March CECMP Newsletter!

A message from CECMP Director, Neva Bandelow

Hello Colleagues!

We celebrate and welcome Spring (March is supposed to be “in like a lion out like a lamb, right?)! For many of us, it is a time of renewal and reflection. Personally, it is also a time to reflect on what I hope to renew as the season begins, and where I owe thanks. Initially, what comes to mind is each of you! Thank you for your continued participation, advocacy and dedication.

I am also grateful to the California Department of Social Service for their renewal of our grant and their support for our program. As I write this to you, we are expecting the finalization of our 2023-25 contract. Funding will be determined after the Governor’s May Revise. However, the CECMP does not expect any reduction in funding.

The Week of the Young Child begins April 1st. I invite each of you to uplift a colleague, Mentee, Protégé or yourself, and the way in which you have participated in the CECMP that has positively impacted children, either directly, or indirectly. Please email these recognitions to info@cecmp.org.

May the days ahead be warm and welcoming to you and yours. As we continue to strengthen our relationships with you and our community partners, please remember to reach out to me at any time.

Warmly,

Neva

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WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?

Southern California Regional Institute!

CECMP hosted our first Institute of the year in Palm Desert! Coordinators, Director Mentors, and Mentor Teachers in Southern California Region joined us for 2 days of Professional Development.

Participants were welcomed by CECMP staff and facilitators Dr. LaWanda Wesley who facilitated a conversation about Leadership, Resilience and Self-Care and Lisa Shaanan, MS, OTR, TMHP, who shared, Exploring Equity through the California Early Childhood Educator Competency: Culture, Diversity, and Equity.

CECMP New Staff!

Jo Nacola joins the CECMP Team as Senior Administrative Assistant having recently migrated to the US from the Fiji Islands. Jo has a Bachelor of Law degree and at heart is a human rights advocate.

Jo has worked in the international human rights sphere with the UN Human Rights Office in the Pacific focusing specifically on women’s access to justice and women human rights defenders who give voice to voiceless, shield powerless against injustice; by providing support, technical assistance and capacity-building to civil society actors and human rights networks across the Pacific. Jo has a Bachelor of Laws degree and at heart is a human rights advocate and is passionate about human rights and sustainable development.

Jo is very excited to join the CECMP Team and working in the early childhood space and likens the work of the program and its members as (mostly women) human rights defenders who promote, protect and speak up for children’s rights and access to quality education and childhood development. He looks forward to supporting and learning more about our shared work on early childhood development across California.

Santa Monica College Mentor Director and Family Care Provider Workshop

From CECMP

Santa Monica College Coordinator,

Ellen Khokha

We held a very successful on ground Mentor Director and Family Care provider workshop this weekend.

Despite the pouring rain, twenty-seven providers and directors were welcomed to our second in a series of Director Brown Bags, this one entitled: Welcoming All Families.

Led by Mentor Director Roleen Heimann and mentor teacher Adrianna Olivera, from the New School West, we had three hours to see this program’s extra ordinary environments making each child and family visible with family books, identity portraits, child images on magnetic choice boards, in centers and more. We learned how this program welcomes all parents and families before they ever meet the child with very intentional systems and practices. A parent volunteer shared their experience of moving to the area and having no family, and how this program helped them become part of the community.

We held a lively discussion about how teachers and directors have had to revise, re-instate, and reimagine their welcoming systems after covid in the participants programs and family care homes. Our community partner, the R and R Connections for Children supported this event with mailings and snacks.

We are preparing for our next Brown Bag on the topic of gender inclusive practices in Early Education to be held in May, this event will feature a presentation which was recently presented at NAEYC. The California ECE Mentor Program makes this unique kind of resource available to all providers, directors and ECE educators across our state at no cost, in addition to supporting practicum placements for community college students about to enter infant, toddler and preschool classrooms as teachers.

Looking for some more Learning?

The California Department of Education Early Education Division (EED) has released a new online publication titled Creating Equitable Early Learning Environments for Young Boys of Color.

Creating Equitable Early Learning Environments for Young Boys of Color provides an honest and comprehensive look at the inequitable experiences our youngest Boys of Color have in early learning programs including disproportionate rates of exclusionary discipline.

This book highlights the critical need to disrupt these patterns and create strength- based and equity-oriented early childhood environments that support Boys of Color to thrive. This groundbreaking resource draws on the most contemporary research for early childhood educators committed to improving race equity within their classrooms and programs. A wide range of practical strategies provide educators with actions they can take right away to create strengths-based, responsive early education environments that support our youngest Boys of Color to thrive. Key topics include building racial equity awareness, strategies to address implicit bias, responsive relationships with love at the center, culturally responsive practice, and the importance of building reciprocal partnerships with families.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE!

Quarter 3 Report - Due April 10th

Regional and Single Coordinators only

On March 10th, CECMP emailed all Regional and Single College Coordinators the Quarter 3 Coordinator report. The report reflects the second quarter covering

January 1, 2023 - March 31, 2023.

We estimate this survey to take up to 30 minutes to complete.

Please be sure to check your email and

complete by April 10th.