It's a Wrap!

Yay! I am so proud of us! We did it while we worked, while we cared for our families, while we lived already busy lives. We finished a degree. Here are three big take aways for me among hundreds of smaller ones......

1. Technology is amazing. I finished my first degree in 1984. At that time, I stood in line to register for each class I wanted to take (sometimes for an hour) to hand them a registration card before I ran to the next line to register for another. I spent hours and hours a week IN an actual library because that is where the information was. I carried a large book bag full of reading material. I typed on a typewriter and corrected my papers with white out. All of my friends were on campus. We would meet to have long study sessions before tests and to prepare for presentations. Technology has made it possible for me to get my fourth degree without having to leave my home. I will miss having a university library on my dining room table.

2. The ability to write well is a powerful tool. Hanging indents had me in tears in September of 2012. Mastering the mechanics of APA again has taught me patience and given my voice clarity. All my life I have relied on my face to face communication skills to interact with the world. Walden required me to rely solely on my writing ability to express myself. I am a stronger writer having been a student at Walden and have a deeper respect for writing as a communication tool.

3. I know many people who  hold a dreams in their heart but very few people who carve out the time and a plan to make those dreams come true. I know now that ANYTHING is possible and that I DO have the time to make a difference in the world. We have found 15 hours a week to complete coursework at Walden for almost two years now. What great things could we make happen if we honored this experience by continuing to carve out the time, for the rest of our lives to make the world better for children? I intend to find out.

I am grateful. I appreciate each and every one of you. I respect the work you do. I would love to meet you. Here is how you can find me....

Katy Smith   www.facebook.com/KatySmithWinona   LinkedIn   Twitter @KatyMN12        kackley@hbci.com    www.katysmithconsulting.com    GooglePlus

International Opportunities

I love the idea of being a part of an organization that creates the conditions for dialog around the world for conversations based on shared values and commonality. This is the work of UNESCO. On a very local level, and sometimes on a statewide level, I like to think I do the same kind of work in my classroom. I believe I have a skill set and a work history that would be an asset to this organization but I did not see a position that was of interest to me.

The Academy for Educational Development has made some changes to it's  organization since 2011 when Walden University added them to the Blackboard assignment. Although the URL is the same, the organization is now fhi 360. There is a job available here that piqued my interest. It is an ECE Specialist based in Washington, DC. The job supports Head Start Grantees with a focus on school readiness and family and community engagement. Even the 50% travel sounds like a good fit for me at this stage in my life. I have all the qualifications necessary in terms of schooling and experience.

The World Organization for Early Childhood Education, headquartered out of Whittier College in California has a beautiful mission to ensure the well-being, rights, and education of all children and their families here at home and around the world. I especially like the mention of family education in their mission statement. The organization has no job openings listed on their website.

As much as I love to visit other countries, I would not like to work in one. There is much to do in the field of Early Childhood Education here, in the United States. I am more than happy to put my time and energy to making life better for kids here at home.

References

fhi 360 http://www.fhi360.org/
OMEP http://www.omep-usnc.org
 UNESCO http://en.unesco.org/

Exploring National Possibilities in Early Childhood

Commonsense Media is a national non-profit organization based in San Francisco. The organization defines itself by the motto "We rate, educate, and advocate for kids, families, and schools".  I view them as a trusted source of reliable information about media and technology in the lives of young children and their families.

They are hiring! On their website, they have a lovely promotional video describing the work they do and the folks they like to recruit to join them in their mission. They boast that every day is different and passionate people looking to have a positive impact on the world are welcome to join their community. They are looking for a person to fill the position of development internship. The job requires event planning and production skills, ability to create power points and marketing materials, and research a donor base. They are seeking an individual who is multi capable (aren't we all?) and energetic. The job promises a flexible work schedule.

Although it sounds like they are looking for me, I would miss working directly with families. I love teaching.

The United States Department of Education needs all of us to elevate the voice of the early childhood teaching force in America. As it turns out, they too are hiring! They have several jobs listed on their website. The Education Program Specialist in the Office of Innovation and Improvement is one that caught my eye. The position is housed in the Parental Options and Information Office.

I am not cut out to be a federal employee. My heart aches for my colleagues who work at Head Start. They are buried under paperwork, regulations, and mandates to the point of madness. I would find myself extremely frustrated at the daily frantic pace of government work that seems to go nowhere at times. Nope, not for me.

I have been a member of the National Education Association (NEA) for as long as I have had my teaching license. I am proud to be one of the three million members of this teacher's union. The organization identifies their mission as "Great Public Schools for Every Child" and I applaud them. Great public schools are the foundation of our democracy.

I have been the Government Relations Chairwoman in my local Winona Education Association for years. My work takes me to the Capitol in Minnesota several times a year. I am comfortable in that arena and although I do not consider myself a lobbyist, I do lobby. The NEA has an opening for a lobbyist. The job is described as promoting public schools and public education through lobby efforts. It requires five years of experience, which I guess I have and asks applicants to be skillful in navigating public policy, writing, and a willingness to work evenings and weekends. Hmmm, maybe?

