Dear Early Childhood Education Leaders and Learners,
May 31st, 2023 - Spring Quarterly Update
You are receiving this communication because you are a part of the Raising Resilience WNC Communication Network.
Raising Resilience WNC is a collaborative group of the Western region Smart Start partners. We aim to strengthen resilience skills throughout individual and organizational levels of early childcare communities. We are doing this by listening to community members and partners to arrive at collaborative and iterative strategies for resilience. The strategies we currently are using include Sesame Street in Communities, Resources for Resilience Reconnect Training, and the Center for Trauma Resilient Communities Resilience Academies. With this community-based approach, we have the potential to create a regional system capable of supporting positive early childhood experiences and relationships.
Raising Resilience WNC Bright Spots, Upcoming Events & Learning Offerings
Most Recent Quarter’s (January to end of May 2023) Bright Spots!
Social Emotional Learning Strategy- Parents, Caregivers & Children-Sesame Street in Communities
Let’s raise up and celebrate & the following teams for hosting successful Sesame Street in Communities (SSIC) events.
The purpose of SSIC community events is to bring awareness to our communities of SSIC as a resource for social emotional learning and addressing tough topics with our children. There are over 30 and relevant topic areas on Sesame Street in Communities’ free resource page. Each Smart Start local partnership and their associated community partners have a slightly different approach to hosting SSIC events, because each of our communities are uniquely special. These events offer resources to early childhood education providers, parents and community members while simultaneously providing positive childhood and family experiences for all who attend.
Region A, Partnership for Children, Serving Haywood County for this Event, Learning Through Play
Saturday, March 25th, 9:30-12pm, Pinnacle Church, 415 Fiberville Street, Canton, NC.
Led by Janice Edgerton, Executive Director, jedgerton@rapc.org
Impact Statements, Region A Partnership for Children, Canton/Haywood County “Learning Through Play” Event:
We asked parents and caregivers their impressions of the Learning Through Play event. This is what they had to share.
“This event was a positive experience for me and my family. It was a great atmosphere for all my kids to come and play. We got lots of good resources and information. Some of the resources I already knew about but If I was someone who just moved here, this information would be invaluable!” Mother of two children under the age of five, resident of Canton.
“I got a lot of activity ideas here. The sensory bottles were great! The thing we enjoyed most was the interaction with other kids! Mother of one toddler, resident of Haywood County.
“I didn’t know until today that when kids play with building blocks it supports them in learning math. I just never thought of it that way!” Mother of a five-year-old, three-year-old and two year old children, resident of Canton.
Buncombe Partnership for Children, Serving Buncombe County and Kids Fest
Saturday, April 8th, 10am-2pm, YMCA Youth Services Center, 201 Beaverdam Road, Asheville, NC.
Led by Executive Director, Amy Barry, amy@buncombepfc.org
Impact Statements, Buncombe County Partnership for Children, Kid Fest, Asheville:
We asked parents and caregivers their impressions of Kid Fest. This is what they had to share.
“It was a positive family experience for my entire family. The best part is that it was a fun AND free event.”
“I learned about using something like blowing bubbles to help my kids calm down. I also learned about the free Sesame Street videos for different topics.”
“I loved learning about the SSIC website. We loved the books and the stress management ideas for kids. My daughter chose a free book to take home and we've been reading it at least once a day.”
“I loved being in the presence of a diverse group of kids and adults. Our daycare is very homogeneous (all white, all Christian), and we think it's important for our kids to interact with others who look different or have different cultural and religious traditions. The opportunity was brief, but it was meaningful for our kids”.
Blue Ridge Partnership for Children, Serving Mitchell County, and Child Fest
Saturday, April 29th, 10am-2pm, Mitchell County High School, 416 Ledger School Road, Bakersville, NC. Led by Executive Director, Jennifer Simpson, director@brpartnershipforchildren.org
Child Fest 2023 in Mitchell County was the first to take place in person after the beginning of COVID. 165 families registered. 586 individuals attended; 61 parent surveys were turned in and 31 out of 31 community vendor surveys were turned in for feedback. Judy Stevens pictured above left, with Blue Ridge Partnership for Children, in her role as Board Chair for 12 years, has been in the Early Childhood Education field for 43 years. She has supported organizing Child Fest for the past 25 years. She was the 2017 volunteer of the year recognized at the annual North Carolina Smart Start Conference. She expressed, “Smart Start is the best thing that has ever happened to early childhood education in North Carolina. We got Sesame Street to help fund this event. It has been fabulous.”
Burke County Smart Start, Serving Burke County, and Kinderpalooza
Saturday, May 6th, 10am-2pm, Drexel Elementary School, Morganton, NC. Led by Executive Director, Kathy Smith, ksmithbcss@att.net
Blue Ridge Partnership for Children, Serving Avery County, and Block Fest & YMCA Healthy Kids Day
Saturday, May 13th, 10am-2pm, Williams YMCA Athletic Facility, 436 Hospital Drive, Linville, NC.
