Time Well Spent

Wow, I cannot believe I am sitting here writing my last blog post for this program. Time really flew by!

I would like to take this time to share with you three deeply felt learnings from this program. First and foremost I learned the importance of being a life-long-learner. Just because this program is over does not mean I am done learning. It is now my responsibility to stay on top of current information and research in the early childhood field. The second deeply felt thing I learned was to become a scholar-practitioner. This means that I need to take what I have learned in this program and practice it in real life. This will be especially critical for me since I want to jump straight into the early childhood field with no previous experience. The third thing I would like to share with you is the importance of advocacy of work and how critical it is to the well-being of children and families. This field NEEDS more advocates that are seeking the best interest of those that cannot speak for themselves.

My long term goal is actually to compete a doctoral program at Walden University; once I pay off my loans for this degree first! It is a personal and professional goal of mine to reach a doctorate level and I plan to begin looking into this within the next 5 years.

So, it is with great honor that I bid you all adieu. Dr. Myers, you have been a huge help and source of  encouragement through out this course and for that I would like to sincerely thank you. You have really made this a special and enlightening experience here at Walden. And to all of my fellow colleagues and classmates: I wish you the absolute best of luck with your new degree. May it bring you to the opportunitues you have been seeking and enrich your careers in a whole new way.

If anyone would like to stay in touch, please feel free to E-Mail me at BritniShea020905@comcast.net. I would love to keep in touch with you!

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The first national organization that appealed to me was The Children's Rights organization. They are a national advocacy group that is currently working to "reform failing child welfare systems on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of abused and neglected children who depend on them for protection and care." This organization was founded over 15 years ago by Marcia Robinson Lowry; who has been "a leading voice on civil rights and child welfare issues nationally for more than 35 years." 

Current position available: Policy Intern

        Qualifications:

• Must be in graduate school or entering senior year of college
• Strong writing skills and attention to detail
• Ability to work independently and as a member of a team
• Proficiency in word processing and internet research
• Some knowledge of the child welfare system is strongly desired, as is a beginning knowledge of statistics and statistical analysis

The second national organization/community of practice that I chose is Voices for America's Children. This is a vast community of practice that serves as a networking agent for other advocacy organizations. They assist in advocacy efforts on the federal, state and local levels all across the United States. Unfortunately, you must become a member in order to view any current positions available within their organization. 

The third national organization that I chose is very near and dear to my heart. It is called CASA; Court Appointed Special Advocates. Volunteers of this organization are "appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in inappropriate group or foster homes." From the moment I first heard about this program from a college professor, I knew that was where I wanted to be. I would give anything to be a CASA member and that is truly how I ended up at Walden University. One day I hope to be able to say that I served this organization for many many years. 

Currently, CASA is only looking for volunteers.

       Requirements: 

• Be 21 years old
• Be willing to complete necessary background checks, provide references and participate in an interview 
• Complete a minimum of 30 hours of pre-service training
• Be available for court appearances, with advance notice
• Be willing to commit to the CASA program until your first case is closed

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The first local organization I chose was The Committee for Missing Children. This organization first and foremost identifies themselves as a parent advocacy group; assisting the parents whose children have gone missing in any way they can. This Committee has partnered with countles other groups and organizations that help get pictures of missing children circulating. There are an abundance of success stories on their website and have been very effective in fidning missing children in my community.


The second local organization I chose is a sub-group of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta; a powerhouse in all things early childhood. This organization is called Keeping Chidren Safe: Preventing Abuse and Neglect. This organizatin serves as a middle-man for connecting needs with solutions. They refer families to different resources and programs that can help them stay safe and prevent neglect and abuse. And while their main goal is prevention, they also offer post-abuse counseling resources for victimized familes and children.
 


The third local organization I chose is an advocacy organization called Voices for Georgia's Children. Their mission is "to be a powerful, unifying voice for a public agenda that ensures the well being of all of Georgia’s children." They strive for all Georgia children to have access to the same opportunities. I would really like to be a part of this organization because I feel it would best suit my passion and skillset as an advocate.


