Pre-K and Kindergarten Teachers and Administrators Learn New Strategies for Supporting Early Learning

By Eva C. Phillips

Ready Schools Coordinator

Over 230 Title I pre-k and kindergarten teachers and administrators from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools descended on downtown Raleigh on Sept. 16-17 to attend the N.C. Association for the Education of Young Children's 63rd Annual Conference.

Thanks to a generous grant by the Kate B Reynolds Charitable Trust, these early childhood educators spent two days attending sessions about effective and appropriate practices for supporting young children's development and learning. These educators also spent time networking and celebrating their efforts on behalf of young children.

WS/FCS's Power of K Teacher Leaders had a special display of their documentation projects of their work to include more appropriate practices within their kindergarten classrooms. In addition to funding for conference registration, KBR funded each participant's hotel, travel, and meals, along with a year's membership to the association and additional funds for the purchase of developmentally appropriate materials for their classrooms.

The Trust also sponsored a special reception for WS/FCS on Friday evening. Our superintendent joined the reception and spoke to the group of educators about the importance of the early years and our district's efforts toward providing more pre-k classrooms and stronger kindergarten programs.

Dr. Emory said that "the train is rolling [and] we can close the gap right here in this room. We have the power in our district to close the gap right on the front end."

These educators left the conference feeling grateful and re-energized with lots of new strategies for working with their students and families.