Childcare
Jen Palmer is the lead for the Child Care Task Force of the Better Communities Coalition of Morgan County. She is also the current President of the Morgan County Early Learning Coalition and is the owner and Director of her own childcare program, The Growing Garden Learning Center in Mooresville. Jen is dedicated to improving the early care and education of young children to ensure that they receive the best start possible.
In an effort to raise awareness about the work that needs to be done in childcare and the importance of early childhood education, Jen has spoken at the Martinsville Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of Martinsville and is scheduled to speak at the Rotary Club of Mooresville. Through the support of The Morgan County Early Learning Coalition, MCELC, information was handed out about the Taking is Teaching initiative and how parents, grandparents and educators can provide early literacy for their infants, toddlers and preschoolers by talking, reading and singing to them.
Also, the Child Care Task Force hosted two roundtables for the human resources position of local businesses to discuss how employees with young children of Morgan County can be better supported. The goal of these meetings was to start a discussion about bringing Trishare to Morgan County. Trishare is designed to help families with the ever-growing cost of childcare. With Trishare, the families would pay for a third of childcare costs, their employer would pay for a third and a third entity, like the Morgan County Early Learning Coalition, would also pay for a third. This will lower the cost of childcare for struggling families who do not qualify for government assistance and allow childcares to have the revenue needed to increase pay for their employees.
Thanks to Kim Cole with The Morgan County Community Foundation, Jen has been able to speak with Morgan County high schoolers who are interested in a career in Early Childhood Education about the T.E.A.C.H College Scholarship through Indiana Association of the Education of Young Children, INAEYC. This is an amazing program that Jen requires all of her teaching staff to take advantage of at her program in order to be a Lead Teacher and/or Assistant Teacher. A childcare center can partner with INAEYC to further the education of staff who works with young children. The T.E.AC.H. Scholarship covers 90% of college tuition and books, while the childcare center covers 5% and the employee covers the last 5%. Jen is a past recipient who earned her associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in Early Childhood Education, along with a present recipient working through her Master’s degree.
The Childcare Task Force supported The Morgan County Early Learning Coalition’s 2nd Annual FREE Fall Mini Conference. This year’s conference had over 100 Morgan County early childhood educators registered, which was up from last year’s attendance of 64. MCELC partnered with Spark Learning Lab to offer free professional development hours on avoiding Teacher burnout and with Emily Jarboe on Conscious Discipline. Early Childhood Educators had the opportunity to network with each other and with businesses that were in attendance for the Provider Fair.
Lastly, thanks to over 280 nominations of 64 Early Childhood Educators, MCELC was able to recognize the dedication and hardwork that these educators pour into the lives of young children. Congratulations to Outstanding Provider for Infant Teacher, Christy Blake, Sunshine Kids Daycare Ministry; Outstanding Provider for Young Toddler Teacher, Kelsey Wilson, Artesian’s Childcare; Outstanding Older Toddler Teacher, Melissa Fiscus, The Growing Garden Learning Center; Outstanding Preschool Teacher, Randi Owens, Bauer Family Resources Head Start; Outstanding Pre-K Teacher, Stephanie Bingham, Precious Playmates Daycare Ministry; Outstanding School Age Teacher (before and after school care), Robin Buchanan, Heather’s Home Daycare; Outstanding Support Staff, JJ Clark, Bauer Family Resources, Head Start; Outstanding Home Provider, Amy Marine, Heaven’s Little Angels Family Childcare; Outstanding Administrator, Jen Palmer, The Growing Garden Learning Center; and Rookie of the Year, Dayjah Mckinney, Precious Playmates Daycare Ministry. Congratulations to the overall Outstanding Provider of the Year, Amy Marine of Heaven’s Little Angels Family Childcare. Thanks to Shields Designs for donating trophies for each winner. Thanks to Awnie’s for a donation of a gift card and bottle of wine and to Lakeshore Learning for donating a $100 gift certificate to the overall Outstanding Provider of the Year.
The Childcare Task Force is currently working on 6 objectives that are designed to raise the quality of early childhood education, raise awareness of the importance of a child’s first five years, better support families with young children, partner with local businesses to better support the workforce, recognize and celebrate the work of early childhood educators and help provide a path for the future of early childhood education in Morgan County.