Early Memories
As a child who grew up immersed in a high-quality early learning program at the now-shuttered Point Park Children’s School, and an adult who has spent more than twenty years as an early childhood educator at Riverview Children’s Center, the words of poet Maya Angelou speak to me, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
So much of what we do as early educators will be forgotten as children grow and new memories form, but it is my hope that they never lose the feelings they had when they were in my care. Safe. Happy. Curious. Loved.
I have fond memories of growing up at Point Park, where my mom happened to be the executive director. Stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts when our bus arrived in town a few minutes early to grab a strawberry shortcake donut before school. The day I was tall enough, or perhaps strong enough, to hoist myself up on the ledge around the fountain at Point State Park to dangle my little toes in the cool water during our daily walks through the city. Helping my mom change the bags and prime the milk in the school milk machine. These little moments may not seem noteworthy, but each one brings a smile to my face as I also can recall the warmth I felt as a young child.
Safe. Happy. Curious. Loved.
Influential
I am confident those early experiences helped shape me into the woman and educator I am today. My love of reading. My desire to learn new things. My sassiness, which has been refined—most days— into confidence. My love of a good challenge. My view of the world. All of these things were fostered and supported by the influential adults in my early years, most importantly my mom, and the teachers I’ve had along the way.
I haven’t always known that I wanted a career in education. I switched my major four times during my undergraduate years at Clarion University before eventually landing on a degree in
Communication. I could have chosen to work in any other career, maybe marketing for a major sports team or an attorney–I can argue with the best of them. Anything was possible. But during college, summer after summer, I returned to Riverview Children’s Center, where I was once a student, and worked in the school-age summer camp program. Upon my college graduation, I tried out a few different career paths but kept being pulled back into early childhood education.
When a pre-k teaching position unexpectedly opened, the stars seemed to align, plopping me down completely unprepared but also exactly where I was always meant to be. During that first year as a teacher, I could confidently say that I learned much more than any child in my class, but together we thrived. Educators know that 90 percent of brain development happens in the first five years, shaping the outcome of the rest of a child’s life. The more I learned about the impact I can make, one child and family at a time, the more committed I became to becoming the best early childhood teacher possible.
Finding My Way
However, swamped with debt from an undergraduate degree I was no longer utilizing and the reality of the Early Childhood Educator salary, especially back then, I was discouraged. I loved my job. I was good at my job. My job didn’t even feel like work. Most days, it was joyful, fun, rewarding and important work. But I still had bills to pay and a future to plan for.
Fortunately, I found resources and opportunities that allowed me to create the livelihood that I needed to support my family, while expanding my ability to support children and families. The TEACH scholarship made it possible for me to go to graduate school for free, earning my Pennsylvania Teaching Certification in Early Childhood Education. Gradually, thanks in part to Pre-K Counts, my salary began to rise, and the prospect of staying in the field for the long term became more and more realistic.
Continuing to invest in our early childhood educators, especially those who are so invested in the field, is something I’m passionate about. We need politicians to help firm up our foundation, with contributions to programs and staff. Investing in high-quality early care and education is not only necessary but also a wise business decision. We know, from the Perry Preschool Project and other research studies since, that every dollar invested in high-quality early learning yields a substantial return on investment. What we do day after day in our early learning classrooms makes a difference, both in the individual lives of our kids and families but also on a more widespread societal level.
We Are Important
As early educators, we have the ability to shape the future, and we need passionate adults to join us in the field. It’s disheartening that society still views early care and education the way it does. We’ve all heard the derogatory comments calling teachers “glorified babysitters” and worse. We need a societal shift to change the perception of the work we do. It’s valuable. It’s important. It’s a life-changing profession!
We need individuals who believe in the value of this work and are called to get involved and make a difference. We need the adults of the world to make sure that all children feel safe, happy, curious, and loved, especially during those precious early years. The kids are worth it. The benefits are clear.