Annaliese is an early childhood educator for 13 years and current teacher at Educare Chicago, Start Early’s (formerly known as the Ounce) early education school. Originally from Ohio, she moved to Chicago in 2010 to pursue a teaching license and master’s degree in early childhood education from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

She is dedicated to helping her students start early. She enjoys teaching them to learn, play, problem solve and how to discover the world around them, sometimes all at the same time, while also learning side-by-side with them.

Recently, we sat down with Annaliese to discuss how being an educator has impacted her life and why she is passionate about working with communities most in need.

1. Why is being an early childhood educator important to you?
   Being an early childhood educator is very important to me. While some people think that I get to play with kids all day, and sometimes I do, it is fast-paced and changes day-by-day. I am constantly juggling information and goals from parents, emotions from the kids, lesson planning, looking at data, paperwork, documenting the kids work. It is exhausting to even think about the amount of work I get done in a day, both with the kids and the paperwork and meetings that happen during nap time.

   And we all know the studies, showing that the first five years of life are the most important at predicting outcomes later in life. This makes teaching this young group so important. The impact extends for all of life. I want to instill a love of learning and exploration and allow creativity and critical thinking to flourish. When you teach older kids, you have to worry about testing and district restrictions. Working in preschool allows you to integrate all developmental areas into studies, and I love that. Every day I get to discover and learn with my students, and that is what keeps me going.

2.  How has your experience as an educator impacted your life?
   Being an educator has enlightened my whole life. Since my work is with young kids and having to know so much about development and watching kids develop so quickly, I have gained an appreciation for the way we all develop, throughout life. Even in my personal life, someone will ask me a question, and I’ll respond with, “Well, in Erickson’s Theory of Development…” I helped my partner learn to drive and thought about it like a teacher, like how can I “scaffold” how to parallel park?

   It has also opened my eyes to so many issues in the teaching field. Teaching is a profession that is made up of mostly women who are underpaid. Who work multiple jobs. Who spend their paychecks on their students. Who work over 40 hours a week. Who worry about their students at night and on the weekends. Who can’t afford childcare for their own children? And, some of us are working with and in traumatized communities. Traumatized by the government and the police. Working with families who don’t have stable homes or income. Families who worry about feeding their families and paying their meals. And it is hard when you work with these families and are one of these families, too. As a white woman, it is my duty to fight for these injustices and push for changes in the education field so that all teachers are supported and paid a living wage. I need to fight for more resources in the community I work in so that there is more equity in our world.

3. Why should parents seek out high-quality early education programs for their children?
   Right now, the parents in my classroom are applying to kindergarten for their children. They are stressed out and worried about their child getting into a good school. Getting into a good kindergarten is like getting into a good college. When you are a parent living on the South Side, where level one schools are few and far between, you are literally fighting for your child’s success. In order to get into a selective enrollment school, your child needs to be prepared for the selective enrollment test. Parents know their child needs to be in a high-quality preschool program to give them a foundation and skills to pass the test.

   Another point we remind parents is that school is more than just knowing your letters and counting to 100. Children need to know how to navigate the other side of school: being able to follow directions, control their emotions and work well with others. In my classroom, we focus a lot on these skills through role playing and problem solving. If a child cannot self-regulate than they won’t be able to sit quietly through a lesson in kindergarten. I think finding a balance of teaching and preparing these two components of school is a challenge that all early childhood educators face and when classrooms and programs can balance this, then high-quality care is happening.

4. What advice would you give to a new educator coming into the early education field?
   My advice to new educators is to make sure to take care of yourself. Go to counseling, get a massage, get your nails done, eat good food. If we cannot be there for ourselves then we will never be able to be there for our families and students. This is a difficult profession, and burn out is quick and easy. Create boundaries. Even if you are taking work home, either only do it through the week to leave your weekends open, or don’t do it during the week and spend a few hours on the weekend doing work. Just take care of yourself first and foremost.

Start Early has long believed that a child’s first and most important teacher is their parent. That is why we have been an early champion of recognizing home visiting as a key component of early childhood systems of care and education.

Our very own Nick Wechsler, director for program development at Start Early, has been influencing the home visiting field in Illinois for 30 years and was recently honored as the recipient of the Home Visiting Leadership Award at the Annual Prevent Child Abuse Illinois Statewide Conference.

