Letter from the President
Jessica Castleberry, SDAEYC President
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Hello again to the membership of the South Dakota Association for the Education of Young Children! These past few months have been very busy for SDAEYC, and I hope that you’ll read on for many important updates.
August and September, we had several deadlines for our new structure from NAEYC. I appreciate everything our board, our chapter chairs, and our Operations Manager Tara did to complete this transition as smoothly as possible. We did it!
October and November of this year many meetings were held regarding development of an early childhood education endowment fund. You can find more information regarding this exciting topic in this newsletter from Public Policy Chair, Kayla Klein. I was also able to travel to the NAEYC Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA, as an attendee as a presenter. I will be repeating my presentation “Leadership in Rural America” at our SDECE Conference in April, and I hope you will attend for great discussion!
In December we held our governing board meeting, finished up redesign of our website (check it out
here
), and finalized many items for the end of the year.
Coming up in January be sure to attend Sioux Falls WOW January 20
th
at the Washington Pavillion. The guest speaker this year is Gigi Schweikert, and it is guaranteed to be an uplifting and inspiring event. If you’re in Pierre on January 23rd , swing by Early Childhood Education Day at the Capitol, where Public Policy Chair Kayla Klein and I will be visiting with community members and legislators about SDAEYC. We’d love to have you stop in and visit, or if you'd like to join us for the day contact me for more information.
In February, March, and April we will continue preparations for the SDECE 2018 Conference, held this year in beautiful Spearfish, SD April 12-14. On behalf of the SDAEYC Black Hills Chapter, I personally invite you to “our neck of the woods!”
We have a lot of exciting opportunities coming up in 2018. Several board positions will be opening up for new members, there will be increased networking and advocacy opportunities, and even more ways to stay connected to others invested in early childhood education!
I would like to issue a special heart felt thanks to our Operations Manager, Tara Anderson-Topete who will be transitioning at the end of January. We wish her all the best with the exciting changes in her life, and are so glad she will remain a part of our organization as a member. Additionally, I am excited to welcome SDAEYC member Leigha Patterson as our new Operations Manager!
Please reach out to me at any time with questions, comments, or to find out how you can be an agent for change.
Jessica Castleberry
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Make Plans to Attend the 2018 SDECE Conference!
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We are gearing up for the next South Dakota Early Childhood Education Conference-Sharing our Gifts with Children. The 2018 conference will be held in Spearfish, SD, April 12-14, 2018
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Please consider sharing your gift with others by presenting a workshop at our conference!
*We are looking for all areas of presentations, but especially more in leadership and infant/toddler care.
Call for proposals are due on January 31st! All who are registered by this date will be in a drawing for a
FREE registration! Each presenter (one per group if more than one presenter), will receive a discount on registration.
If you know of anyone who would be a great presenter for us, please forward this on!
Thank you in advance!
Click here to register for presenting:
Please check here for conference updates and registration coming mid- January:
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Updates from SDAEYC Chapters
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Siouxland Chapter of SDAEYC:
The Siouxland Chapter has been busy planning for our annual SFWOW event! The event takes place on Saturday, January 20
th
, 2018 at the Washington Pavilion! Our speaker this year is
Gigi Schweikert, early childhood expert and bestselling author of the early childhood series,
Winning Ways
.
You can find more information about the event at the SF WOW website:
http://siouxfallswow.weebly.com
We had a fun fall membership informational meeting on October 13
th
at Bracco in Sioux Falls. We were able to share appetizers and talk about the changes to NAEYC and SDAEYC. We also brainstormed some ideas for our new chapter and how we can still have events and do community outreach as a chapter.
Robin Sjogren & Kay Ballard
Co-Chairs
Missouri Valley Chapter of SDAEYC:
Our student group members on the USD campus hosted monthly meetings including canvas painting, make-and-take activities based on the children’s books
Flat Stanley
and
Cookie’s Week
, and co-hosted a potluck for education majors during the official study day before finals week.
As the result of the NAEYC re-organization, Missouri Valley officers completed paperwork to be recognized as a chapter of South Dakota AEYC in September. Additional paperwork was filed in December to dissolve MVAEYC as a domestic non-profit in the District of Columbia and as a foreign non-profit in South Dakota. Our chapter will now be under the SDAEYC umbrella instead of directly affiliated with NAEYC.
Be sure to check out our Facebook page Missouri Valley Chapter of South Dakota AEYC for upcoming events. If you have ideas for future meetings or events, we would love to hear from you! Contact us at
sdaeyc.mv@gmail.com
Wishing you a wonderful 2018,
Sherrie Bosse & Angie Haas
Co-Chairs
Dakota Midland Chapter of SDAEYC:
SDAEYC Dakota Midland Chapter met in September and November to discuss the changes happening within NAEYC and SDAEYC. Our next membership meeting will be on Sunday, January 7 at 3pm at the Youth Development Center (YDC) in Aberdeen. Dakota Midland members Gayle Bortnem and Ellen Schlosser are planning a 'Make & Take' activity for members. We would also like members to bring a snow unit idea.
