New Beginnings

The fall semester at KCC begins on Thursday, September 7, and there are many changes ahead for the Early Childhood Club.

A new faculty advisor will be on board, a new slate of officers will be elected, and a new calendar of events and activities will be planned.

Please check the Early Childhood Club bulletin board, located outside room V115, for details about the club's first meeting and other important information. (This Web site will no longer be operational once the new term begins.)

Have a great semester!

Minutes Of Our May Meeting

The Early Childhood Club met for the last time this semester on Tuesday, May 30 from 3 to 4 pm in room V122. Reyna Richman, club president, chaired the meeting.

After everyone had some refreshments, Reyna welcomed both old new and old members, and then introduced our guest speaker, Jolli Brown, from Long Island University/Brooklyn campus. Ms. Brown kindly provided brochures, catalogs, and free beverage cups (with the LIU logo on them) to all in attendance. She gave us an overview of the educational opportunities available for transfer students who wish to attend LIU upon graduation, and informed our members that two full scholarships are awarded each year to two KCC graduates,with a 3.75 G.P.A. or better, who wish to attend the urban education program at LIU. We thanked Ms. Brown for her time and for her helpful presentation.

The next item on the agenda was a group reflection on the many wonderful successes of this past year, including our recent trip to "A Child's Place." Photographs of our trip, along with pictures of many other events of 2005-2006, have been posted on the club bulletin board outside V115. Thank you to everyone who helped make our club so terrific this past year!

Well-deserved "Certificates of Appreciation" were then presented to our officers:
Reyna Richman, President & Acting Treasurer
Doreen Brittingham, Vice-President
Theresa Maresco, Secretary
Helianne Duke, Co-Secretary

Following this, the departing faculty advisor was presented with a plant, a beautiful bouquet of long-stemmed roses, and a lovely certificate of thanks signed by each of the officers. This was a very thoughtful gesture, and was very much appreciated.

Our meeting continued with the drawing for the "Good Attendance Award." The names of all students who had attended at least 5 of the club's meetings held in 2005-2006 were placed in a container, and the lucky name drawn was..................Helianne Duke! Helianne received a backpack, apron, and calendar from the NAEYC, and was congratulated by everyone.

At the conclusion of our meeting, each member received a free tote bag and a copy of "Young Children," the journal of the NAEYC. We then bid a fond farewell to each graduating member, and graduating officer. Best wishes and good luck to all! Have a great summer!

Our Trip To "A Child's Place"

On Saturday, May 20 the Early Childhood Club ventured out on its first field trip in many years. We drove to Queens to visit "A Child's Place," an early childhood program founded and directed by award-winning KCC instructor Joan Gallagher. It was a very informative and enjoyable experience for all who attended.

Housed in a charming, 3-story converted home overlooking the bay, "A Child's Place" exemplifies the best in developmentally practices for young children. As Joan guided us on the tour, we saw a spacious block area; an abundance of manipulatives, toys, and children's books; a large and inviting dramatic play center; art, music and science materials; and many other interesting things for the preschoolers to work and play with. The colorful walls are adorned with free-style drawings and paintings done by the children; photographs; and posters, all of which create a warm and homey atmosphere.

It is obvious that children are deeply respected in this program. The daily schedule emphasizes both indoor and outdoor play; individual and small-group activities; and hands-on experiences. The children have many choices and opportunities to interact with their environment and each other. They are also encouraged to write, draw and express themselves in their journals. There is a well-equipped play yard, and the teacher-child ratio is outstanding. The program's name is quite fitting, because "A Child's Place" is truly a child-centered program.

"It was very helpful to see such a great welcoming atmosphere merged with a strong educational presence," said our club's president, Reyna Richman, upon returning from the trip. "It made me feel like I can do something like this myself one day. After today, I have an even greater admiration for Joan and her philosophy," she added. "To sum up our trip, it was ideally all of our ideals." Vice-president Doreen Brittingham agreed. "Wow! It was fun. This trip was a tangible way for us to see what we've learned in our classes at KCC being materialized."

The Early Childhood Club is very grateful to Joan Gallagher for taking the time on a Saturday afternoon to share her program and its mission with us. She was a gracious host, and we truly appreciated this wonderful opportunity for our club members to see first-hand what a high-quality early childhood program is all about.

REMINDER: The Early Childhood Club will meet for the last time on Tuesday, May 30 at 3pm in room V122. A "multicultural food fest" will be part of the celebration. Please bring a COLD dish (snack or dessert) from your culture to share. Beverages and paper goods will be provided by the club. We will be saying good-bye to the faculty advisor, as well as many departing members and officers, who are graduating in June. Please join us for this very special meeting.

Minutes Of Our April Meeting

The Early Childhood Club met on Tuesday, April 25 in our new room, V122, from 3 to 4 pm. Our President, Reyna Richman, chaired the meeting.