A Passion for Building Relationships

Nick, who holds a master’s degree in Infant Studies, started his career in the early 1970s, working as a community mental health worker in Chicago, providing therapy to communities in need under the supervision of licensed clinicians. Nick credits his experiences as a stay-at-home dad and as a family day care provider for preparing him for what ultimately became Start Early’s home visiting approach: relationship-based work.

Home Visiting – Helping Parents Through a Life-Changing Transition

Nick’s personal and professional experiences with new parenthood ultimately showed him that home visiting services can considerably support both children and parents.

The days and weeks following the birth of a child can be a time of great joy and excitement for all parents. Developmental science tells us that these first interactions between parents and newborns lay the foundation for a child’s healthy development in school and life. This can also can be a time of extreme stress for parents, exacerbated by exhaustion during a period of physical, hormonal and emotional vulnerability.

Home visitors can provide much-needed support to help ease new parents’ anxieties and provide them with the tools and knowledge to develop the secure attachments that allow children to thrive. By helping parents engage in meaningful play and learning interactions with their children, home visitors influence the development of nurturing relationships that support a child’s ability to grow and learn.

Home Visiting – The Early Years

Today, early childhood home visiting is an established part of national policy and is a publicly subsidized practice here in the U.S. and in many countries around the globe. But it wasn’t always so, Nick reminds us.

Public policy and subsidized center-based care for very young children was limited until 1995, when Early Head Start (EHS) was established. EHS extended home visiting into the Head Start model and added group care as an option for children from birth to age 3.

In the early years, Nick says, childcare professionals didn’t have what we now know as evidence-based models for home visiting. In the 1990s, home visitors drew on the theories of emerging brain science to inform what simply made good sense in supporting parenting: that a child’s early experiences and secure attachments with parents and caregivers lay the emotional, social and cognitive foundation for healthy development and learning.

Championing Home Visiting in Illinois and Beyond

“When I started working at Start Early,” Nick remembers, “we were primarily focused on providing home visiting to teenage parents. In fact, we were the only publicly-funded statewide network for home visiting.”

Throughout his first decade at Start Early, Nick trained and supported home visitors, helping them expand their base of knowledge and enhance skills and practice. He credits this early period for laying the foundation for Start Early’s own approach to home visiting. As early pioneers in the field, Start Early ultimately became a leader in innovating service approaches and advocating for better access to home visiting across Illinois.

The landscape is much different today – home visiting has become more professionalized and is evaluated with the highest level of scientific rigor. The federal government has created guidelines and funds home visiting services through Early Head Start programs. New legislation made possible by the 2010 Affordable Care Act allowed for $351 million to be appropriated annually to support approximately 150,000 parents and children through almost 1 million home visits a year as part of the federal government’s Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs.

Reaching More Children and Families

Over the last three decades, the scope of Start Early’s home visiting work has expanded, and Nick’s work has been key to this development. Under his purview, work that was limited to teenage parents at the beginning has grown in its depth and breadth.

Start Early designs, delivers, trains and supports home visitors who work in under-resourced communities, including home visiting for mothers experiencing homelessness, as well as those in the criminal justice system. Nick and Start Early have also been working with state advocates and local communities to establish a new approach to this work – universal newborn supportive services – which offers all parents home visiting in the first weeks after birth.

“Nick has dedicated years of professional service to support and promote healthy interactions between babies and the people in their lives they count on most to nurture, teach, love and protect them. He exudes a reflective mindset that has shaped many of us as professionals, and he is a trusted and highly valued thought partner, mentor and colleague,” Kelly Woodlock, vice president of national home visiting, says.

Start Early congratulates Nick for this great recognition and we thank him for his commitment to serving children and families!

“The recognition is a bit awkward, yet it also fills me with great gratification and joy. It truly makes my career’s work visible. Knowing that ideas and labor that came from within me have become useful tools for home visitors, that my creations reach into homes and become meaningful in the lives of children and parents during home visits throughout Illinois – this is a personal and professional treasure,” says Nick.

Ireta Gasner leads Start Early’s (formerly known as the Ounce) Illinois policy team, in the words of Ireta herself, “a smart, committed team of folks, who work every day to improve the systems of support for young children and families – especially those who face the greatest challenges.”