Exploring Local and State Roles in the ECE Community

My first pick is MinneMinds, a coalition of seventy plus organizations in Minnesota campaigning to increase public funding to provide access to quality Early Childhood care and education for three and four year olds who live in financially challenged homes. The organization has impressed me in it's ability to harness resources and lobby with laser like focus. Although I am not interested in working for them, in a way, I lobby on behalf of their efforts. To be a competent lobbyist, one needs an extensive knowledge of public policy and how it gets crafted and know how to build relationships with policy makers, legislators, and other stakeholders. I have good people skills.

www.minneminds.org

My second pick is Minnesota's network of Early Childhood Initiatives or ECI's. ECI serves greater Minnesota's efforts to provide quality early childhood experiences to children and support for providers who care for them. I chose this organization because I am familiar with the work they do. I am often invited to a community by an ECI to speak to business and community leaders in support of investing in Minnesota's youngest learners. ECI's are lead by regional directors. To be an effective regional director, one needs to understand the communities represented in the region, have the ability to collaborate with other professionals, and organize activities. I would need to be a much more organized person to competently fill the role of an ECI director.

www.smifoundation.org

My third pick is the Minnesota Association for Family and Early Education (MNAFEE). MNAFEE is a professional organization representing teachers, administrators, and providers in the field of early education and parent education. The organization supports high quality family and early childhood education for children and their parents in the state. The organization is run by one person who supports the work of several boards within the organization. The position is largely clerical. Computer skills, scheduling skills, and office management skills are all necessary to the position. Although I would be able to do the job, it does not make use of what I do best, work with people face to face.

www.mnafee.org

Wordle

Greetings Capstone Classmates!

Profile of A Volunteer

My co-worker, Anne brings bread to work about three days a week. One of those days, the bread is to share with us, her work community. On the other days, Anne drops the home baked bread off with a friend or an acquaintance that is struggling with or celebrating life. Anne ministers with bread. You can taste love in her work. I cannot begin to estimate how many loaves of bread that have left Anne's kitchen. In baking, Anne celebrates life's high points, a new baby, a college graduation, a promotion at work and life's low points, a death, a divorce, a miscarriage.

Anne's bread is symbolic of her passion for connection and community. In times when so many of us write checks to organizations or volunteer to serve on boards, Anne's act of kindness seems so intimate in comparison. Anne's bread says I care. I care enough to bake, to deliver the bread, and to show up at your doorstep for a brief (or not so brief) visit. In it's simplicity, the bread heals. Anne is our school readiness facilitator in the district. One of her major responsibilities has been to assist immigrant families in navigating the school district. She takes her time to get to know each family and astonishingly remembers their names, names that take practice to master years later. When Anne sees an alumni family at school, so many of them thank her for her gift of bread to welcome them.

I know bank presidents who give large amounts of cash to programs but  never take the time to know anyone being served there. I know CEO's who donate to the food bank but never dine with folks who live in poverty. Anne's story resonates with me in a way that leaves me inspired to make real connections with people as I volunteer. Organizations that put real people in the path of folks who need them, like Big Brothers, Big Sisters, the Miller Mentoring Program, and Ready, Set, School are all local organizations that make a real impact with people power. Kindness is powerful, kindness matters.

Using Social Media to Get Connected

Three years ago I was living a disconnected social media life. I had a cell phone but not an iphone. I didn't text and I could not be found on a social media site. Life was calmer. I read more books. I was happy. When my life became more public, I was encouraged to get on Facebook. I refused and started a blog as a compromise. Why would I want to live such a public life? My life was already full of people, more than I had time for much of the time. My life changed with her. I won her and she changed my life. Here she is:

I could work anywhere! I could update my blog when I traveled! I joined Facebook under a secret name. I was hesitant because I feared having to do parent education on social media, something I did not want to do. I later created a Community Facebook page to announce my speaking schedule and to promote early childhood programs and efforts. I joined LinkedIn. I maintain a website.

I took a digital learning class in Washington DC last summer that required me to open a Twitter account. Without a doubt, this has been the best social media tool I use to connect with legislators, policy makers, and community leaders on behalf of advancing early childhood in MN. Just today, for example, I sent a Valentine to MN's House Majority Leader. She tweeted about it. I was thrilled!

I would appreciate any feedback that anyone has to offer about my social media connections. You can find me on Facebook www.facebook.com/KatySmithWinona and on Twitter, my user name is KatyMN12. I am on Google Plus and LinkedIn, both of those accounts have the same picture that I use for my Walden work. Let me know what you think!

Advocacy Message

It seems to me that everyone smoked when I was a kid, movie stars, princesses, models, and even my favorite cartoon characters. Taking up smoking was a right of passage between adolescence and adulthood. The Marlboro Man was a powerful symbol of independence and free spiritedness. I looked forward to the time that I could start smoking during my childhood. Smoking was glamorous.

