How did you being your career in early childhood?
At the time I was a stay at home mom/nana to 3 sons and 5 granddaughters. I volunteered with my middle granddaughter Katlyn at Kentucky River Foothills Head Start. The next year my middle and next to youngest granddaughter Katlyn and Addison were both students. Some of the staff members (Ashley Robidoux my granddaughters’ teacher, Patricia Brummett the assistant teacher, and Ashley Overbay the center director among others) encouraged me to continue to volunteer and further my career. I had dropped out of school at sixteen and now was forty-five years old with nothing to stop me. My boys were grown two of which were married with children of their own. So, I decided to go back to school and try for my GED, in which I did in a record time of less than two weeks. I also received a scholarship for college. I then applied for a job at the same head start and was hired. So, around the beginning of September 2018 I started my CDA class and I had completed it around the end of December 2018. I also started college classes to get my teaching degree and I am currently in my second semester.
What program(s) have you participated in with CCEI?
CCEI Online Self-Study CDA
Diversity and Multiculturalism Certificate
Childcare Orientation Certificate
What is your favorite time of day to spend with the children?
My favorite time of day with the children is center time because we get to interact one on one, be silly, teach, learn, and engage in many different ways with them. This is great because no two children are the same and the more you know about each specific child the better understanding you will have for any needs that child may have and you can adjust your teaching for that child.
What is their favorite time of day/activity?
Favorite activity would be reading to the child and letting them use their imagination to join in and become part of the story.
What motivates you to work with children?
When I see those little faces light up when they write their name for the first time or to see how proud they are to show their moms and dads a picture they drew or colored. Knowing one day they will grow up to be something great, and I had a little something to do with their long-life journey.
What do you enjoy most about your job and educating young children?
Knowing that I have made a different in one child’s life each year and improved it in some small way makes it all worth it.
What do you do in your free time?
I am a full-time college student at Somerset Community College. Work full time at The Prep Academy of Laurel County, formally Kentucky River Foothills. I live with my husband of 29 years and my disabled son he has Cerebral Palsy and Charcot Marie Tooth Disease and my granddaughter. So I am a mom, wife, and nana 24/7.
Where do you see your career in the future?
I want to be a teacher in the Head Start or Kindergarten age group.
Do you plan on pursuing your education?
I would like to continue in my education and complete my Master’s if financially possible. Most of all I want to continue to work with children and teach them so that one day they can grow up and be anything they set their minds to. No obstacle is too big to overcome with encouragement and support.
Do you plan on receiving any further CCEI coursework or credentials?
I am currently working on credentials and I plan to continue to use CCEI soon. The CCEI program has been so beneficial to me during my journey and the support that I have received from the team has been overwhelming. It is so greatly appreciated that words can never explain.
Have you been awarded your CDA credential by the Council of Professional Recognition?
I am waiting for my paperwork/appointment to take my final exam hopefully within the next week or two I will be.
Would you recommend CCEI to anyone?
1000 times yes, I would recommend the CCEI program and as a matter of fact I have. The CCEI program has changed my life in so many ways and so many others. I would tell anyone and everyone I know to take advantage of all the things that CCEI has to offer. The people in this program are there to support, uplift, and encourage you to be everything you can be and even more. Guess what THEY DO IT!!!!!
What is your current city and state?
London, Kentucky
Are there any comments, recommendations, or testimonials you would like to share?
I would love to recommend CCEI to anyone who is considering going into any level of child care. The cost is very affordable. The support and the CCEI family are priceless. In closing, I will say if you’re like me and think at 45 your life has passed you by and it is too late to further your education, you are so wrong. Since I have started this journey from volunteering two years ago, my life has only improved and I am reaching for my goals one day at a time. Our life is what we make it, we write our own story and we determine the outcome.