Schoenbaum Center

Miscellaneous

Educating Young Minds

Mr. Tony Ingram, Program Director for Charleston Child Care and Learning Center

Charleston Child Care and Learning Center

“This is where the Power of Education begins”

Positive, Play-Based Learning

Charleston Child Care and Learning Center customizes “The Creative Curriculum”, a comprehensive early learning program to build children’s confidence, creativity, and critical thinking skills. A living curriculum, taught by qualified teachers, is rooted in child development theory and based in the well-researched idea that play is essential to healthy growth.

38 research-based objectives make up the heart of the curriculum and guides the work of our teachers with the children in their classrooms. The objectives, predictors of school readiness, are aligned with Early Learning Outcomes Framework.

Our Programs Serve:

  • Infants, Toddlers and Twos (children from birth to age 3)
  • Pre-school: Children age 3
  • Pre-K: Children age 4 or born before September 1

Education For All:

Open, inclusive. and diverse, our curriculum gives teachers the tools to work with all types of learners. From English and dual-language students to advanced learners and children with disabilities. Our goal is to help every child reach their full potential.

Our Principals:

  • Adults form the foundation. Successful learning is built on a foundation of securing relationships with caring adults who engage in meaningful, positive interactions with children.
  • Connection is the key. Making friends and connection with class mates is a big part of success at school.
  • A child’s work is to play. We support the development of the whole child by capturing their interest and maximizing their capabilities through constructive, purposeful play.
  • Space and place are important. The physical space we provide is designed with intention and purpose. The learning environment is intended to serve as an invitation to investigate and inspire the joy of discovery and life-long journey.
  • Learning is a partnership, a close collaboration between teachers and families that forms a full-circle of growth and learning.

 

Mr. Tony Ingram, Program Director for Charleston Child Care and Learning Center

October is National “Halloween Safety” Month

“Trick or Treat” is a phrase that will be bellowing through our area very soon, as the children seek out their favorite candy! Here are some quick tips to help your child be safe this Halloween.

  • Have your child wear or carry something that is lit, like a flashlight, glow stick/bracelet, light up shoes. Something that will help them be more noticeable as they are going door to door during the night.
  • Plan their route and stick to an area you know and feel safe.
  • Wear comfy shoes for walking.
  • Don’t wear costumes that drag the ground, because they can get caught on bushes, cause the child to trip if their feet get tangled in them, etc.
  • If your child is wearing a mask, make sure it’s breathable and allows full visibility.
  • Drink water! Plan the costumes for the weather, so that over heating doesn’t happen, and make sure to stay hydrated.
  • Eat a healthy meal before you hit the streets for candy! This will help reduce the sugary temptation before bedtime.
  • Children should be accompanied by a parent or older sibling while trick or treating.
  • Always inspect the candy before it’s eaten!
  • Make sure there are no objects in your yard if you are passing out candy that children can fall on (i.e. garden hose, cords, etc.).
  • Have fun!

Halloween Jack o Lantern candy collector with scattered candies

National Make a Difference to a Child Month: By our tenant partner

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DSC_1078I was approached to write an article on National Make A Difference To Children Month, and explain how Connect would be participating in this event. This special month happens each July, and suggestions for activities for this month include: doing an activity with a child, supporting an organization that serves children, telling policy makers to support initiatives for children, and telling other people about the campaign. As I started the article, I thought, “That will be easy. We help children every day.” At Connect, we help families receive subsidy assistance for child care while they work and go to school, assist families with finding child care, and by offering trainings and resources to child care providers to help improve the quality of the services they offer to children. After I listed all of the things we do at Connect for children, I thought to myself, “We make a difference every day because it’s our job, but what more could we do?”

Making a difference to a child doesn’t have to involve a month long celebration. Making a difference doesn’t have to be some spectacular event with banners and balloons. Making a difference doesn’t require money, special training, or a credential. Anyone can do it.

Here are 5 easy tips on how you can make a difference:

-Ask a child about their day, their favorite character, their favorite toy, or anything to start a conversation.

-Spend an hour playing with a child. Let them choose what to play.

-Have your next meal with a child sitting down at a table with no electronics.

-Spend some time with a child outside. Take a child fishing, swimming, to the park, to a garden, or on a walk.

-Read a book to a child.

At Connect, we specialize in making a difference for children every day. In reality, we can all make a difference to a child every day by devoting a little bit of time and attention. For more ideas on how you can make a difference, contact us at 304-414-4488 or stop by our office at the Schoenbaum Center.

