The End!!!!

Wow! I wondered if I was every going to make it to this point.  These past few weeks have gone by quickly.  I have enjoyed all of my classes through Walden University and would recommend this school to anyone who is pursuing their education.  I really doubted myself throughout this course but with the Lord above holding my hand each step of the way I have finally reached my destination.  I am so happy for myself and for each of you also that have been on this journey.  We did it!!!

I have been stressed from time to time and wanted to give up but when I would read comments from my classmates I knew I had to continue on.  I have learned tons of new and valuable information that I can carry back and use in my field of early childhood education.  We have become extended family with each other throughout our courses at Walden and without having our classmates pushing us sometimes we may easily give up. 

My long term goal is to continue to educate myself in everyway possible about the changing issues in the field of early childhood.  I want to continue working on my project to help fight childhood obesity.  One goal I hope to reach is to teach kindergarten in public school system.  I know I will reach my goal because I have faith and I know now that I can do whatever I set my mind to. 

Many Thanks
I would like to give many thanks to Dr. Davis for the encouragement and feedback you have give me throughout this course.  Your encouraging words made me see that I could do this and I did.  You had faith in each one of us and you knew we could succeed and you gave us that push.  Thanks for everything.  I would like to say thanks to all of my classmates for all of the comments you gave because your encouraging words meant a lot also.  We have came to the end of our journey for now but I hope that each one of you succeed in whatever plans you have in life.  I want to wish each of you the best of luck in whatever you do in life. 

All our dreams can come true...if we have the courage to pursue them.  Walt Disney

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
Nelson Mandela


WE DID IT!!!!!!!!



Organizations

1.  Bright From the Start/www.decal.state.gov.us

• Bright from the Start:  Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning is the state agency responsible for all areas of early childhood development, including child care licensing, professional development for child care providers, child care resources and referral agencies, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.  This site provides detailed information about Bright from the Start programs, services, information and resources, including resources from the Nutrition section.

This website offers a lot of useful information.  It keeps me updated on changes in licensing for our center.  It has many useful articles as well as ideas that can be carried into the classroom.

Job available:  Business Operations Specialist

Under general supervision, research and interpret applicable state and federal regulations, procedures and laws. Provide monitoring of child care provider program compliance. Review child care policy and procedures. Provide technical assistance and consultation to state staff, regional staff, and county staff as appropriate,( i.e., Program Policy Specialists, Regional Managers, Child Care Program Specialists, County Directors, supervisors). Respond to customer inquiries, draft correspondence to legislators and the general public. Provide consumer education regarding DECAL programs. Participate in computer system change request definition and user acceptance testing.
Develop and prepare a variety of documents and reports such as status reports, accounting documents, outreach training materials, surveys, consumer information and forms. Participate in internal and external committees and task forces. Travel (including overnight) may be required.

Qualifications:Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college/university in Social Work, Psychology, Sociology, Early Childhood Education or other related field and one year of professional experience in a human service delivery program which was in a service planning, evaluation, or delivery capacity.
The successful applicant will possess experience in the application of state/federal policies, assessing the needs of families, supervision, and/or consultation. The successful applicant will possess competencies in the areas of oral communication, written communication, analytical skills, Microsoft Office Suite applications (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Project), internet proficiency, teamwork, and planning/evaluation.

2.  University of Georgia Cooperative Extension

• Cooperative extension provides research based information for Georgians on a variety of topics, including child development, family relationships, nutrition, food safety, food preservation, financial management, and housing.  This site includes free print publications on a wide variety of topics, including nutrition and physical activity.  This site also includes a search feature to help you locate the cooperative extension agent in your county.

Jobs available:  I found  no jobs available on the website

This website is useful in many ways.  It provides information food, nutrition and child development.  This website also allows me to use my local extension offices to find field trips in the area for my students such as pumpkin patch, Christmas tree farm.  It offers a lot of valuable resources when needed. 

3.  USDA Food and Nutrition Service

• Provides children and low income people access to food, a healthful diet, ad nutrition education.  This site contains information about federal food programs, as well as nutrition education and food safety resources for adults and children.

Job available:  No jobs showing available at this time due to federal government shut down  this website was unavailable at this time. 

We use this website to help provide nutrition information to parents along with using ideas from website to incorporate into lesson plans to teach children about healthy foods.