"There have been a number of state and national mandates to increase the educational requirements for professionals who work with very young children," said Ruth Saxton, coordinator of the College of Education's Birth Through Five Program. "The Office of Head Start, for example, has mandated that 50 percent of its teachers nation-wide must have at least a bachelor's degree by 2013. This is part of a national trend to increase the qualifications, training and expertise of early childhood professionals."

In response to this trend, the College of Education started one of the first Birth Through Five Programs in Georgia in 2008, which teaches its students to work with children from infancy through kindergarten age, including children who are typically developing and those with disabilities.

The program's focus on birth through Kindergarten allows technical college graduates and other interested students to take classes specific to that age range rather than the more common teaching degree programs that focus on pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.

The first five students to complete the Birth Through Five Program, who will graduate in December, are a varied group with different backgrounds and teaching experiences, but they have become a tight-knit unit during the two-year program.

"It's been an enjoyable and rewarding experience to build a program from the ground up and see the first group of graduates who are going to finish with such a tremendous set of competencies," she said. "They're very enthusiastic and passionate about their work with children."

Click here to read more about the COE's first Birth Through Five Program graduating class.

Photo caption: The first graduating class of the COE's Birth Through Five Program poses with Program Coordinator Ruth Saxton, center. (l to r) Katelyn Mooney, Eryka Quinn, Rukia Rogers, Trameka Pass and Lindsey Harris.