 

Toni McKinley

Director

Connect CCR&R

A message from one of our tenant providers

WV BTT

WV Birth to Three/ River Valley Mother’s Day Blog KarenMay, 2017

 

 

This time of year our thoughts gravitate toward motherhood. Being a mother is one of life’s greatest gifts, greatest joys, and greatest blessings! For some families, however, these feelings may be somewhat tempered with the realization that their little one may need some extra help and supports in order to reach his full potential. This is where WV Birth to Three can help.WV Birth to Three is a grant program of WV Department of Health and Human Resources. We are an Early Intervention Program of River Valley Child Development Services. We provide services and supports for children birth through 35 months of age who have a delay in their development, or who may be at risk of developing a delay. We accept referrals from parents, physicians, friends, caregivers – anyone involved in the child’s life can make a referral.The Regional Administrative Unit (RAU) for Kanawha, Clay, Jackson, and Roane Counties is housed at the Schoenbaum Center. If you have concerns about your own child or about another child in your life, please call us! We will be happy to talk with you and to set up an appointment with you and your child to determine whether he meets the eligibility criteria to receive WV Birth to Three services.Services are provided at absolutely no out-of-pocket costs for your family. We have experienced practitioners who will work with you and with your child to ensure he receives the support he needs! This is a family-driven plan; your needs, desires, and schedule are considered every step of the way.For additional information and resources call us at our office – (304) 414-4460 – or visit River Valley’s website at www.rvcds.org under the “Programs” tab.

Jennifer and Amber

Scholastic Book Fair

The Schoenbaum Center came alive with the Scholastic Book Fair in March! We were happy to have been able to partner with Scholastic for this public fundraiser to benefit the children served at Charleston Child Care and Learning Center, providing new classroom books.

Parents, educators, friends and family members turned out to support this exciting event. Family literacy is an important shared experience between family members supporting literacy development. Early experience with books and print allow children to achieve concepts for a strong foundation of literacy. Literacy opportunities at home and at school will help engage children and assist with developing their listening, oral language, along with reading and writing skills.

Reading is a lifelong gift for children and families, and we are so proud here at the Schoenbaum Family Enrichment Center and Charleston Child Care and Learning Center to support learning through reading at all ages.Scholastic 1 Scholastic 2

Valentine’s Day Fun

Dawn and Bridget VDayValentine’s Day brought us smiling faces, sweet treats, and lots of love! The Charleston Child Care and Learning Center hosted a wonderful party for all the little ones to enjoy. West Virginia Career Transition Services employees, Dawn and Bridget were able to spread happiness throughout the center by giving away Valentine boxes! CCCLC’s Program Director Kaleisha Hall assisted the kids with making fun crafts and the children enjoyed chocolate cupcakes on this sweet holiday!

Tammy with her beautiful niece

CCCLC babies VdayClifford Valentines Day wall-CCCLCKaleisha CCCLC

Finding the Meaning of Fraternalism

By Earl Hardaker, Regional Director

When I was a child, I was a typical rowdy, Southeastern Kentucky boy who played in my neighborhood and whose parents always taught me the importance of helping others.

My chosen professions for “what I wanted to be when I grew up” were plentiful and unusual: garbage collector (I loved helping mom and dad by bringing the cans to the back of the house after pick up), postal worker, teacher, fireman, wrestler, zoologist, or even a police officer. I would even pretend I was a clerk in a grocery store and help bag the groceries we were purchasing.

Pretending to be a bagger at 8 years old, I never thought one day I would become a member of store management for one of America’s largest grocery store chains. I thought I had found my career for the rest of my life. I soon discovered doing the same thing every day wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to do something new and exciting every day, and I eventually left the retail world and went into sales.

I did so by joining an organization built on helping other—both now and in the future—an organization based on fraternalism. I joined Modern Woodmen of America.

For some context, I need to take us back to my college years in the late 90s. Some of the guys in my class asked if I would be interested in joining their fraternity. I have always bounced to the beat of my own drum, and in my mind, I didn’t want to belong to an exclusive club that picked my friends. Any person that knows me would attest to the fact that while I follow the line, I like to see how far the line really goes. So, joining a fraternity sounded like sitting through 8 hours of infomercials with no bathroom break. I wanted so badly to be me that I didn’t realized I could have done both.

With that in mind, when the recruiter from Modern Woodmen contacted me, I did not like the sound of the word fraternal. I knew I wanted out of retail, but I didn’t want to simply jump at the first thing that came along, especially when that something had fraternal in the title. I thought it sounded too exclusive, too restrictive, too much like a fraternity.

Life is about a series of chances, and you don’t often get to get a second chance on a door opening, but I did. Modern Woodmen graciously allowed me to walk through the open door not once but twice. You see, I didn’t go for the first interview. I told them I wasn’t interested. After some soul searching and at the prompting of my then-girlfriend (now wife), I approached them for a second chance at a first interview. I officially joined Modern Woodmen of America on August 1, 2006. I soon became a fraternalist, and my, how my life has changed—because fraternalism is a way of life.

Fraternalism’s formal definition is: of or being a society of men associated in brotherly union, as for mutual aid or benefit. Now, I want to clarify, this also includes women and children. Essentially, it’s a group of like-minded people getting together to help others in our community.

Modern Woodmen of America is a fraternal benefit society, so I get together with everyone who is a member, and we do really cool things for the community. We plant trees, donate youth educational programs, paint benches, build little free libraries, sell lemonade, do matching funds programs, collect can food, cook food, donate food, watch movies together, wrap presents, go bowling, and partner with other awesome people at other awesome organizations. If you replace “fraternalism” with “volunteerism,” you will understand who we are and what we do.