After some pizza and refreshments, we discussed old and new business. We reflected on the success of our two big spring events: the T-Shirt Party, and the celebration of the "Week of the Young Child" in the breezeway. We are still awaiting photos of the kids in their t-shirts, so if anyone has pictures, please e-mail them to us at profnleggio@aol.com . They will then be posted on this website. Reyna asked that everyone give a special thanks to our Co-Secretary, Theresa Maresco, for her hard work in planning and preparing for these events.

The next item on the agenda was a discussion of our upcoming field trip. On Saturday, May 20, the club is going to "A Child's Place," a day care program founded and directed by KCC Early Childhood instructor Joan Gallagher. This is the club's first trip in many years, and we are very excited about it!

Some students are going individually by public transportation, and will meet us at the site (which is located in Queens) at 1 pm. Other club members will be traveling by car with the faculty advisor and other students, and will leave from KCC. This group will meet at 12 noon sharp on May 20 in room V122, to sign trip release forms and form car pools. This is an adults-only trip and space is limited, so if you are interested in signing up to join us, please do so as soon as possible! You can leave us a message in our club mailbox in room C123, or see the faculty advisor, Nancy Leggio, in room V115.

The next item was the election of another Co-Secretary to work with Theresa. Helianne Duke has been an active member of our club this past year, and she has participated in many meetings and events. She has also begun creating flyers for our club. Helianne was elected unanimously, and we welcomed her aboard!

Our meeting concluded with a fun game of "Education Wheel of Fortune." Reyna created the puzzles and turned the letters as students made their guesses. The grand prize winner was Theresa, who correctly solved two of out of the three puzzles: "Developmentally Appropriate Practice," "Playdough," and "Open-Ended Materials." Theresa received a tote bag of goodies from the NAEYC: a calendar, a copy of the journal "Young Children," a pin, and a book. Congratulations to Theresa and all of our players!

After the general meeting there was an officer's meeting to discuss plans for the remainder of the term. The club's final meeting of the semester will be held on Tuesday, May 30 at 3pm in room V122. This is the last date of day classes at KCC. (Evening classes end the following day, May 31.) We are planning a special end-of-the-year party for this meeting, which will include a pot-luck multicultural foods celebration. Please join us, and bring a special COLD dish from your culture to share! (KCC does not allow homemade hot dishes at events, for health reasons.) The club will provide beverages, plates, and utensils. We will also be giving out "Certificates of Appreciation" to our officers, and there will be a drawing for a very special prize: a beautiful back-pack and an apron from the NAEYC, both engraved with the slogan "Early Years Are Learning Years". Students who have participated in at least five club meetings this past year will be eligible to enter the drawing to win this "good attendance" award.

On May 30 we will be saying good-bye to many departing members and officers, who are graduating from KCC this June. We hope you can join us at this very special meeting!

An Exciting Spring

The Early Childhood Club has had a busy and exciting spring! We recently hosted two back-to-back events which were highly successful: our second annual "T-Shirt Party," and our first annual celebration of the NAEYC "Week of the Young Child."

On Tuesday, March 28 we welcomed many guests, as well as regular club members, to room V118 for the T-Shirt Party, and once again a wonderful time was had by all. Many children from the KCC "Family College" attended this year, and after they had some pizza and grape juice, everyone got busy designing their shirts.

As children's music played in the background, the adults created colorful designs of school buses and other early childhood themes. Some of the children decorated their shirts with favorite storybook characters, while others drew the smiling faces of their friends and family members. At the conclusion of the party all the children posed for photographs, and then wore their artwork home! We plan to post the photos as soon as we receive them (via e-mail), so you can see for yourselves what a terrific time they had.

All of the refreshments, decorations, music, T-shirts, fabric markers, and supplies were provided by the Early Childhood Club. Our officers and members worked very hard to plan and organize this event, and we wish to thank them for their dedication. We were also grateful to receive $200 towards our expenses from the Public & Health Council.

Soon after the T-Shirt Party, the club enjoyed a wonderful experience celebrating the NAEYC's "Week of the Young Child" for the very first time on Wednesday, April 5 in the breezeway. Many KCC students stopped by our table, which was laden with free resources from the NAEYC. Catalogs, brochures, pamphlets, and fact sheets were gratefully picked up by students from a variety of backgrounds and majors. A video about the NAEYC's history and mission played in the background as our club members greeted passersby. The table was beautifully decorated with NAEYC kites and other materials, and our lovely club banner was hung in the backround. This event was a terrific way to promote awareness of the need for quality early childhood education services for young children.

A hearfelt thank-you goes out to our Co-Secretary, Theresa Maresco, who was the coordinator for the WOTYC event. She did a terrific job planning and organizing it over a period of several months.

The Early Childhood Club will meet on Tuesday, April 25 from 3 to 4 pm in our new meeting room, V122. We will play a game of "Education Wheel of Fortune," and we will finalize our plans for our May field trip. We hope to see you there!

Minutes Of Our February Meeting

The Early Childhood Club welcomed all members, new and old, to our first meeting of the spring semester on Tuesday, February 28 at 3pm in room V118.

