December 23, 2014
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Southeast VT Building Bright Futures-
Your source for all things early childhood

The holidays have arrived and the new year is just around the corner. It's been a busy few weeks in the world of early childhood...both locally and statewide. This, the final newsletter of 2014, will highlight some of the exciting news, recap our December 8th community forum and get your ideas for 2015.


 
Enjoy time with your family. Play lots of games and eat big dinners. Speaking of big dinners, here's a delicious Hawaiian stir fry recipe I tried out with my family last night. Woah! As a veg-head, I substituted the chicken stock with veggie stock and the shrimp with tofu. I also added a touch more curry. Some like it hot. 


 
And oh, like us on Facebook!! Our goal of reaching 100 likes by year's end is nearly complete. Stay up to date throughout the month with articles, blogs and events. Click Here to like us and share. 


 
Wishing everyone in southeast VT a delightful holiday season. See you in 2015!


 
Chad

802.451.8627

[email protected]


PS: Our newsletter is a great way to share events, workshops, programs and services (i.e. be connected!). Please send your announcements to me anytime throughout the month and I'll make sure the word gets out.


 


SeVT BBF Council Survey
Involving more of our community with council activities


Southeast Vermont Building Bright Futures is looking for your feedback. Please take 5 minutes (seriously, it's really that short!) to help us shape our monthly council meeting and activities. Click Here to complete the survey. Please share the survey with others, especially those you would like to see join our council and be more involved in our efforts. The survey will remain open until the end of January. Copy and paste the following link to share. Thanks! http://svy.mk/1HBbP2t


Would you rather fill out a paper copy? Click Here to download and print a paper copy. You can mail the completed survey to Chad Simmons at 20 Lawrence St, Brattleboro, VT. 05301. 

Thank you!
  
SeVT BBF's January 7th Council Meeting  
Presentation on Vermont's Early Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) 

Our next council meeting is slated for Wednesday, January 7th from 12:30pm - 2:30pm in the Early Education Services Conference Room, 130 Birge St. in Brattleboro. Please bring your own lunch.

We'll spend some time recapping our December 8th community forum and discussing upcoming council activities. Janice Stockman will give a brief presentation on Vermont's Early Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). This is a framework used to ensure that evidence-based practices for promoting social emotional, early literacy and numeracy competence of young children birth to six are being implemented.

Here is the agenda for the meeting as well as notes from our December 3rd meeting.
 
Recap of December 8th Community Forum 
Connecting Vermont Early Childhood Framework & local efforts


On Monday December 8th, SeVT BBF hosted a community and legislative forum. The evening kicked off with a performance by the Brattleboro Academy School 2nd & 3rd grade drama students. We then did a short presentation on the state of Vermont's children and the statewide VT Early Childhood Action Plan. Finally, state legislators from across Windham county joined small group discussions and shared their ideas and plans for the 2015 session. Here are a few of the issues that came up during the small group discussions:
  • Poverty, especially homelessness and housing instability, and the impact on children need to be addressed **I found several comments particularly interesting, specifically: "If children are dealing with toxic stress at home, what are we as educators to do? It takes up so much of our focus and we're just sending them right back to it every night."
  • We need to engage the business community in early childhood work
  • More needs to be done to engage and connect families and parents
  • Need to take apart the patchwork social service system and build it back up again (ex: why do some families have 7 case workers?)
If you missed the community forum, no problem! Click Here to watch the entire evening, thanks to BCTV. Click Here to view the powerpoint presentation. And finally, Click Here to read the recap and thank you letter in this weeks The Commons.
 
Update on Universal pre-K Law & Expansion Grant

State receives $33 million pre-K expansion grant & provides guidance on Act 166 implementation


 
Vermont received more exciting news, as we learned the state received a $33 million pre-K expansion grant. Click Here for more details. Stay tuned to how this grant will be used to further support our children.

 

The state has just released guidance on Act 166, Universal pre-K, including details on the "transition relief" for implementation. Click Here for the full guidance document.




Update on VT's Early Learning Challenge Grant

A detailed update on activities related to VT's ELC grant


 

Click Here for the December VT Early Learning Challenge-Race To the Top (ELC-RTT) grant update.


 

Need to get caught up on previous ELC activities? Click Here for the executive summary. Click Here for the September update. Click Here for the October update.

 

These updates will be coming monthly moving forward. BBF will continue to share these updates through our newsletter.

 


"Parenting in Your Pocket" Guide Available

Convenient reference guide for parents and caregivers


The latest Parenting in Your Pocket guide has arrived! Click Here to download a pdf version of the guide. Need a hard copy or a stack to hand out? Contact Sandy Stark, Welcome Baby Coordinator, at 802.254.3742.
What's Happening? 
News & events for and from the field.

News & Updates
  • "Shining a Light on Poverty" webinar series. A year-long webinar series recognizing the 50-year anniversary of the war on poverty, this series looks at many aspects of poverty within VT. Click Here for all previous recordings.
  • Updated poster for no smoking in cars with children under 8 years old. Click Here to view and download the updated poster. 
  • Clear Choice MD Urgent Care in Brattleboro looking for materials for families. The recently opened urgent care center in Brattleboro is looking for area service, education and program materials to provide for their clients. If you have materials, please contact Ashley Hohmann at 802.528.5100.
  • Dover School opens new playground. Click Here for the full story.
  • House Speaker Shap Smith seeks property tax reform proposals from the public. Click Here to read the full description and details on how to send your ideas to the Speaker.
  • Is there really an "education spending crisis?" An interesting take on what looms for the education spending debate and what this may mean for our children. Click Here to read the piece by Paul Cillo. 
  • Efforts to unionize childcare providers misses by 20 votes. Click Here for full story.
Events
  • Engaging school children around food and play speaker event. January 6, 4-5pm at the Marlboro Graduate Center. Click Here to view and print the poster. RSVP encouraged.
  • Send us your events! Email your events to Chad at [email protected].
Job Announcements
  • Windham County job openings in the early childhood field. For the full list, Click Here.
  • Childcare Licensing Supervisor. Job ID 616259. Click Here for details and to apply.
Trainings, Workshops & Conferences
  • Good to Grow nutrition and healthy eating programs at the Brattleboro Food Co-Op. FREE classes for children. Click Here for program details.

Let's Break 100!   
Like Us on Facebook Today and Stay Connected    

Only 5 more to go!! We're still at 95 likes and we'd love to break 100 this year. Help us out! Take a moment and like us now at our SeVT BBF's Facebook PageThanks!
Contact:
Chad Simmons, Regional Council Coordinator
BBF SeVT | [email protected] | 802.451.8627
Like us on Facebook