In my lifetime, smoking has gone from glamorous to gross. The body bag commercial by the American Legacy Foundation is just one example of a serious anti smoking campaign that raged through out my adulthood. The public education campaign was so successful, it prompted public policy that has increased the taxes on cigarettes to make them largely unaffordable for most Americans. I cannot think of a friend or colleague of mine who smokes now. 

Both advocacy messages draw on the emotions of the viewers. The smoking ads sell a feeling of independence and relaxation. The anti smoking ad sells a feeling of anger and betrayal. Any time we can illicit an emotional response from the intended audience, an ad campaign is successful. 

My Own Capacity

The culture of childhood fuels my passion and sparks my interest every day. I often think about children in the context of their families and community. The parent child relationship has been topic that has fascinated me for nearly three decades. Supporting that relationship has been the focus of my career.

Childhood, done well, gives children the foundation for a healthy life. I am interested in advocating for a healthy childhood and creating community conversations about issues that impact a healthy childhood. Media, technology, play, routine, structure, discipline, and raising readers are just a few of the topics I educate the public about. Over the weekend, I delivered five different speeches in the span of thirty hours in three cities. I spoke to roughly 1000 people. This is the best advocacy work I do. 

I have a long history in the field which has created a body of work that is rich in stories, experiences, education, and research. I have a long contact list that includes colleagues, legislators, parents, foundation leaders, and community members. I love public speaking and teaching. I am a powerful communicator. I think I have everything I need to be an effective advocate. 

In order to continue to grow along with the early childhood "movement" in our state, I need to work hard to help elect politicians who believe in the importance of investing. Lots of candidates seek my endorsement and I always take my time to be thoughtful in endorsing. I also take the time to educate each candidate about the importance of early childhood and our nations commitment to create policy and fund our most important resource. 

My Role as an Advocate

I was born into a family that valued advocating for the underdog. Social justice is in my bones. I cannot remember a time that my calendar did not include board work, campaigning, and fighting for one cause or another. At the micro level, being a teacher and a mother has, at times, focused my advocacy lens around issues that are just not good for children. Working as a family advocate, serving on local initiatives in schools, joining the PTA, and working in collaboration with other agencies to provide services to a family are great examples of micro level advocacy efforts. Micro level efforts build confidence in advocates to think bigger and aim higher. In many cases, the opportunities to advocate on a micro level are inherent in our job descriptions.

Micro level advocacy is exciting work. When you work on behalf of ALL children, you have the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life who are doing "big picture thinking" for the good of children and families. I get excited to work on campaigns for candidates for state offices, serve on state boards, and rally at the Capitol. Collective voices are powerful voices. Last year I rallied with teachers, plumbers, electricians, police, nurses, and firefighters to raise voice of concern to union workers all over my state. It was electrifying and powerful and it worked!

Community leaders are citizens who are willing to step into the role of leadership. That's it. A willingness to make something better is the key to forging a path to making a difference in your community. When a community leader amasses a knowledge base that can move a conversation forward, a state leader is born. Knowing that you have the experience and expertise that policy makers need to affect positive public policy, I believe we have an obligation to share that. I know many Early Childhood practitioners who have all they need to be effective change agents what they need is mobilization.

That's where I come in! I love to drive a rookie up to the Capitol for an experience with a legislator. I coach them and give them ideas to craft their own advocacy story. I thank them. I do all I can to make the experience a positive one for them, including lunch! I let them know that I still have butterflies in my stomach when asked to do something that is out of my comfort zone. I also share how thrilling it is to see a collective effort come together, like "Early Childhood Day" at the Capitol. Here is a picture of me at last year's rally. I was asked to give a welcome. The day called for high heels and a finger puppet or two, how cool is that?

Personal Advocacy Reflection

Meet my two advocacy buddies! I have a passion for making Minnesota the best state in the nation to raise children. When I say things like that, most people head to the buffet table to escape my enthusiasm. Not these two, nope, they are in it with me. On the left is Paul Winkelaar, the Community Organizer for Education Minnesota, the teacher's union that I have belonged to for more than twenty years. He is a force to be reckoned with, a big dreamer, and a guy who will not take no for an answer. On the right is dear Representative Erin Murphy, the Majority Leader of Minnesota's House of Representatives. She and I are cut from the same cloth. She wears her passion for Minnesota on her sleeve and serves our state as an elected official. We began a professional relationship in 2010. She consults with me on early childhood policy and makes sure I am at important meetings in St. Paul. She wants me to succeed as an advocate. Erin and I took our relationship to new heights this fall when we took a field trip with our grown daughters to go zip lining! When folks this fired up get together, friendship just happens. 

I know the assignment asked for just one person but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to brag about my friend and my Governor, Mark Dayton. He has been more than generous with his time to mentor me on my journey of advocacy. He has taken several opportunities to meet with me and has been very encouraging and supportive of early childhood initiatives in our state. I hope you get to meet him one day, he is terrific and truly wants what is best for families in Minnesota. 

Greetings Walden Colleagues!

Hi, you have found me! So happy to be sharing the Walden journey with you. I am sure that time will fly as we learn how to advocate for children and before  you know it, it will be spring!