Building Bright Futures Presents at 2023 Smart Start National Conference
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We were honored to present “Building Bright Futures: Growing a Trained and Educated Early Childhood Workforce through Apprenticeship” at the 2023 Smart Start National Conference in Greensboro in April. In addition to bringing an abundance of chocolate for our audience and swag in the form of BBF notepads and pens, we also brought an insightful panel of guests to join us on stage. Representatives from ApprenticeshipNC, the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI), and Surry-Yadkin Works—including a very brave pre-apprentice—each spoke to the value of early childhood apprenticeships. Collectively, the panel provided a big picture perspective of how a joint effort across the state will boost the talent pipeline of high-quality early childhood educators.
Morgan Ford, Program Director, and Megan Johnson, Program Manager, began the presentation describing how the BBF pilot model for registered pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships will work for students, educators, and child care programs throughout NC.
To connect the apprenticeship piece, Charlie Milling, ApprenticeshipNC Consultant in the Western and Northwestern Regions, spoke about the benefits of ECE apprenticeships and the steps to register an apprenticeship program. Building Bright Futures, in partnership with ApprenticeshipNC, will connect school districts, community colleges and child care programs to complete these registrations. Once programs are completed and approved, participants can receive resource support and additional funding from Building Bright Futures.
Valerie Williams with DPI’s Office of Career and Technical Education (CTE) shared her passion for ECE pre-apprenticeship opportunities, which are available to students beginning at age 16. “It is a wonderful chance for high school students in CTE programs to explore a range of options for their future—inside and outside of the classroom.” She further added, “CTE provides the skills and confidence students need to pursue career options, discover their passions, and get on a path to success.”
Audience members gave a standing ovation when Madison Triplett, a pre-apprentice with Yadkin County Schools Pre-K through Surry-Yadkin Works, shared how important her apprenticeship has been. “I couldn’t have stood in front of this audience months ago,” Madison shared. No one was more excited for Madison than Whittney Harris, Workforce Development Specialist with Surry-Yadkin Works, Surry Community College, who works with youth and college students in career development and economic revitalization. Following the presentation, Madison became Building Bright Futures’ first signed pre-apprentice!
Representatives from numerous Smart Starts and Partnerships, school districts, and community colleges from all over the state attended the presentation. Attendee Henrietta Zalkind, Executive Director of the Down East Partnership for Children, is eager to bring this opportunity to her community, stating, “This was a great presentation! It pulled all the pieces together so we know the connections available to support building our early childhood workforce in our local communities. I have signed on!”
You may find the entire Smart Start Conference presentation, including the Power Point presentation slides and conference presentation video here.
Building Bright Futures is part of North Carolina’s efforts to build a career pipeline for the early care and education workforce, providing support for pursuing credentials and degrees while maintaining the strong diversity of the early childhood sector, and identifying sustainable approaches to increase compensation and benefits. We look forward to seeing this work in action!