Early Childhood - PCToday - Pennsylvania College of Technology

Grant Funds Support Early Childhood Education at Penn College

Jan. 26, 2012 - 2:30 p.m.

Penn College’s Children’s Learning Center received a Keystone Stars Merit Award and a Keystone Stars Education and Retention Award totaling $46,480 for 2011-12. The center uses the funds for staff development, the purchase of toys and furniture for the children, accreditation-related expenses, special health and nutrition activities, and family events. This year, a large portion of the grant will be used for improvements to the outdoor play area at the center’s new location in the college’s Hager Lifelong Education Center.

U.S. Department of Education Grant Provides Child Care Assistance

Jan. 26, 2012 - 2:27 p.m.

Penn College’s Children’s Learning Center received continued funding to help provide child care access to parents pursuing higher education at the college. Generally referred to as a “CCAMPIS” grant, which stands for “Child Care Access Means Parents in School,” the funding comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Higher Education and is awarded specifically to help to make high-quality child care available to parents who are college students. The college will receive $65,804 for 2011-12, the third year of the four-year grant.

Rwandan Educators' Exploratory Tour Includes Penn College Visit

Nov. 23, 2011 - 1:26 p.m.

Two educators from a Rwandan preschool toured Penn College's Children's Learning Center on Monday and offered a public lecture in the Thompson Professional Development Center that evening. The lecture by Janet Brown, who helped establish the Cyakabiri School for Young Children in April, and Louisa Batamaliza, one of the facility's teachers, was hosted by the college's Early Educators Club.

Representatives From Rwandan Preschool to Offer Public Lecture

Nov. 9, 2011 - 4:46 p.m.

The Early Educators Club at Penn College will host a lecture by the education coordinator of a preschool for low-income children in Rwanda. Janet Brown, who helped establish the Cyakabiri School for Young Children in April, will offer a talk that is open to the public at 7 p.m. Nov. 21 in the college’s Thompson Professional Development Center. The school is part of the Urukundo Home for Children in Muhanga, South Province, Rwanda. Urukundo was founded six years ago by Arlene Brown, a missionary from Williamsport, and is home to 45 orphaned and abandoned children, ranging in age from 2 weeks to 18 years. It is funded by the U.S. nonprofit organization Hope Made Real.

Students Honored Upon Completion of Early Childhood Practicum

May 10, 2011 - 9:00 a.m.

Early childhood education faculty and staff celebrated student achievement on Wednesday, April 27, at the annual Early Childhood Practicum banquet. Early childhood students who completed their practicum during the Spring 2011 semester were honored. Also in attendance were the students’ supervising teachers. Billie A. Coffman, associate professor of early childhood education, expressed appreciation to the teachers for their willingness to serve as mentors for the students. Over the course of the semester, the students completed 225 hours in various child-care centers, Head Start programs and Pre-K Counts classrooms in the central Pennsylvania region. Front row, from left: Jodi L. Binkley, early childhood lab assistant; and students Amanda L. Martz; Janet Y. Eiswerth; Vanessa L. Walter; Kattie I. Heisey; Lillian G. Davis; Kristin A. Winder and Jennifer L. Engle. Back row, from left: Coffman; students Emily N. Cimini; Travis M. Deaver; Megan E. Holt; Courtney M. McChesney and Kendra J. Blair; and Barbara J. Albert, program specialist, early childhood education.
Photo by Jessica M. Millheim, group leader, Children's Learning Center

Children’s Learning Center Receives Keystone Stars Award

March 24, 2011 - 2:10 p.m.

Penn College’s Children’s Learning Center has received a Keystone Stars Merit Award of $49,570 for 2010-11. The center uses the funds for staff development, purchase of toys and furniture for the children, accreditation-related expenses, special health and nutrition activities, and family events. Keystone Stars is an initiative of the state Office of Child Development and Early Learning to improve, support and recognize the continuous quality-improvement efforts of Pennsylvania’s early learning and school-age programs.

Students Gain Experience at Area Early Education Programs

March 8, 2011 - 3:36 p.m.

Twelve Penn College students are completing their studies toward an associate degree in early childhood education with practicum experiences at area facilities. The students, all in their last semester of study at the college, must complete 225 practicum hours in early childhood facilities, where they write and implement lesson plans, interact with children and families, and develop professional skills. Supervising teachers mentor the students and help them practice the necessary skills for employment in the early care and education field.

Staff Member Meets With Peers in South Africa

Jan. 11, 2011 - 2:48 p.m.

An early childhood educator at Penn College recently returned from a People to People Citizen Ambassador Program trip to South Africa. Gail B. Landers, group leader at the college’s Children’s Learning Center, was invited by the president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children to join a delegation of about 50 early childhood educators that flew in October from Washington, D.C., to Johannesburg, South Africa, to interact with early educators in that country.

Employee 'Open House' Held to Showcase Stage X Renovations

Dec. 14, 2010 - 4:56 p.m.

Penn College faculty and staff had the opportunity to tour recently renovated facilities during a special Stage X "Open House" from 3-4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Open for employee inspection were the Avco-Lycoming Metal Trades Center's welding facility, the science laboratories and Children's Learning Center/early childhood space in the Hager Lifelong Education Center, and laboratories in the Parkes Automotive Technology Center – all tremendous opportunities for students that were made possible by the Stage X improvements.

Grant Provides Child Care Assistance for Students

Nov. 15, 2010 - 2:58 p.m.

Penn College’s Children’s Learning Center received continued funding to help provide child care access to its students as part of a four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Generally referred to as a “CCAMPIS” grant, which stands for “Child Care Access Means Parents in School,” the funding comes from the department’s Office of Higher Education, specifically for helping to make high-quality child care available to parents who are college students. The college will receive $65,202 for 2010-11, the second year of the four-year grant.