Currently, Ireta and her team are working hard to prepare and develop its legislative agenda for the Fiscal Year 2021 legislative session, so we are grateful to Ireta for taking the time to chat with us about her passion for advocacy and discuss why early learning is a cause she cares so strongly for.

1. Why did you choose to pursue a career in early childhood advocacy?
   I’m originally from Wisconsin but have lived in Chicago since after college and started out as a teacher. After obtaining a master’s degree in social work, I provided direct services to families with young children experiencing homelessness – through home visiting and Head Start programs.

   I loved it. Seeing what challenges families were facing seriously perked my interest in policy and advocacy, and I desired to make change on a broader level.

   In my work with families over the years, I have become a true believer that by making sure families have the support they need at the earliest point possible (ideally prenatally), we can maximize the chance for all children to have the best start in life. We’re still going to need supports along the way, but we could be doing so much more and earlier for children and families in our nation.

2. What does early childhood education, care and learning mean to you?
   Engaging and supporting families at the earliest point results in healthy births and strong attachments with parents, ultimately providing a continuum of rich, quality and developmentally-appropriate experiences for young children. Whether these experiences are with parents, in programs or in a community, they are necessary to help launch children on a path of learning and success.
3. What is the Illinois Policy Team focused on the most right now?
   We’re going to have some real conversations about what it will take for Illinois to have the early childhood systems that children need and deserve. While we’ve had a lot of successful investments in early childhood in our state, it’s going to take so much more to truly provide the best to our youngest children.One of the biggest issues we face now is attracting and keeping professionals into our field because we do not pay our workforce nearly enough for the sophisticated, complex work they do. We must tackle this problem.

I’d like to encourage us to be bold – supporting the healthy development of young children and their families is among the most important things we can do for our future. We shouldn’t be afraid to talk about what kinds of investments we will need in order to truly move the needle for the well-being of our kids.

Start Early is celebrating a legislative win for early childhood in Oregon. The state recently passed the Student Success Act Bill (HB 3427), which will result in a $1 billion dollar annual investment in early learning and K-12 education.

We sat down with Dana Hepper, director of policy & advocacy at the Children’s Institute in Oregon, about the instrumental role she played in getting this legislation passed.

1.  Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your work?
   I’m the Director of Policy & Advocacy at the Children’s Institute. The Children’s Institute works in Oregon to ensure all children have the opportunity to thrive. We do this through advocacy, research, policy and practice. My role is working with state agencies, the Early Childhood Coalition, business leaders, K-12 partners, and others to develop and move a legislative agenda and support effective implementation.

   This legislative session, we are thrilled to have won a $400 million on-going investment in early learning programs (in addition to a Paid Family & Medical Leave program, universally available home visits, and a child care taskforce). This $400 million early learning investment is one piece of a $2 billion investment in education from early learning through 12th grade, with on-going and dedicated funding from a new tax on business. I have loved working in collaboration with our partners to build and implement a shared strategy to win.

2. Can you tell the story of Oregon and the state’s early childhood landscape? How did you and your coalition members set the stage for such a big ask?
   The stage-setting for this ask has been going on since the founding of Children’s Institute, 16 years ago. We’ve been steadily and boldly informing the public and elected officials about the importance of the earliest years of a child’s life.

   More recently, Oregonians rejected a ballot measure to raise the Corporate Tax in Oregon (which was the lowest in the nation) to fund all public services. After that defeat, the Legislature decided to focus on funding for K-12 public education specifically. We convened early childhood stakeholders to advocate for the focus to be broadened to include early childhood. The Speaker of the House was an ally, and we ultimately won on this expanded charge.

   Then we worked with stakeholders and the Early Learning Division (the state agency overseeing early learning) to develop a specific ask for more than $400 million dedicated to specific early learning programs. The Governor included $380 million of the ask in her budget – our second big win in the process.

   Simultaneously, we worked throughout 2018 with K-12 school district leaders to build their understanding and support for early childhood. This work paid off when K-12 advocates also began to support the $400 million investment – a critical partner, as the rest of the funding would go to K-12 education. All sessions, we ran weekly lobby meetings and monthly coalition meetings to coordinate meetings with legislators, lobby days, messages, action alerts, testimony, and more. Our coordinated strategy worked!

