A grant of just under $1 million awarded to the College of Lake County is helping students in early childhood programs continue their education.
The state-funded financial assistance is going to students already working in the sector, with a goal to strengthen the early childhood workforce.
According to the Center for the Study of Childcare Employment, there is a continuing slow recovery across the nation following job losses brought on at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity grant is funded by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board.
School officials said the grant is creating new opportunities for CLC students and for employers, while advancing racial equity by ensuring those who are underserved have access to education
“We want the best care we can for our youngest community members,” said Diane Schael, department chair of early childhood education at CLC. “If you want to have strong support for communities, you need to have strong childhood programs.”
The major focus of recruitment efforts for the funding at CLC will be toward incumbent early childhood workers, because Illinois has scholarships that pay up to 100% of tuition for those with experience working in early childhood education centers and day cares, officials said.
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Hainesville resident Novarini Sihite is already benefiting from the financial assistance through a scholarship that’s helping her move closer toward her career goals.
Her interest in the early childhood education field was sparked while attending Kishwaukee College in DeKalb County, where she said instructors saw something in her while she studied music appreciation.
“They told me I have ‘a heart for children,'” she said.
Sihite realized she did want to work with young children, and last year she moved to Lake County specifically to attend the early childhood educational programs offered at CLC.
“It’s a blessing for me to have this opportunity to study and understand what children need to grow and develop healthily,” Sihite said.
In August, she accepted her first role as a lead teacher and is set to graduate next fall from CLC.
It’s students like Sihite who are helping communities establish high quality learning environments needed for young minds, Schael said.
In the past, early childhood education providers have been underappreciated and seen by some as merely babysitters, when in reality they are the educators who provide the foundation of a child, Schael said.
The college’s early childhood education program has recently received other grants and donations that have made possible implementations, such as new early childhood learning modules, and piloting in English and Spanish.
Starting in the fall term, mentors are set to help each student enrolled in the early childhood program to maximize all the college has to offer.