| Smart Start
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| Smart Start Is ... | |
Smart Start-Centre County is a network of early care and education professionals, parents, and community leaders committed to giving children in Centre County the best possible start in life through education, information, activities, and outreach.
Staff and Interns
Eileen Wise, Executive Director
Kelly Johnson, Project Manager
Action Committees
Early Care & Education
Early Childhood Mental Health
Health & Nutrition
Parenting & Literacy
Transition Team
Board of Directors
Charlene Friedman, Chair
Rebecca Ardoline, Secretary
Sudha Babu
Patricia Best, Vice Chair
Melissa Clark
Doug Coatsworth
Linda Duerr
J. Hugh Dwyer
D. Richard Francke
Rob Huffard
Denny Nau
Roxie Nestlerode
Jack Raykovitz, Vice Chair
Joseph Webber | |
| Resources | |
Penn State Cooperative Extension's Better Kid Care office has 21 free podcasts and 8 YouTube videos on topics of interest to parents and early care & education professionals including anger, sleep, and choosing quality care. Click here to access these resources. | |
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| State Legislators | |
State Representatives
Kerry Benninghoff
Boroughs and Townships served: Bellefonte, Centre Hall, College, Gregg, Harris, Millheim, Penn, Potter, Spring, State College, Walker kbenning@pahousegop.com, 355-1300
H. Scott Conklin: Boroughs and Townships served: Ferguson, Halfmoon, Huston, Patton, Philipsburg, Port Matilda, Rush, South Philipsburg, State College, Taylor, Worth 238-5477/ 342-4872
Michael Hanna: Boroughs and Townships served: Benner, Boggs, Burnside, Curtin, Haines, Howard, Liberty, Marion, Miles, Milesburg, Snow Shoe, Union, Unionville 353-8780
State Senators
John Wozniak: Boroughs and Townships served: Philipsburg, Rush, South Philipsburg 266-2277
Jake Corman: Boroughs and Townships served: all other than Philipsburg, Rush, South Philipsburg 355-0477 | |
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| Committee On-line Reporting Forms | |
In-Kind/Volunteer Time:Report your volunteer time spent on Smart Start projects and committees. Transition Activities:Report any meetings, activities, publications, etc. with a goal of making connections for improved transition to kindergarten. |
| Disclaimer | |
Acceptance of advertising, announcements, and postings does not represent Smart Start's endorsement of any product, program, or service, nor is Smart Start responsible for representations made by others. | |
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Dear Smart Start Supporter,
Join us at the movies next week!
We are honored to be a beneficiary of the The State Theatre Friday Favorites movie Adam's Rib, Friday, August 12. Sponsored by Town and Gown, Friday Favorites teams up
local business sponsors, in our case Friedman Real Estate Group,
with local non-profits, in our case . . . us,
to show a favorite movie, in our case Adam's Rib, from which half of the ticket sales go to
the non-profit organization, in our case, us.
So come on out to see this classic Spencer Tracy/Katherine Hepburn comedy in support of Smart Start - Centre County. Tickets are $6 student and $8 non-student, and showing times are 4:00, 7:00, and 9:30.
Smart Start staff will attend the 4:00 showing, as a great way to end Kelly's last day working as Smart Star'ts part-time Project Manager.
Click here to see a trailer of the film.
For the children,
Smart Start Staff |
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| Public Events and Meetings | |
Smart Start Committee and Board meetings are listed under the 'Committee Activities" section below.
August
August 26: Parenting Plus Play Group - 12:30 - 2:00 pm, Bellefonte Youth Center, call 237-5731 for information.
September 2: free monthly child developmental screenings for children birth - age 5 at Schlow Library, 9:00 am - 12:00 noon, Come find out where your child is developmentally.
Evaluations administered by certified therapists from area early intervention agencies. No registration necessary.
Fall 2011
Fall 2011 Professional Conferences Sponsored by the Central Regional Key:
September 30 and October 1, Johnstown November 4 and 5, Williamsport Mark your calendars now for October 22: Dr. Cheryl McNeil from West Virginia University will present one workshop for parents and one for professionals on her innovative and effective method called Parent Child Interaction Therapy. Details coming soon.
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| Member Article: Resources for New Parents |
 Shirl Smith is Early Intervention/Early Head Start program director with Cen-Clear Child Services, Inc. and co-chair for Smart Start's Early Childhood Mental Health action committee. She wrote the following article for Smart Start's monthly "For the Children" column in the Centre Daily Times.
