Early Educators Grow with Maine Roads to Quality
Through a cooperative agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Roads to Quality (MRTQ) at Muskie's Cutler Institute has offered support to early childhood educators for over 10 years. Most recently, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AARA) money is funding scholarships for higher education and for equipment mini grants for programs pursuing accreditation.
Meet Marie Rawley. A dedicated early childhood educator, Marie's story helps illustrate the impact of Maine Roads to Quality's services in the real world of caring for young children.
Marie first became aware of Maine Roads to Quality in 2001 when MRTQ became a partner agency on the Early Learning Opportunity Act grant (ELOA) in the Mid-Coast area. Marie had been running a family child care home since 1996. She took full advantage of the opportunities offered to her: an MRTQ scholarship, training opportunities through the local Resource Development Center (RDC), stipends and mini grants to improve her program facilities. Marie's family child care program became NAFCC accredited in 2003 and re-accredited in 2006. The MRTQ accreditation project supported her by offering cohorts, training, onsite technical assistance and moral support.
When Marie first met MRTQ and became a registry member, she held a high school diploma. Since then she has obtained a CDA credential, articulated those credits into an Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education from KVCC in 2005, and obtained a Bachelor's Degree from UMF in 2009.
After running a family child care home for 11 years, Marie started to work for a Head Start program in the fall of 2007. She had become interested in working with children with disabilities while working with a child who had Down's syndrome in her family child care home. "The more I worked with her and also talked to her visiting therapists and followed their instructions for the remainder of the week, the more I was becoming interested in working with children with disabilities. Then as I started working for Head Start I was working with more children with special needs from developmental delays to behavior challenges and my interest continued. I had in Oct 2009 been given the opportunity to work for CDS with a specific child. I was very excited and knew that I would have to continue my education to receive my 282 certification."
At this point Marie again received scholarship money from MRTQ to pay for the three courses needed to earn the 282 certificate. "I am now working with children ages birth-5 that have varying disabilities. I feel like I am making a difference in their lives."
Marie's story rings true throughout the state as early educators take advantage of the services Maine Roads to Quality has to offer.