I did not see any job opportunities listed in these particular sites but they certainly needed volunteers. I am not in a position where I can afford to solely volunteer but I wish I could. Just reading the mission statements of these few organization has me fired up! 

Personal Advocacy Reflection

I can recall an experience in elementary school in which an advocate-like figure helped me a great deal. She was my childhood next door neighbor and elementary school art teacher. I was home schooled until 5th grade when my mom could no longer afford to buy the curriculum. I was teased and bullied a lot for being a "home schooler" and a "nerd". As the year went on, the bullying got worse. I dressed differently for them and could not afford the designer clothes they wore. My art teacher got fed up with seeing how mean my fellow classmates were to me and she set up a meeting with me, her and the prinicpal. I was so nervous to tattle on these kids but it turned out to be a great thing. My art teacher got permission to set-up an anti-bullying rally and none of my classmates knew I was the driving cause behind it. After a long seminar full of guest speakers, powerful videos, and confession exercises, I could see a chnage in my peers. From that day on the teasing tapered off. Sure, a mean kid here and there would call me a dork but it was nothing like it had been. I was very sad to learn that my advocate art teacher passed away a couple of years ago and I never really got to thank her. Since this experience it has been the desire of my heart to advocate for children and to be the voice they are afraid to use. If I can stop one child from being bullied, it will be enough to make my efforts worth it. I never want another child to feel alone and that they have no one to turn to.

Advocacy Action Overview

I am so glad to be continuing this journey with all of you. We have all grown so much and I'm sure it will continue with this course as well. I have not actually had the pleasure of working in the Early Childhood field yet but will be taking the GACE exam in March. I want to start off as a substitute teacher for Elementary grades and possibly work my way into full-time teaching. I start a new tutoring job tomorrow in which I will be tutoring a 4th grade girl and a 5th grade girl. I am so thrilled to have this opportunity and truly feel it will be as beneficial to me as it will be to them. I plan to take everything I have learned with this degree thus far and put it into action. Good luck to all of you in your advocacy efforts and heres to another great course together!

When I Reflect About My Collegial, Professional Learning Community

Three consequences of my experience being a part of a caring, collaborative learning community for my professional growth and development:


(1) I have been empowered!
(2) I have been motivated!
(3) I have been encouraged!


One goal for using this collegial experience to enhance my advocacy, policy, and/or system development work on behalf of young children, families, and the early childhood community:


To continue to raise awareness! If families are unaware of the resources available to them, then much of our work as advocates is being wasted. I plan to continue to advocate for a collaberative system because it has been proven invaluable from the research I have done in this course.


I would like to say good luck to my fellow colleagues and thank you for all of your extremely helpful input throughout this course. A very special thanks to Dr. D as well; there have been countless instances where she has been a huge source of encouragement and insight and that will follow me for years to come. Happy new year!

My Hypothetical Family Situation

I am a thirty-one-year-old mother living in metro-Atlanta. I have a GED and a few nursing classes under my belt but I dropped out of college when I had my precious son James a decade ago. My husband hit it big in his early twenties and allowed me to stay home with James, who is autistic, while he worked and supported the family. Six months ago, my husband lost his job without warning and it caused a lot of fighting between us. One day he took off and two weeks later, I was served with divorce papers. He stopped paying the mortgage, the utility bills and the car payment. Now our home is heading into foreclosure, my car has been repossessed and I have had to deplete our savings just to keep the electricity on and food on our table. I have tried desperately to get a job but apparently no one wants a thirty-one-year old with nothing more than a GED and absolutely no work history; especially in this economy where even college graduates are working at fast food restaurants. James requires lots of special attention and care that I am afraid I cannot continue to provide for him. He sees a speech therapist every Wednesday after school and sees other various specialists throughout the month as well. Fortunately, he was approved for Medicaid but the therapists and specialists he was seeing do not accept this type of insurance. His father was only ordered to pay $200.00 a month in the divorce decree, which barely covers the food James eats in a week. My family lives eight hours away and have offered for us to move in with them but that means even more life changes for James. I fear the emotional damage this is all going to cause him... It is like his life was turned upside down in a matter of months and he is having a hard time understanding why. To be honest, I am having a hard time understanding why as well.