Fall Brings More Community Engagement for Ambassadors
Over the course of the year, Milwaukee Succeeds’ Early Childhood Education (ECE) Ambassadors have become mainstays in the community, connecting with local residents at a variety of events and engaging with ECE providers across the city. This fall, their schedules have been packed full of events and trainings as they strive to make the most of the final few months of the year.
Asian Moon Festival
The Wisconsin Chinese Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual Asian Moon Festival on October 29. The event celebrated Asian culture, music and language and featured traditional dances, Chinese and Japanese drums and a variety of booths, including one staffed by our ECE Ambassadors. They used the opportunity to connect with the community, sharing information about the state of ECE and signing up folks interested in learning more.
The event also offered them the opportunity to connect with Marie Moezen, a Shorewest South-Metro realtor and champion for Milwaukee’s AAPI population. Marie’s passion for helping the community makes her the perfect person to partner with as the Ambassadors start activating their list of community champions.
“We look very forward to hosting in-person and virtual trainings and workshops together at ThriveOn, where we hope to build out a base of ECE and housing advocates,” said Anna Smerchek, Milwaukee Succeeds’ community engagement fellow.
Teaching Strategies GOLD Training Round 2
On November 4, four ECE Ambassadors led the second round of Teaching Strategies GOLD trainings. The first round in September drew 11 employee from Proveedoras Unidas and Yimma’s Bright Beginnings Daycare, and provided comprehensive, hands-on instruction that was tailored to the providers’ needs. This round, held at 4C for Children, drew 21 local educators, representing both home and center-based providers.
This Spanish-language training taught attendees how to plan their curriculum around children’s needs in order to best support their development. It covered Creative Curriculum Teaching Cards, which help providers select and address specific learning objectives, as well as Mighty Minutes, which offer mini activities to encourage learning.
The Ambassadors also covered how to write anecdotal notes that focus on a child’s skill set and identify areas where more support may be needed. As part of the personalized nature of the trainings, the Ambassadors even included videos of their own children to help providers better grasp and apply the concepts they were learning.
“Bringing this training to life for our Spanish-speaking providers has helped them better understand how to develop, implement and plan meaningful learning in their classrooms!"“ said Anna.
The Ambassadors hope to deliver a third round of trainings in December, covering lesson plan development and implementation, as well as child observations.
COA HIPPY Health and Wellness Night
On November 13, COA Youth & Family Centers put on a HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) Health and Wellness Community Resource Night. Naturally, our ECE Ambassadors popped up, hosting an outreach table and promoting their upcoming Winterfest Bash. Attendees at this busy event learned all about ThriveOn and its dedicated community space, where Milwaukee Succeeds and our Ambassadors will host trainings and engagement events.
The event also gave the Ambassadors the opportunity to connect with the Samson Family Resource Center & WI FACETS. In the coming months, they’ll be partnering with the Ambassadors around family engagement initiatives and special education, refugee family supports and advocacy.
QUEST ECE Workforce Event
On November 15, two of the Ambassadors attended the QUEST Early Childhood Education Workforce Breakfast at MATC’s downtown campus. QUEST helps provide those interested in an ECE career with core training courses, paid work experience, supportive services and more. At the event, our Ambassadors participated in a community listening session, learning about the most recent developments in the ECE workforce.
