Club's Last Meeting Ends On A High Note

Our final meeting of the semester was fun and exciting as we unveiled our beautiful children's literature bookcase, which has a new home in room V117. As always, there was plenty of good conversation as students munched on pizza and perused our professional resource library of NAEYC materials. After door prizes were given out to all in attendance, we had some bittersweet moments as we said good-bye to three officers who are graduating this semester (Rocio, Dawn, and Maria) and welcomed our new secretary, Christine Chan. Christine has been a very active member of the club this past year, and she was elected unanimously.

Certificates of Appreciation were presented by the faculty advisor to our current and future President, Reyna Richman; our current and future Treasurer, Anna Seale; outgoing C0-Secretaries Dawn Hemmings and Rocio Hernandez; and outgoing Co-Vice-President Maria Capitummino. Our current and future Vice-President, Doreen Brittingham, was unable to attend the meeting due to illness, and she will be presented with her certificate at the first meeting next semester.

The club used today's meeting to reflect on its past successes, and to make plans for the coming year. Our membership has grown and we feel we are really making a difference for students in the ECE Program. We were very pleased with the article in the May issue of Scepter about the spring t-shirt party, and everyone was impressed with the detailed annual budget report which Anna presented. We hope that the club will be given an increase in funds for next year, so that we can plan more events and continue to expand our professional resource library.

At the conclusion of the meeting the officers surprised the faculty advisor with a lovely bouquet of flowers, as well as a card and gift. This was a very thoughtful gesture, and is much appreciated.

Please Note: The Early Childhood Club will not be holding any general meetings over the summer, but there will be an officers meeting on Tuesday, June 14 at 3 pm in V125.

We hope you will join us on Tuesday, September 27 at 3pm in room V118 for our first meeting of the fall semester! In the meantime, please continue to check this website throughout the summer for information about the ECE profession, as well as important club news and updates. You can also keep in touch with us via e-mail at profnleggio@aol.com

ECE Student Named A Finalist For Annette Urso Rickle Foundation, Inc. Scholarship

The Early Childhood Club is pleased to announce that a student in the ECE Program at KCC, Ms. Xu Wang, has been named a finalist in the competition for an Annette Urso Rickle Foundation, Inc. scholarship.

Ms. Wang learned about the scholarship program from this website, and completed her application last month. She will be interviewed by the scholarship committee in early June. We are thrilled that she has been chosen as a finalist, and wish her the best of luck.

Congratulations, Xu Wang!

Final Meeting Of The Semester To Be Held On May 31

The Early Childhood Club welcomes all members, old and new, to our final meeting of the semester on Tuesday, May 31 at 3 P.M. in room V118. Our agenda will be as follows:

1. Welcome, Pizza, Refreshments
2. Door Prizes
3. Annual Budget Report (Treasurer)
4. Election of New Secretary*
5. Presentation of Certificates of Appreciation to Officers
6. President's Report
7. New Business/Plans for Next Semester
8. Closing

We hope to see you there!

*If you have been an active member of the Early Childhood Club this past year, (minimum attendance - 3 meetings), are energetic, responsible, and have a computer, you can be nominated for the position of Secretary! Please see the club's faculty advisor, Nancy Leggio, in room V115 for further information.

A Letter Of Gratitude From A Former Student

I recently received the following letter from a former student, who is about to graduate from KCC and who has begun teaching in her own classroom. I found it very inspiring, and thought both students and faculty would enjoy reading it.

Dear Professor Leggio,

Today, I am the happiest teacher!

Two years ago, I came to Kingsborough Community College just to take a few credits in Early Childhood Education. My intention was to add a few U.S. credits to my resume, assuming that my B.A. in Marketing would be more than enough to work as a Teacher Assistant in an early childhood classroom.

When you were my professor in Foundations of Education, you quickly helped me to realize that early childhood is like a "special island" in the field of education. I realized that those little creatures need their individual space and time to learn. Teaching young children means respecting their exploration through play, rather than sitting them in chairs in a strict, drilling environment.

Before I came to KCC, I was ready to assist in an old-fashioned, teacher-centered class, where learning is determined by how many letters and numbers a pre-kindergartener knows, and how far he/she can count. Before I took your class, I did not really know what teaching young children should be like; however, I had a feeling about what was wrong. I guess that is why I actually came to Kingsborough. How unfortunate for children, and how sad for us in the education profession, that so many people don't have the slightest idea about hands-on activities and child-oriented, developmentally appropriate learning.

