Exploring Roles in the ECE Community:Local and State Levels

         Having the opportunity this week to explore various early childhood organizations, agencies, and communities of practice has allowed for me to learn about the different supports I have in my local and state communities as I advocate for more active participation by individuals in the inclusion process for young children. I look forward to further researching the job opportunities offered by each of the organizations I have chosen in order to expand my professional options upon my degree completion.

Arc of Minnesota

The first organization I found was The Arc of Minnesota, a non-profit volunteer organization. This organization’s mission is “Inclusion is… Our Passion, Our Priority, Our Promise” (p.1). Their aim is to help support individuals starting at birth and throughout their lifetime as they learn to be inclusive within the educational and community settings (Arc of Minnesota, n.d.). I chose this organization as they appear to have a comprehensive understanding of the importance of inclusion and a plethora of state-wide resources which can help aid me in developing my personal community of practice for inclusion in my community.

Job Opportunity: Development and Special Events Intern Job Description

“The Development and Special Events Intern will support the mission of The Arc Minnesota by working in the Development Department to raise revenue from individuals, companies, foundations and community groups. The Development Intern must have strong writing and verbal communication skills, be able to write electronic appeals using email and social media, manage donors and donations, manage and create a volunteer database, and willing to take on challenges and work independently.  This person must also have a strong commitment to diversity and a commitment to human rights” (Arc of Minnesota, n.d., p.4)

PACER (Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights) Center of Minnesota                    The PACER Center of Minnesota is a federally-funded, non-profit parent and information center where parents can access resources, attend workshops and network with other families of children with special needs (PACER Center, 2014). I chose this organization as they ensure active involvement of parents of children with special needs, while also offering additional resources through a community of practice, which is what I am seeking for my Capstone Project. For example, the majority of the PACER Board is made up of family members of young children with the disabilities as they can speak on behalf of personal experience and have a vested interest in helping their child and family members to live a higher quality of life within their communities (PACER Center, 2014). This organization also makes learning fun and applies concepts such as disability integration and bulling in engaging ways for young children, allowing for them to feel more comfortable with the inclusion of special needs students within their classroom.

Job Opportunity: PACER Puppet Team

“Help children learn about bullying prevention and disability awareness. Make a difference through teaching Kids Against Bullying, an entertaining puppet program that helps young children learn about bullying prevention and COUNT ME IN® teaches disability awareness and promotes inclusion” (PACER Center, 2014, p. 6).

“As a volunteer, you’ll:

• Attend a training to learn puppet and presentation skills;
• Work with a fun team;
• Present programs at metro schools two to three times per month;
• Help young children understand the importance of preventing bullying” (PACER Center, 2014, p. 6).

Skills and experience;

I believe you need to have the skills to be able to commute to various schools, be available during the day to work in a school setting, have a desire to work with young children, good communication skills, and a willingness/passion to advocate for young children within our communities.

Benton Stearns Educational District

            The Benton Stearns Educational District is a community and district resource which offers programs and resources to school districts and families within my local community. All of our special education services are derived out of this district as they aim to provide the resources and funding necessary to make learning possible for children with special needs (Benton Stearns Educational District, n.d.). Some of the human services provided include school psychologists, autism specialist, occupational and physical therapists, special education directors, early intervention staff, consultants and teachers for blind and/or hearing impaired students and a network communicator for families and schools (Benton Stearns District, n.d.). I look forward to collaborating with the Benton Stearns Educational District as they support my efforts through staff and parent training, as well as provide me the funding and resources needed to help students in the inclusive process feel supported by the active involvement of these individuals and their families.

Job Opportunity: Early Intervention - Intake Facilitator/ Service Coordinator

            Although the Benton Stearns Educational District does not have any current openings, an early intervention intake facilitator/service coordinator is one of the positions which sounded interesting to me at their headquarters. I am interested in this position as I feel it would be rewarding to be the coordinator for helping young children from birth through third grade to have a strong support system of individuals, as well as offer the physical resources they need to be successful in their schooling experiences. I would imagine the skills to include informing families of our services, work collaboratively with families, medical and health providers, be able to help transition children between educational programs (i.e. preschool to kindergarten) and coordinate and monitor student outcomes and services.

            I am excited to expand upon these new prospective job opportunities and look forward to continued active collaboration between myself and these organizations. Through their efforts, I am confident my community of practice will come together in order to be an effective team effort which will help young children reach their dreams through being included with their peers in a classroom setting.

Reference

Arc of Minnesota. (n.d.). About the Arc of Minnesota. Retrieved July 9, 2014 from

http://www.thearcofminnesota.org/.

Benton Stearns Educational District. (n.d.). Services. Retrieved July 9, 2014 from

http://www.bentonstearns.k12.mn.us/.

PACER Center. (2014). PACER facts. Retrieved July 9, 2014 from http://www.pacer.org/about/