3. Can you describe the feeling you had as the legislature debated whether Student Success Act Bill was a sound investment?
   Wow – I felt so nervous and excited! We had so much education to do of the Committee considering this legislation. They did not understand the early learning funding streams or programs – which was frustrating at times. Ultimately, the unanimous support among advocates, the Early Learning Division, the Governor’s office, our champion legislators, for the specific list of investments gave legislators the confidence that the money would be well spent.

   On the night of the vote, there were tears, applause, hugging, and celebration in the halls of the Capitol.

4. Now that you’ve secured the funding, what’s next?
   Implementation! There is so much work to do to prepare to get these dollars out the door. Regional Early Learning Hubs are creating plans for how to expand access to early learning programs.

   The Early Childhood Coalition partners took some time to celebrate together. Now we continue to meet monthly to coordinate our work on implementation, improve how we work as a coalition, and prepare for the next legislative session.

   The Children’s Institute is providing support to Early Learning Hubs and community organizations that work with parents to ensure the Hub plans reflect the hopes and dreams of families in each community.

5. What are you most excited about with the rollout out of the Student Success Act?
   When the first draft of the Student Success Act’s early learning investments came out, some of the investments we were advocating for were left out. Legislators understood preschool (including Head Start & Early Childhood Special Education), and they were prioritizing these investments over others that start earlier. I’m most excited that we were able to shift the conversation to acknowledge that learning starts at birth (and before). We won meaningful investments in infants and toddlers, including $20 million to expand Early Head Start.
6. Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
   Check out our webpage, put together by CI’s amazing communications team, dedicated to the implementation of the Student Success Act.

   Finally, let’s be bolder together and ask for what families with young children are telling us they really need!

Zeporah Askia is the proud parent of 3-year-old Elijah or “Eli,” a student at Educare Chicago, Start Early’s (formerly known as the Ounce) early childhood school that serves low-income infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families in Chicago’s Grand Boulevard neighborhood.

Zeporah is a single mother who is currently studying to take the Illinois bar exam. Her son, Eli, began attending Educare Chicago when he was an infant and while Zeporah was attending law school and working a part-time job. When Eli was diagnosed with developmental delays and needed the help of a speech pathologist and other educational resources, the Educare staff stepped in to make sure Eli had all the resources he needed.

Zeporah is one of Educare Chicago’s biggest advocates and attributes her son’s outstanding progress to the educational opportunities at Educare and the resources they help provide during their families most difficult times.

Recently, we sat down with Zeporah to learn more about her story and how her family has been impacted by access to the early childhood education program at Educare Chicago.

1. How and why did you seek out the Educare Chicago program?
   I was referred to Educare Chicago by a friend who has a child in the center. Before Eli was enrolled in the center, I struggled to find a quality program who would give him the tools needed to be successful in life. Yes, my son was only a year old and I was concerned about his future. E ducation is important to my family because I overcame stereotypes associated with my socioeconomic status, race, and gender by attaining a quality education. Education has opened so many doors for my family that I wanted to pass this value onto my son. Further, I understood that Eli would be the person that he was going to be by the age of 5, so I needed to act early to instill a love of education.

   I immediately knew that I wanted my son in Educare. When I toured the school, the staff told me about the various components of his curriculum, the classrooms were well-equipped with everything I could imagine, and the staff was friendly. After he was enrolled, and I could not stop talking about Educare, my family did not believe that a daycare had a curriculum. So, I quickly corrected them, Educare is not a daycare, it’s a school.

2. How has taking part in an early childhood education program impacted you and your family?
   Two years later, I stand by my decision that Educare was the best place for my son. Educare has had a profound effect on my child’s academic, emotional, and social development. In addition, the support systems have strengthened my family and helped us to reach success. Specifically, when Eli came to Educare, I had completed my first year of law school, but I had taken time off from school because I struggled to find the necessary support systems. I was giving up on my dream of becoming an attorney because I was succumbing to the challenges of being a single parent. But, our Family support coordinator, Ms. Tanya, was determined to make sure that I returned to school. She helped me get back on track by just being there for my family, and finding resources. As a result, I returned to law school the following semester and even though I didn’t graduate with my class, 2017, I graduated in May 2018.
3. How have you taken part in your child’s educational experience at Educare Chicago?
   I have been heavily involved in my son’s educational experience. I have volunteered in Ms. Glenda’s class at every possible chance. She was an amazing teacher. She taught my son how to potty train, recognize letters in his name, and she regularly gave me parenting strategies. Sometimes, I consider her a second mother because of the care and concern that she showed for both Eli and I.

