Richmond Early Childhood Association

February 2014 RECA Winter Newsletter

Greetings from the Presidents,

It is wonderful to be coming to the end of the challenges of winter weather and eagerly anticipating the arrival of Spring!! Just as the flowers will begin to bloom, activities for RECA are blossoming as well. There are many networking and training opportunities in the next few months and we hope our members will take advantage of all of these wonderful events. The VAECE Conference is being held in Roanoke on March 13-15. If you have not received registration information, you can visit the VAECE website (www.vaece.org) to get all of the details about this wonderful conference. On March 27, we will host our Spring Member Dinner and Training, so mark your calendars and plan to sign-up for this event.

Snow Storm
By Robert Patinson The land was white and freezing cold the snow had PHOTO come and taken hold. PLACE HERE, A blizzard moved in from the north OTHERWISE DELETE BOX and told the flurries to go forth. A howling sound brings with it chills, frozen words drift through the hills. The trees wear coats of fluffy snow, the lands so bright it seems to glow. Snowflakes drifted down from the sky whipped by the wind in swirls they fly. A light and freezing screen they form, the blizzard grows into a storm.

This is also when we will introduce the nominees for the annual election and accept votes for the 2014-2015 officers for RECA. The slate of nominees for the election is listed on page 2 of this newsletter. We would love to hear from members who are interested in taking a bigger role in our organization in 2015-2016. Please contact Debbi Heist, at msdebbi@humcpreschool.com if you are interested in more information about future board positions. We are working to get updated job descriptions posted on our website. Best, Muriel Azria-Evans & Debbie Heist RECA Co-Presidents

As you know, April is the national Month of the Young Child and we are hard at work scheduling a fun, free, family event and will be sure to send out more information as soon as the details are finalized. As you can see, the spring is busy for RECA and we appreciate all of our members and your hard work with and for the children and families you serve every day.

Richmond Early Childhood Association

February 2014 UPCOMING ELECTION: During the March 27th RECA Training, we will hold an election for the 2014-2015 officers of RECA. Current nominations are: CO-President VP ProgramsDebbi Heist Jeanne Jones and Mary Landis Debbie Lickey RECA Winter Newsletter

VAECE 58th Annual Conference March 13-15, 2014

Registration Now Open! You can register online with a credit/debit card or on paper with a check. Overview Join us in Roanoke, VA for the 58th VAECE Annual Conference - three days of professional development, networking, and fun with your fellow ECE peers!

VP Community-

Recording Secretary- Jessica Cherebin TreasurerMember-at-LargeMargina Grow Alyson Williams

UPCOMING EVENTS: RECA Dinner and Training Event: Action Research in the Early Childhood Classroom When: Thursday - March 27, 2014 6pm-9pm

With more than 1500 attendees, the 2014 VAECE Annual Conference will be the largest gathering of classroom teachers, leaders, administrators, consultants and researchers in Virginia! We hope you have a great time, meet new friends, and maximize your learning opportunities! The VAECE Annual Conference will feature: Commercial Exhibits Workshops & Seminars Rally for Children Tours Affiliate Ideas Student Social And much more! Visit the VAECE website for more information: http://www.vaece.org/conference.html

Where: Glen Allen Public Library 10501 Staples Mill Rd Glen Allen, VA Cost: RECA members: Free Non-Members: $10.00

For more Information and Registration see insert flyer!

Richmond Early Childhood Association

February 2014 RECA Winter Newsletter

Voices from the Capitol: Budgets, Bills & Breakfast

Dear Friends, It seems as though we just started session not too long ago, and yet we're well into the thick of things already. We have some positive updates to share with you all on our advocacy efforts, and have been pleased at the overall response from legislators to our agenda. Please check out our 2014 Legislative Agenda, and for more detailed information on our plans for this session, please visit our 2014 Legislative Overview page on our website. Early Childhood Care & Education: We have seen many friendly faces at The Capitol this week with early childhood educators, home visitors and parents meeting with legislators on investments in early childhood. Folks have been talking all week about this frontpage Washington Post article highlighting the challenges in Virginia to providing pre-school to all of the at-risk 4-year-olds who could benefit. Several budget amendments have been introduced to address these challenges. We summarize them and give you our take, along with all of the relevant ECE budget proposals. We've also been tracking and providing updates on bills related to improving quality and access of early care and education. One of the highlights this week was hearing from mom, Elly Lafkin, who asked lawmakers to support a task force to study the implementation of fingerprint background checks to prevent tragedies in child care settings, as her family had experienced. Child Welfare/Foster Care: We've seen a lot of great momentum on our child welfare agenda this week, with several of our bills reporting unanimously out of Senate committee. Our campaign to extend foster care services and adoption assistance for older youth up to age 21 is also in full-swing--nearly all members of the Senate signed on as co-patrons to the related Senate bill, SB277, and we'll be working in support of Del. Peace's identical bill in the House, HB 1236, next week. Children's Mental Health: Mental Health Advocacy Day was a huge success! Nearly 200 mental health advocates joined us in Richmond and advocated for improvements in Virginia's mental health system. We were excited to see great media coverage from the Washington Post and the Daily Press. A special thanks to Senator Howell and Delegate Yost who spoke about Mental Health Advocacy Day and welcomed advocates in the galleries during session. Read more about our exciting event and check out pictures from the day. Up Next: Tuesday, Feb. 11th -- "Crossover": the last day the Senate and House can consider bills originating in their own chambers. We also want to make sure that you're receiving all the updates and information we'll have to share this session. If you haven't already, please follow our efforts through our social media networks. We're on Facebook and Twitter, and we hope you'll come find us there! We look forward to keeping you up to date on all of our efforts this session!

Dont forget to like us on Facebook for more event information and articles about ECE!

https://www.facebook.com/RichmondEarlyChildhoodAssociation

Margaret Nimmo Crowe, Executive Director

Richmond Early Childhood Association

February 2014 RECA Winter Newsletter

Thinking about becoming a member? Need to renew your membership? Here is a reminder of all the benefits that being a member of RECA will provide you. 1. Membership into 4 organizations. (NAEYC, SECA, VAECE, and RECA) Professional Development Opportunities 2. Advocacy Opportunities 3. Networking opportunities for teachers and directors 4. Discounts on products 5. Free issues or reduced subscription rates of certain publications put out by NAEYC, SECA, VAECE and RECA 6. Reduced registration fees for certain conferences and/or training opportunities 7. If you choose to become a comprehensive member, you will also receive five to six free NAEYC publications during the year. To become a member or renew your membership, please visit http://www.naeyc.org/membership/join. You can also contact your local RECA membership representative, Jessica Hendricks at nurseryschool@epiphanyelca.org

RECA PO BOX 980013 Richmond, VA 23298

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