This past year I became a pre-k teacher for the first time. I know my English is far from good; however I have realized I am not the only teacher in this school struggling with English, therefore I do not feel as guilty!

However, please let me not go off track with the reason why I am writing to you. Your great lessons opened my eyes and took me into a new world of teaching young children. Now, not only do I have to teach my class, I have an even harder job trying to educate parents and other teachers in my school about appropriate early childhood curriculum.

I started with the NAEYC brochures you had given me in EDC 20. I gave them out to all the parents in my classroom, to explain why I allowed children to play instead of sitting them down with workbooks like the other teachers were doing. Then one day I got a phone call from one of the mothers in my class, who is a doctor. She told me she had read the "Play is Fundamental" brochure, and it amazed her. She said in all her years of medical training, no one had ever taught her how important play was for children's development. She asked me to make a list of items I needed in order to teach through play, and offered me $1,000 to pay for them!

I thought I was dreaming. The classroom I was given had only a big chalkboard, chalk, papers, and crayons. Can you imagine what a difference this donation made to my classroom? Can you imagine what a great thing your lessons and NAEYC brouchures that you gave me did for my class? Is there any way I can thank you?

By the way, the parent said this is only the beginning of her help. She saw how passionate I was about making a difference in the school, and she decided to donate another $2,000, to contribute to playful learning. I now have ordered $3,ooo in toys, furniture and supplies from the Lakeshore and Childcraft catalogs! It is wonderful.

Please give my best regards and thanks to Professor Couper, Professor Friedman, Professor Marrus and all the others for their great classes. From each and every one of you, I have learned a lot of things that I am implementing into my teaching.

Sincerely,

Samira Dervisevic

Welcome to Our Photo Gallery!

We had a great time!
Photos of Club T-Shirt Party Taken by Abe Ginsberg

Rocio Hernandez, Co-Secretary, and friend
Photos of Club T-Shirt Party Taken by Abe Ginsberg

Reyna Richman, President; Doreen Brittingham, Co-Vice-President; and Anna Seale, Treasurer with children from the KCC Child Development Center
Photos of Club T-Shirt Party Taken by Abe Ginsberg

Tamara and friends designing their club t-shirts
Photos of Club T-Shirt Party Taken by Abe Ginsberg

Donna Marie creates her t-shirt
Photos of Club T-Shirt Party Taken by Abe Ginsberg

Can I use that yellow one when you're done?
Photos of Club T-Shirt Party Taken by Abe Ginsberg

Creative art in action
Photos of Club T-Shirt Party Taken by Abe Ginsberg

Minutes of May 3 Meeting

The Early Childhood Club meeting began at 3 pm with refreshments and a welcome to some new members, who enjoyed perusing our rack of NAEYC pamphlets for resources for their portfolios. In addition, our Co-Vice-President Maria Capitummino had thoughtfully prepared packets of information about our club (which she downloaded from this website), and gave one to each new member.

While students munched on pizza and commiserated with each other about recent mid-term exams, our Co-Secretary Rocio Hernandez took attendance and passed out colorful pencils engraved with the club's name. Then our President, Reyna Richman, chaired a brief meeting to update members on recent news, such as the impending arrival of our donation of new children's books and the new bookcase. We also discussed plans for the next club meeting on May 31, as well as follow-up meetings with the staff of Scepter, KCC's newspaper.

Three door prizes were then awarded to Tamara Iuculano, Danielle Berthayd, and Nadine Lenord. Each received an attractive gold-tone pin depicting a circle of children. The pins are quite popular with teachers, and come from the NAEYC.

At 3:30 pm Jocelyn Baitz, a career counselor from the Career Development Center (C102), presented a workshop on how to develop a resume and write a cover letter. She gave an excellent presentation which included how to effectively list and describe your education, job experience, and special skills/talents so that your resume will be well-received by potential employers. Ms. Baitz encouraged our club members to bring drafts of their resumes and cover letters to the Career Development Center for further personal assistance.

Each student in attendance received a free packet of resources from the Career Development Center, which included a summary of the information presented as well as sample resumes and cover letters. In addition, many great tips on interviewing skills, networking, and other job-seeking strategies were included in the packet. The Early Childhood Club thanked Ms. Baitz for her time and for her many helpful suggestions.

If you missed this presentation, or would like to attend any other workshops offered by the Career Development Center, be sure to stop by C102 to pick up a spring calendar or make an appointment with one of the counselors.

The next Early Childhood Club meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 31 at 3pm in room V118.