Josie Collazo, Lead Preschool/PreK Counts Teacher at Green Byrne Child Care Center, Philadelphia, PA, is the recipient of the 2017 National Child Care Teacher Award from the Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation. This foundation honors 50 child care teachers from across the nation for their dedication and excellence in providing high-quality child care to the children in their care. This year’s award winners come from 26 states, and U.S. Air Force Bases in Italy and Japan.
Ms. Josie, who has a bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate in Early Education, has been teaching at Green Byrne for over 7 years. She started while doing her teaching practicum for her associate’s degree and is now pursuing a master’s degree as a Reading Specialist. Ms. Josie was recommended by her students’ families, co-workers and administration for her outstanding leadership and teaching style. She completed an essay to create a picture with words of her classroom, what it looks like and how it meets the needs of her children. She also created an enhancement project, a “Peace Table Center”, to promote problem solving and conflict resolution for the children in her classroom. She received grant money to fund this project and a $500.00 stipend for herself.
Ms. Josie will be honored at a special ceremony in Philadelphia in May. Congratulation to Ms Josie and the Green Byrne Child Care Program for this special recognition.
"Riverscape" themed playground at Joyful Noise East Child Development Center, Portland, OR
Springtime is a good time to clean-up outdoors with power washing and maintaining fill material and sand. When refreshing, look for ways to bring natural elements onto playgrounds such as sand and trees and gardens. Outdoor play areas should look and feel like parks. Good playgrounds include living things such as plants, bushes, trees and grass. Children need connections to nature and natural materials.
Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms can occur with little, if any, warning, so minutes and seconds can mean lives. From the time the National Weather Service issues a warning to the time the warning appears on a commercial radio or television station, ten minutes may have elapsed. The fastest and most reliable means of receiving critical weather information is with a public alert radio (weather radio).
If you are not in a NOAA Weather Radio broadcast area, alternatives include:
■ Cable television: The Weather Channel and some cable companies provide a Weather Service radar channel using NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards broadcasts and voice-overs.
■ Local radio and television stations for Emergency Alert System messages
■ Wireless Emergency Alerts are sent automatically to WEA-capable mobile phones during an emergency.
Source: National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities at the National Institute of Building Sciences www.ncef.org and http://www.ncef.org/pubs/severe_weather_planning.pdf
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The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that covers a wide variety of responsibilities, including prohibition against child care programs discriminating against children with disabilities.
Child care centers are required to provide “reasonable accommodations” for children with disabilities by changing policies, practices or procedures, providing aids or services to ensure effective communication, or removing physical barriers in existing facilities. If the family of the special needs child disagrees with a Provider’s accommodation decisions, a court of law could determine what is reasonable in a particular situation. Before that happens, it is to everyone’s advantage to try to make the particular situation work without legal intervention. Remember, information about a child’s disability is confidential and can only be shared with written consent from the child’s legal guardian.
If your center needs help resolving a situation with a special needs child, the ADA section of the Department of Justice can help with information and informal and formal arbitration. For more information, contact the ADA Information staff at 1-800-514-03 or download their Frequently Asked Questions document at https://www.ada.gov/archive/q&aeng02.htm.
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