After inviting everyone to have some pizza and hot chocolate, our president, Reyna Richman, discussed the club's procedure for electing new officers. She then introduced Mary Gentile, the club's nominee for treasurer, who gave a brief talk about her background and involvement with the club. Mary was elected unanimously, and was then invited to come up to the officers' table for the remainder of the meeting.

Theresa Maresco, club co-secretary, gave us an update on one of our exciting spring projects: a celebration of the NAEYC "Week of the Young Child." Theresa informed us that we will have a table in the breezeway in between the cafeteria and the clusters from 9 am to 3 pm on Wednesday, April 5. Literature will be distributed; our banner will be displayed; and a video celebrating NAEYC's 75th anniversary will be playing on a nearby VCR. Volunteers are needed to help staff the table and perform other tasks. Please leave a note in our suggestion box in V118, or e-mail us at profnleggio@aol.com, if you can help with this event.

Theresa's role as co-secretary is to handle the set-up for meetings, take attendance, and keep club records. We need another club co-secretary to create, xerox, and post flyers; and get the club's mail. Candidates who are interested in the position are currently submitting their names to the nominating committee, and we will report on this next month.

Doreen Brittingham, our vice-president, announced the annual "T-Shirt Party" to be held at our next meeting, on March 28th, at 3pm in V118. Once again children and parents from the KCC Child Development Center will be invited to attend, and we are looking forward to another great experience with them. The club will provide all necessary supplies, including t-shirts in many sizes, fabric markers, music and refreshments. We received special additional funds to our budget for the t-shirt party from the KCC Public & Health Council, which recognized the value of this event for both the club and the child care center families.

The next item on the agenda was our club survey, which Doreen passed out for new members to complete. She welcomed them to participate in any club projects that interest them.

The club's faculty advisor then welcomed students to take free resources from the club's library, which has dozens of NAEYC brochures and pamphlets (to keep) and books on a wide variety of topics (to borrow). Plans were announced for a special field trip for the club on Saturday, May 13 to "A Child's Place," a wonderful early childhood program in Queens founded by KCC instructor Joan Gallagher. A committee will be formed under the leadership of Doreen Brittingham to help organize this event.

The club discussed having a guest speaker at our April meeting to talk about creating and maintaining a portfolio. The faculty advisor will work on this and will report back to the group next month.

Door prizes were awarded as follows: Vanessa Pusey received a pen from NAEYC; Lastenia Catuy won a star-shaped teacher pin; and Nicole Torres received a "circle of children" pin. Congratulations to all of our winners!

The meeting concluded with an impromptu hula-hoop performance by the children who were attending the meeting with their parents. It was delightful to see the little ones dancing, twirling, and rolling the hoops to each other. Several students joined in the fun also!

We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on Tuesday, March 28 at 3pm in V118.

Minutes Of Our January Meeting

The Early Childhood Club's first meeting of the winter module was held on January 31. Reyna Richman, our President, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and inviting them to have some pizza, hot chocolate, and free brochures from the NAEYC. The next item on the agenda was a brief review of the club's procedures for nominating and electing officers. Reyna then introduced Theresa Maresco, our nominee for the new Co-Secretary position. Theresa was elected unanimously, and we welcomed her aboard.

Reyna then distributed and discussed our spring calendar of events, which include the Club Fair in February; the annual T-Shirt Party in March; the "Week of the Young Child" event in April; and a possible field trip in May. Volunteers are needed to plan and coordinate all of these events; if you can help us out, please e-mail us at profnleggio@aol.com.

Reyna then shared an item from our suggestion box (located in V118): "Why doesn't the club meet twice a month, instead once a month?" Reyna explained that time constraints prevent us from meeting as a whole group more often. However, the club officers do meet once each month in addition to the general meetings, and members are welcome to attend any time to participate "behind the scenes" as the officers prepare for club meetings and special events. The officers' meetings are held two weeks prior to the general meetings, at 3 pm, in the club room (V125). She announced that the next officers' meeting will be on Tuesday, February 14 and the next general meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 28 at 3pm in V118.

The next item on the agenda was a discussion of after-school program job openings listed on our website, and the monthly job bulletins from the Day Care Council and Bank Street College, which the faculty advisor posts in V115. We then unveiled the latest additions to our club's professional resource library, a wonderful new assortment of books from the NAEYC. We now have dozens of books and hundreds of brochures from the NAEYC on a broad range of topics available for our members. One of the new NAEYC books is about creating a portfolio, and there was a brief discussion about the importance of creating and maintaining a portfolio while enrolled in the ECE Program. We plan to continue this discussion and provide additional resources and information about the portfolio at our next meeting.

Our racks of NAEYC brochures and books are now located in V125, which is our club room. If you need any material or want to borrow a book, please see Nancy Leggio in V115 or send us an e-mail at profnleggio@aol.com.

We concluded the meeting by awarding our three door prizes: A colorful calendar from the NAEYC was awarded to Vanessa Posej; a lovely pen from the NAEYC was given to Helianne Duke; and a book entitled "Caring: Supporting Children's Growth" was awarded to Reyna Richman. Congratulations to all of our winners!

Please join us at our next club meeting on Tuesday, February 28.