76th Annual SECA Conference

Join us as we share our attempts at minimizing the child care staffing crisis in our state, through two initiatives that are training high school students in early childhood education best practices. The University of Arkansas Fort Smith Early Childhood Education Program, in collaboration with the Arkansas Early Childhood Association, has piloted two models for offering college credit and early childhood credentials to secondary learners. After graduating from their local high schools, these students will have the training for providing the highest quality of care to children birth-five. Furthermore, they will be able to continue their education through the fully online Early Childhood Associate and Bachelor degrees, while employed in their local child development centers. We will have a time for brainstorming alternate solutions to the current staffing crisis, as we are all in this together!