   In addition, my son was diagnosed with development delays. I told his Family support and she took care of everything to get him enrolled in Early Intervention. When his therapists came to the classroom to give him services, I tried to re-schedule my day, so I could see what they were doing and continue his services at home. But if I couldn’t Ms. Glenda made sure that I was updated. Today, he receives speech therapy outside of Educare, but I work with his Educare teaching team to incorporate his services into his learning experiences. I know that every mom thinks their children are the best, but I can confidently say that Educare helped bring out the best qualities in my child and he’s on a path to be prepared for Kindergarten.

   Overall, I try to participate in the Educare’s programs, from the monthly attendance dinners, to the parent talks, to the Math events. Actually, the Math on Mondays was probably one of my favorite events because I used the strategy of reading the book, From Head to Toe, and rolling a die to teach Eli how to count. He loves the game. Plus, he’s learning how to recognize numbers, count dots, as well as counting to 5. The events are a great bonding experience for my family and networking with other parents.

4. What advice would you give to other parents looking for early education programs for their children?
   I am so impressed with Educare that I tell everyone, from single moms to professionals about my experiences. When I see parents struggling to find someone to “watch their kids,” or unable to buy diapers to send to daycare, I tell them about Educare and how they provide diapers and milk to help. Also, the staff will do more than watch you kids because they have bachelors and masters and doctorates. They are the best in the game!

   My advice to other parents is to get involved with the teaching team, staff, and programs. Then, take advantage of the resources offered by the school. Having a child with developmental delays was hard on me because I felt that I did something wrong but my family support made the process run smooth. I guess that being an open book really made it possible for the staff to find solutions.

Start Early has been committed to serving parents and families directly for nearly 40 years, and we continue to grow our ability to impact families beyond our direct reach. Through high-quality professional development programs, we have taken the research-based methods applied in our programs and made them available to practitioners and leaders across the field of early childhood education.

We are proud to announce that we have received the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) accreditation. The IACET accreditation adds a level of validation to our training programs and provides early education professionals with learning experiences that demonstrate elevated expertise, help them continue advancing in their careers and expand their skill sets.

Our professional development offerings consist of in-person and online learning experiences focused on a range of aspects within early childhood education. These opportunities help early education leaders grow in their work and address their most crucial areas of need.

Currently, these programs have received IACET accreditation:

• The Essential Practices of Educare allows program leaders and practitioners to improve their skills and knowledge, leveraging the Educare Learning Network’s research-backed model to deliver stronger results for children and families.
• The Essentials of Home Visiting is a best-in-class online training program for home visitors. It includes innovative online courses and webinars for home visitors, supervisors, and family engagement professionals. These learning experiences were created by Start Early’s home visiting experts based on decades of leadership in home visiting throughout Illinois.

We are actively pursuing IACET accreditation for the following programs:

• The Essential 0-5 Survey is a unique measurement and leadership tool for early education leaders to address the core characteristics that contribute to the success of early childhood education institutions. The Essential 0-5 Survey provides in-depth analysis that allows teachers and organizational leaders to collectively improve the culture of their program and provide a stronger learning environment for children.
• The Essential Fellowship is an intensive leadership fellowship that provides leaders with the opportunity to learn how to build systems and routines that improve classroom instruction.

Our professional development programs provide the opportunity to share Start Early’s wealth of knowledge with early childhood professionals across the country, as well as learn alongside them to iterate, innovate and improve.

The importance of early childhood education and its impact on a child’s life is supported by decades of research in developmental science. Here at Start Early, rigorous research and science informs all our efforts in providing and advocating for quality early education.

Recently we spoke to Mallary Swartz, former director of family engagement research at Start Early, to find out more about the subject of family engagement and how our research supports this key element of quality early education.

Our Family Engagement Research: What Do We Do?

All of our research integrates science, program and policy – it is truly applied (and applicable) research. Our team evaluates, tests, and pilots innovative family engagement strategies for both early education programs and parents.

Start Early’s research process is unique in that it involves co-creation and co-design — including family and staff feedback– throughout our work. We do this by holding focus groups and interviews, testing prototypes with families and staff, and having parents, program leaders, and staff serve as advisors.

One innovative outcome of this work is our digital parent self-reflection tool called Growing Together. Our team is in the initial phase of developing this tool for center-based early learning settings, like Early Head Start and Head Start programs.