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Are you currently enrolled part-time or full-time in an early childhood program at a South Dakota college, university or technical school? Are you interested in attending the NAEYC Annual Conference
November 2018 in Washington, D.C.?
The SDAEYC Governing Board is currently seeking applicants for scholarships of up to $750 to attend the conference! Click on the links below to submit your application today!!
*Scholarship Applications are due October 1, 2018.
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2018 SDAEYC Service Awards
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Do you know someone deserving of an SDAEYC Service Award?
Submit your nomination today to sdaeyc@gmail.com!
*Nominations are due March 1, 2018.
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Public Policy Updates
Kayla Klein, Public Policy Chair
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What wonderful progress we have seen in 2017! SDAEYC along with some other primary advocacy groups have made some wonderful headway in SD.
First, lets start with some logistics, the Public Policy Forum is coming up in March. I will be your state team leader and if you would be interested in attending please contact me at:
director@nhfirststep.com
. I can get you agenda details, costs, booking info, and any other details you may want to discuss. This forum is suited for the introductory advocate to the well-seasoned advocates. We would love to have you join our team and represent SD to our Senators and House of Representative!
New state changes and improvements:
Levels of Excellence: Licensed Centers now have an option obtain a star rating through this process, which is governed by the School Administrators office of SD. The levels of Excellence were mirrored to be very similar to the NAEYC accreditation standards but much more obtainable for many and it is a free program.
Early Learning Guidelines: The Department of Social Services, Division of Child Care and the Department Of Education, Head Start Collaboration Office have worked diligently on updating the current guidelines along with adding a birth to 3 section! This an exciting and vital expansion for our Centers and programs around the state. To access these guidelines follow this link:
http://dss.sd.gov/docs/childcare/early_learning_guidelines.pdf
.
State Initiatives:
Upcoming Legislative Session:
As of now, we do not know of any bills being presented at this next legislative session that focus on improving, expanding, or extenuating the current state of early childhood education in the state of SD. I will be watching this closely and will put any updates on Facebook for further reference. Please like us at: SDAEYC
Efforts by one Elected Official:
We find hope in the efforts of one elected official, Thomas Holmes. As Public Policy Chair and on behalf of SDAEYC, I have been working with Representative Holmes with his Early childhood education goals. Representative Holmes’ hopes were to establish an endowment to help fund early childhood education in SD. He knew this would be a large undertaking but he is up to the task. He has met with several potential donors and is spreading the word of this initiative to several other elected officials he serves with. The endowment has been established under the umbrella of SDAEYC and through SD Community Foundation. The guidelines and make up of the advisory board that will one day help to disperse these funds is still in the process of being discussed. We are currently taking donations to this fund, if you or fellow early childhood professionals have interest in getting involved with this process or are interested in donating, please email me at
director@nhfirststep.com
. Individuals interested in donating can write checks to SD Community Foundation or SDCF and they can be sent to: PO Box 296 Pierre, SD 57501.
A final note:
Every voice matters, if you feel deep down that something is wrong, or something needs to change, it probably does. My personal motto is: Say something, do something. You can be a part of this process, help be a part of the change, your voice matters!
**Remember Early Childhood Day at the Capitol, that our president Jessica mentioned above, is a great way to put your face out there and represent early childhood education at the Capitol. We hope to have you there!**
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Accreditation Updates
Susan Ratkovsky, Accreditation Chair
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Open Positions on the SDAEYC Board
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If you are interested in any of these, please let me know by emailing Mary Bowne at
mary.bowne@sdstate.edu or by calling at (605) 688-5989 and leaving a message.
Vice-President:
Charge: Assist president in carrying out SDAEYC management and policy making
Term: 2 years; 2 terms maximum
Elected by membership in even numbered years
Specific qualifications: Successful experience in organizational leadership
Treasurer:
Charge: Maintain financial integrity of SDAEYC
Term: 2 years; 2 terms maximum
Elected by membership in even numbered years
Specific qualifications: Successful experience in making financial decisions, keeping organizational financial records, reviewing audits, conducting fundraising activities
Understanding of financial accounting for nonprofit organizations, or willingness to learn
Member-At-Large:
Charge: Represent the membership on the board
Term: 2 years; 2 terms maximum
Elected by membership – one in odd numbered years and one in even numbered years
Specific qualifications: Successful experience in organizational leadership
Membership Chair:
Term: 2 years; 2 terms maximum
Appointed by the President in even numbered years, in conjunction with the state board
Charge: Recruit new members, retain current members, and target potential members who reflect a diversity of early childhood and related occupations, cultures, heritage, age, gender and geographic locations.
Specific qualifications: Strong communication skills and access to computer equipment and Internet access.
Public Policy Chair:
Term: 2 years; 2 terms maximum
Appointed by the President in even numbered years, in conjunction with the state board
Charge: Monitor all legislative and administrative policies that affect young children, their families, and early childhood educators
Specific qualifications: Successful public policy/advocacy experience
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South Dakota Association for the Education of Young Children
sdaeyc@gmail.com
sdaeyc.org
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