Q: My daughter-in-law is expecting a baby in two months. She is 18 years old and needs help in a number of areas: preparing for childbirth and parenting, good health and nutrition for herself and her baby, and child care resources so she can go to school and prepare for a career. Where can she go to get help in all of these areas? A: Congratulations on becoming a grandmother. Your daughter-in-law is fortunate to have a supportive family assist her in searching for resources. As the Early Head Start director at Cen-Clear Child Services managing the program serving pregnant women, infants and toddlers in Centre County, I understand your frustration and confusion trying to connect with resources. Services are often tied to eligibility requirement categories such as low-income, single-parent, first-time mother, etc., which makes the search more difficult. As agencies, providing services to young children and their families, it is an ongoing challenge to inform the community about available services. In Centre County, we are fortunate to have a wealth of resources available for families. One such program dedicated to distributing early childhood education information is Smart Start-Centre County. Smart Start is committed to the idea that a successful childhood lays the foundation for a healthy, happy and productive adulthood. Smart Start members work to build a network of individuals, businesses and groups that promote the healthy growth and development of all young children in Centre County. As part of outreach, a website, www.smartstartcc.org, was created to provide this information. On the website is a family resource directory, with information on a variety of topics such as health, child care, parenting education, prenatal education and literacy, children with special needs, adoption and community resources. The descriptions indicate if there are eligibility requirements. There are a number of programs that might be able to provide services to you. Contact any of the agencies/programs listed for information on resources that may meet your specific needs. In addition, the Smart Start monthly newsletter lists upcoming local events. All projects help coordinate and support education and advocacy efforts to improve the lives of children throughout Centre County. We also have committees, open to the public, that develop annual goals specific to their fields: early care and education, health and nutrition, early childhood mental health, and parenting and literacy. Smart Start-Centre County is always enthusiastic for new community members to get involved. We welcome and encourage anyone interested in working to build a stronger community that supports all children and families. Please contact Smart Start-Centre County through the website, newsletter or by phone at 238-0331. To contact me, call 342-5678, ext 2262. |
| Volunteer Opportunities | | |
Check out our newly revised "Get Involved" page on the website for details about our volunteer opportunities.
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Winners with Smart Start! |
Winner of a dozen cupcakes for correctly answering all the questions on the website scavenger hunt: parent Jennifer Trauger
Winner of a $75 Joann Fabrics gift card for submitting 7 completed pages to our scrapbook project: Susan Allen, Cen-Clear Child Services, Smart Start Early Care and Education Committee & Transition Team leader
Winner of a $25 Joann Fabrics gift card for participating in our scrapbook project: Lisa Wyland, Head Teacher for School Age Child Care at Centre Hall Elementary, Child Development and Family Council
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| Local News | |
To submit items for "local news" email kelly@smartstartcc.org.
Click here to read an article from the Daily Collegian about the opening of the new Schultz Child Care Center on campus. |
| Advocacy This Month: TEACH funding cut |
Earlier this month, it was announced that Pennsylvania will no longer fund the .T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship Program.
Until now, a glimmer of hope remained that the anticipated cuts to the T.E.A.C.H. Early ChildhoodŽ PENNSYLVANIA scholarship program somehow would be avoided. The recently enacted state budget required cuts to child care. The Governor's office decided to cut state and federal funding for T.E.A.C.H.
The outcome is that PA will no longer invest in the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program.
The announcement confirms nearly 2,000 Pennsylvania early childhood professionals working with thousands of young children in early childhood classroom across the Commonwealth may have to drop out of college.
"We cannot have high quality early learning environments without high quality teachers," said Terry Casey, president of the Pennsylvania Child Care Association, "Governor Corbett's administration has cut both state and federal funding for the T.E.A.C.H. Early ChildhoodŽ PENNSYLVANIA Scholarship program. This elimination will undermine Keystone STARS, Pre-K Counts and Pennsylvania's overall efforts to improve the quality of early childhood education," PACCA board of directors and the state's early care and education coalition members are urging the Governor to restore the cuts the T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship Program.
Click here for details and to see a newscast about the T.E.A.C.H. cuts.
If you communicate with legislators, please share your thoughts about funding for programs like T.E.A.C.H. |
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| Committee Activities |
Health and Nutrition Committee Next meeting: August 16, 9:30 - 11:00, Nurse Family Partnership office, 450 Windmere Drive, Ste. 175, State College
Early Childhood Mental Health Committee Next meeting: August 25, 9:00 - 10:00, Center for Child and Adult Development Office, 1315 W. College, Ste. 303, State College
Parenting & Literacy Action Committee Next meeting: TBA, noon - 2:00, Schlow Library, State College
Early Care & Education Action Committee Next meeting
August 23, 8:30 - 10:00, Child Development and Family Council Office, 2565 Park Centre Blvd, Ste 100, State College
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