Growing Together aims to help parents reflect on their parenting, identify their strengths and needs, and communicate those insights with their early childhood provider. Accompanying this work will be a provider interface and training for early education providers to further support them in building quality relationships with families.

Ultimately, our research around family engagement, as with our other areas of focus, is meant to help families and program staff create a nurturing environment where young children can learn and thrive.

At just 25 weeks pregnant, Kim gave birth to her second son Payton Joseph, weighing in at 1 lb. 5 oz – 15 weeks earlier than his due date. Payton and his family were confronted with immediate and long-term challenges as a result of his earlier-than-expected birth – an inability to breathe on his own, a drastically low heart rate, severe vision complications and frightening seizures. Payton’s family faced what seemed like never-ending developmental and medical challenges.

This is the story of the Start Early’s (formerly known as the Ounce) own Vice President of Communications Kim Ptak, who was ultimately inspired by her family’s experience to make the move from corporate America to a dedicated career at Start Early.

Today, Payton is 13 years old – inquisitive and active, at grade level, taking no major medications, using no medical equipment, and driving his older brother crazy – he’s thriving! Just last year, Payton was selected to serve as the honorary bat boy for his favorite Chicago Cubs by Advocate Health Care and the nurses who cared for him at birth. Kim credits Payton’s solid start in life and ultimate success to many – doctors, nurses, hospital staff, family and friends. But also, the extraordinary early intervention supports Payton and his family received.

Early Intervention, part of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, entitles young children with developmental delays or certain diagnosed medical conditions to a range of developmental and social-emotional services, including speech and language, occupational and physical therapies and social work services in their natural environment – many of which Payton received. Families also receive coaching and learn how best to be there for their loved one. Research shows that these types of early positive experiences and interactions are proven to influence greater developmental and educational gains.

Alarmingly, although an estimated 13 percent of children under age 3 have or are at substantial risk for developmental delay or disabilities, less than 4 percent of infants and toddlers nationally receive Early Intervention services. Unfortunately, many children who are referred and evaluated for Early Intervention are not granted services because their delays do not meet the state thresholds for eligibility. This is a real problem. These delays often do not disappear without intervention. Rather, delays become worse and become harder and harder to mitigate or eliminate. These children then enter the school system further behind, and often need early childhood special education services that are far more costly. In addition, many families are simply unaware of the availability of Early Intervention services for their children.

Across the country, Start Early Policy Teams are working with its partners to advocate for policies that improve identification, referral and timely Early Intervention services for infants and toddlers.

“Developmental screenings and other family engagement and awareness efforts are necessary to ensure that we are identifying all infants, toddlers and their families who are entitled to and can benefit from Early Intervention,” Start Early  Director of Illinois Policy Karen Berman says. “We know that providing these interventions at the earliest time possible is critical for ensuring that children have the best chance to reach their potential.”

Kim agrees. Early intervention is vital for both the child and family. She knows first-hand.

Meet Mikela, a passionate advocate for early childhood education and new mom to a beautiful baby girl named Brooke. Her new life as a mother has only deepened her connection to early childhood education.

For the past three years, Mikela has served as chair of the Start Early Affiliates Board (SEAB), a group made up of young leaders and professionals who work together to extend the reach of Start Early and its commitment to ensuring all children from birth to age 5 have access to the highest-quality care and education.

This fall, Mikela and SEAB members are in the thick of planning for their signature event, an evening of networking, socializing and introducing guests to the Start Early’s work.

Recently, Mikela took a break from helping plan the SEAB’s annual event to chat with us about her new life as a mother and why she is so deeply connected to early childhood education.

1. What does early childhood education and development mean to you?
   Before becoming a mom, early childhood education had always been important to me because I LOVE school. I would have stayed in school forever if it were possible. I remember my mom telling me when I was young that I was lucky I got to go to school every day because there were kids that did not have that same opportunity. This absolutely shocked me. As I grew up, it became glaringly important how critical the early years were for future opportunities. Thus, I volunteered in tutoring, leadership and outreach programs in underserved communities. I saw first-hand that giving these children their best shot at growth and success started long before they stepped foot in kindergarten. It starts at birth, and we must find ways to give those children, and their families and communities, the opportunities so many people take for granted.
2. There are so many wonderful causes out there. Why are you passionate about early education and care?
   After Brooke was born, the concept of early childhood education transformed for me. I constantly think about the statistics I’ve learned through my work with Start Early about how many words a child hears and learns in their first few months and year of life and the various ways babies’ brains grow and develop starting from birth. I try every day to find new ways to engage Brooke so that her path to success (whatever that means for her!) starts now.

