Week 2- Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

            This week I chose three organizations that focus on helping children from various backgrounds. The National School Lunch Program, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and The County of San Mateo Children’s Fund.

            The National School Lunch Program (NSLP), is a program dedicated to providing low-cost and free school lunch in both public and non-profit schools. According to the National School Lunch Program, "any child at a participating school may purchase a meal through the National School Lunch Program. Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals. Those with incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level are eligible for reduced‐price meals, for which students can be charged no more than 40 cents" (National School Lunch Program, 2013). The National School Lunch Program appeals to me because there are so many children in the United States that are without food. I know this program reaches many children across the Nation who may be hungry and the NSLP can help with this deficit.

            The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a large organization with over 70,000 members in the early childhood field and with 300 regional Affiliate chapters, “all committed to delivering on the promise of high-quality early learning. Together [they] work to achieve a collective vision: that all young-children thieve and learn in a society dedicated to ensuring they reach their full potential” (Our Mission and Strategic Direction | National Association for the Education of Young Children).

According to the NAEYC’s website, this group is dedicated to promoting a high-quality education to children from birth to age 8. This program appeals to me because it is a nationally known program that has 80,000 members whose interests are in improving the quality of the early childhood programs for children and their families. In addition, the NAEYC has a “gold standard [accreditation for] early childhood programs across the country” (Our Mission and Strategic Direction | National Association for the Education of Young Children).

            The County of San Mateo Children’s Fund is a program dedicated to helping low-income, foster children, and teens that reside within the county of San Mateo, California. This program has been in affect since the 1973 and serves more than 4,500 children from birth to age 18 (Children’s Fund, 2015). The Children’s Fund has several programs such as back to school supply distributions, Halloween costumes, holiday gift program, providing refurbished computers, the Maureen Borland Orthodontics Endowment Fund, and baby clothes for low-income and homeless families. This program appeals to me because it is a local program in my community. In fact, I have actually volunteered at this program while I was in college as an undergrad.

            The NSLP is a program that is part of the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).  The FNS offers both paid and unpaid internships for students ages 16 and older in high school, pursuing undergraduate or graduate degree. The qualifications for this internship are to be of an accredited institution, and a U.S. citizen. This internship appealed to me because I was happy to read that students as young as age 16 can apply for an internship with the FNS.

          The NAEYC has several job opportunities, however the job title that interests me is director, quality improvement & program support.  According to the NAEYC website, “this person is well versed in management, quality improvement, technical assistance, and early childhood education” (Our Mission and Strategic Direction | National Association for the Education of Young Children). They are responsible for managing a team, the improvement of the program, providing high-quality customer support, training, assistance, in addition to working together with other affiliates (Our Mission and Strategic Direction | National Association for the Education of Young Children). The qualifications for this position are to have previous managing experience in the Early Childhood Field (ECF), 3 years supervisory experience, Bachelor’s degree, and ability to demonstrate recruit and evaluate staff.

            The Children’s Fund currently only has volunteer opportunities available right now. However, in order to be a volunteer all that is needed is to be age 14 and older.

References:

Children's Fund. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2015, from https://childrensfund.smcgov.org/

National School Lunch Program. (2013, September 1). Retrieved September 11, 2015, from http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/NSLPFactSheet.pdf

Our Mission and Strategic Direction | National Association for the Education of Young Children | NAEYC. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2015, from http://www.naeyc.org/about/mission