Led by Executive Director, Jennifer Simpson, director@brpartnershipforchildren.org
Updates on Sesame Street in Communities (SSIC), Abby’s Ambassador’s Program
Through partnership with Get Set WNC and Raising Resilience WNC 12 leaders have been trained to deliver training on SSIC topics within our communities in the Western region. Since March, 24 presentations have been delivered within the Western 18 counties; 12 on “What is Sesame Street in Communities?”, and 12 presentations on “Resilience”. To date, at least 60 participants have been reached: from childcare directors and staff, public libraries youth services coordinators, health care workers, social workers, and public-school staff. By the end of August each Ambassador will deliver a training of a topic of their choice from SSIC website. If you have further questions, email Eileen Mouyard, Regional SSIC Specialist: communications@smartstarttransylvania.org
We asked presentation attendees their impressions. This is what they had to share:
Over 90% of training attendees who responded to our follow-up survey who were present at training said, “The training gave me new tools and resources (articles, printables, videos, games, etc.) to use in my work and life almost immediately.”
“Excellent training… So excited to have this in our community. Excited to learn more and how it can be shared throughout our area to parents, providers, and community agencies.”
“It is a great resource to use with the children and parents I work with daily. I utilized the website the next day with my PreK Class.”
Early Childhood Educator, Resilience Building Strategy- Resources for Resilience
Let’s raise up & celebrate the impact of the Resources for Resilience (RfR) Reconnect training!
Reconnect Orientation, for Child Care, Resource & Referral & ECE Teachers & Leaders, Friday, February 10th, 1-2pm, 16 participants attended.
Reconnect Orientation, all-call virtual orientation for those in the ECE community, Thursday, February 16th, 7-8pm, 4participants attended.
Full 14 Hour Virtual Reconnect Training, all-call for ECE teachers and staff across the region., Friday, March 10th & 17th, 8:30-4pm, 35participants completed the training.
We asked participants what part of the training they found the most impactful. This is what a few people said:
- “All of it. I already knew a lot of this information and the training was still amazing!”
- “The reminder that adverse experiences are not destiny and that small changes do matter”.
- “Making sure you're checking in with yourself first and then being present with others.”
- “Awareness of brain and nervous system responses and how to address that in order to get through situations.”
- “Learning about shame and how to deal with it.”
- “Learning about sharing with others what we need to hear & asking people what they need to hear.”
Organizational Resilience Strategy
Two successful Resilience Academies were hosted with Smart Start local partnerships with the Crossnore Center for Trauma Resilient Communities in February and March of 2023. In the subsequent months of June 2023 through August 2023, our partnerships will identify goals and opportunities for strengthening organizational strategies, policies, and practices, for their own teams.
Successful Resilience Academies:
On February, Thursday 16th and Friday 17th, 2023, one Academy was hosted at the Community Foundation of WNC for the Buncombe County Partnership for Children & Smart Start Partnership for Children (of Henderson County) staff. Twenty-nine participants completed the training. After participating in this training, one participant shared they would practice “more self-awareness and responding to others with a new lens and perspective”. When asked what the biggest ‘aha’ moment or profound realization they had during or after the training, another participant shared, “... that I am not alone in my stress and burnout [from this hard work] can have the same effect in the brain as PTSD from war”. When asked to reflect on an 'aha' moment, a participant responded, “We must address our own issues, triggers, and frame of mind before helping others. I have heard this a million times, but on the one million and first time, it made more sense; address our own triggers to show up to be better colleagues."
On March 20th and 22nd, 2023, the other Academy was hosted at Burke County Smart Start for the Smart Start staff and the Child Care Connections staff. Nine participants completed the training. One leader shared, “I have started talking about my feelings, as demonstrated from the Resilience Academy- being able to label things. Behavior change is happening. We use language now that we didn’t use before”.
If you have further questions, email Kathleen Wood, Resilience Consultant at: resilience@brpartnershipforchildren.org
Looking Ahead, June-August 2023- Upcoming Events & Trainings
Sesame Street in Communities (SSIC) Launch Events Across the Region
Blue Ridge Partnership for Children, Yancey County, Burnsville, Saturday, August 12th, 10am-12pm
Resources for Resilience Reconnect Curriculum Training Across the Region
We are offering resilience training this summer before the end of August in partnership with Resources for Resilience. Follow our website for training dates or email Kathleen Wood at resilience@brpartnershipforchildren.org.
All event fliers & additional details will be posted on our event webpage as they become available.
Reminders, Learning & Sharing Offerings
Please continue to visit our Raising Resilience WNC calendar of events to stay up to date on the events and training.
As a learning offering, we highly recommend the Campaign for Trauma Informed Policy and Practice’s(CTIPP) Trauma-Informed Workplace Toolkit as a resource for supporting a culture of health and wellness at your agency.
If you do not wish to receive further communication from me as the leader of this regional work, please ask me to be removed from this email. This communication will be sent once a quarter in January (Winter), April (Spring), July (Summer), and October (Fall).
If you have resources or events to share with the Raising Resilience WNC Communication Network, please send information to adrienne@smartstartpfc.org
Please let me know if you have any curiosities, questions, or feedback for our team. On behalf of our entire Raising Resilience WNC team, thank you for our continued learning journey.
Onward! Adrienne Gilbert-Stevenson, Regional Program Manager, Raising Resilience WNC
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