   It’s also glaringly apparent that I’m a parent with the incredible benefit of paid leave, a supportive partner, and resources to help Brooke in every way I can. The fact that so many babies do not have the same beginning and many parents have no option but to immediately return to work is heartbreaking. This has only intensified my passion for the work of Start Early, and there is so much we can do to support the programs Start Early provides and the policy work it does. We must advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves.

3. Tell us a little bit about what the Start Early Affiliates Board is, your leadership role and what membership looks like.
   The SEAB is an incredible collection of young(er) professionals who have a passion for early childhood education. We all come from different backgrounds, careers and life experiences, but are bound by our shared desire to promote Start Early and what it stands for. As chair, I consider myself lucky to be surrounded by so many brilliant people and leaders. The Executive Committee is made up of chairs who are all amazing. They dedicate so much of their time to the SEAB. I genuinely enjoy our meetings and getting to know these wonderful people who dedicate their time to the SEAB and Start Early’s mission.

   Speaking of spending time with these people, I’m so excited for our annual event Start Early Bash on Thursday, October 3! This is our third Bash – it has continued to grow into such a fun, high-energy and inclusive event. Attending something like the Bash gives you a good idea of the type of people who make up the SEAB and Start Early itself: brilliant, outgoing, high-achieving people who also care so deeply about early childhood education.

Big changes in life can be scary, especially when it comes to education. The process is daunting, but through Educare Chicago, we take an intentional, individualized approach to prepare current and former students and their families.

The move from early childhood programs like Educare Chicago to kindergarten means meeting new teachers, new classmates and adjusting to a new environment. The same goes for former Educare Chicago students who may be transitioning to high school or perhaps post-high school life. Parents are also experiencing change, as they must build relationships with a new teacher or even a new school.

This summer, Educare Chicago, the Educare Chicago Alumni Network (ECAN) and several Start Early partners are working together to ensure that students and families are ready for the next chapter in the student’s life.

Educare Chicago Transition Process

The transition process at Educare Chicago is critical and prepares children and families for what is next for schooling!

“They’re prepared. They feel secure about this change in their life,” Angela Lampkin, director of Educare Chicago, says.

At Educare, parents and students experience an intentionally designed process to help get ready for what’s next. The school hosts a Charter School Breakfast as well as a GoCPS event, where family support staff assist parents through the application process. In the classrooms, students read books about what it means to be a “big kid” and also create a “goodbye book”, building excitement for the next year in school. For younger children, Educare hosts “Welcome to Head Start” to introduce new teachers, classrooms and classmates.

As families move toward a new chapter in their child’s education, Educare has thoughtfully and thoroughly planned this process to help them anticipate what is to come. The preparation and thought behind the transition will last with these families as they move from grade to grade.

Educare Chicago Alumni Network’s End-of-School Celebration

On Saturday, June 30, the Educare Chicago Alumni Network (ECAN) hosted an End-of-School Celebration for its graduates and their families. ECAN is made up of former Educare Chicago parents who provide resources for fellow parents, connect children to their childhood friends, and host events for both parents and their children. At the celebration, ECAN congratulated and celebrated a group of former Educare students graduating from middle school and high school.

For the second summer in a row, the Start Early Affiliates Board organized a fundraiser to help provide school supplies to middle school graduates so they can be the most prepared for their next step – high school. Collectively, the OAB was able to provide 28 backpacks and all the necessary school supplies to students at this celebratory event.

Additionally, this year, the second class of Educare Chicago students is preparing for yet another transition: graduation from high school. To help support these graduates, ComEd employees provided many of the necessary items for pursuing the next chapter – from kitchen utensils to bathroom towels – all nicely packed into a suitcase for easy moving. Collectively, employees raised $2,236 which helped provide these items to 15 graduating seniors that day.

Start Early is grateful for the efforts of Educare Chicago staff, ECAN, the Affiliates Board and ComEd to help ensure that students are excited and ready for whatever may be next in their educational journey.