, associate degree

- Massiel Vela of Glenns Ferry, Idaho Migrant Council, Caldwell, CDA

- Milagros Vela of Mountain Home, Idaho Migrant Council, Caldwell, CDA

- Wendy Williamson of Nampa, St. Alphonsus Early Learning Center, Boise, associate degree

For more information, visit www.idahoaeyc.org.

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Julie Prince

T.E.A.C.H. program

208 345-1090

prince_teach@yahoo.com

Sherry Squires

communications and marketing

208 426-1563

ssquires@boisestate.edu

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