Since our beginning in 1883, Modern Woodmen of America (MWA) has been consisted of our members helping other members and their communities. Much like organizations that volunteer to clean up a neighborhood playground, Modern Woodmen members donate their time doing the same thing; we just have a different name for it—we call it being fraternal. We bring together like-minded people for a common good.

You may see MWA members purchasing swings and slides and then installing them on a playground, you could very well see us planting flowers and trees for municipal parks or schools, or you could see us presenting a dollar-for-dollar match at a fundraiser (up to $2,500). You may ask yourself, who are these members? Well, they are people just like you and me. They are people in our communities who believe in a creating a better tomorrow by starting today. MWA’s president, Kenny Massey, is a fraternalist; our home office staff in Rock Island, IL, are fraternalists; our regional office staff at the Schoenbaum Center are fraternalists; and our members are fraternalists. You very well could be a fraternalist, too. All it takes is an interest in making the community a better place.

For more information about how you can become a fraternalist, please check out our website at www.modern-woodmen.org, or, better yet, swing by the Schoenbaum Center and ask us.

 

Making a BIG Difference with a LITTLE Time

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By Laura Williams, Community and School-Based Program Manager

Before I began employment with Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central West Virginia, I had a vague idea of what I thought it meant to be a Big. I assumed you had to have plenty of free time. I assumed you needed lots of special training and qualifications. I assumed you would be matched for a short amount of time. I assumed wrong.

In West Virginia, the public school truancy rate tops 30% statewide, with some counties topping 50%. Our state is infamous for prescription pill and illegal drug addiction, with our drug overdose rate doubling the national average at 34 deaths per 100,000 residents and a new heroin epidemic sweeping the region. More than 6% of West Virginia youth are raised by grandparents or other family members—the highest rate in the nation. The children affected by these statistics are the children that we primarily serve through our program. They are living at or below the poverty line, being raised by single parents, grandparents, or other family members. They are children who do not have the opportunities other families might be able to provide, due to lack of transportation, funds, or available adults. They are children who need a Big.

I had a preconceived idea of what a Big Brother or Sister was and did, and it quickly went out the window as I began to learn more about what the program was all about. Our volunteers make a BIG difference by giving just a LITTLE time: in our community-based programs, we ask Bigs to spend 2 hours with their Little every two weeks, with calls or texts in between outings. In our school-based program, Bigs visit their Littles on school grounds for roughly an hour a week. Our volunteers do not need any special qualifications—they must have a clean background check and a desire to improve the life of a youth. Big Brothers Big Sisters provides all necessary training via online training modules and ongoing professional support for the length of the match relationship. This is all done to promote the longevity of the match. Bigs are asked to commit to a one-year relationship with their Little, but many of our matches extend far beyond that. Our average match length in our community-based program is more than three years!

When you first become involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters, it doesn’t take long to realize that impact that it has on both Bigs and Littles and their families.  If you ask a Little about their Big, they will say things like, “My Big is my favorite person,” and “I don’t know where I would be without my Big.” And the impact doesn’t stop there. Through participation in Big Brothers Big Sisters, we have had Littles who have met Shaquille O’Neal and families participate in events like the circus or Marvel Live! So many say thank you later, explaining “I wouldn’t have been able to treat my family to something like this on my own.” Those experiences are something that Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central West Virginia strives to create for each participant—the chance to see new and exciting things and to explore a world outside their home neighborhood.

So how can others help us in our goal of creating long-lasting, professionally supported mentoring relationships for these youth? The first is exactly what you are doing right now: educate yourself about the program.

Below are statistics that illustrate exactly how effective our program is:

With a mentor, youth are:

  • 55% more likely to enroll in college
  • 78% more likely to volunteer in their community regularly
  • 130% more likely to hold leadership positions
  • 52% less likely to skip a day of school
  • 46% less likely to use illegal drugs
  • 27% less likely to begin drinking alcohol
  • 81% more likely to play sports or enroll in extracurricular activities.

The second way to support our program is to become a Big. As I mentioned earlier, the qualifications are simple: a clear background check and a desire to help local youth through a mentoring relationship. The application process is just as easy. Simply visit www.biglittlewv.org, click on the “get involved” tab, and fill out the form. Once your application is submitted, a Big Brothers Big Sisters staff member will contact you to schedule an interview. During the interview, we will gather more information about your interests and personality to help us match you with the best Little. We will also provide you with online training that can be done at your convenience to enhance your match relationship.

A third way to support the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters is to donate. Each dollar we receive goes towards matching an at-risk youth with a Big Brother or Big Sister who will provide a stable, positive influence in his or her life. Any amount, big or little, will help us to reach that goal.

I hope that you will join us in our mission to change the life of a child for the better, forever. Rita Pierson, a lifelong educator, said in a TED talk recently, “Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best they can possibly be.” Will you join us and be a champion for children?

Enact Community Action

Brent Pauley, President and CEO

By Brent Pauley, CEO, EnAct Community Action

EnAct Community Action has seen its share of changes over the past seven years, from logo changes, to office moves, to changes in leadership, but two important things have remained constant. First, our stability and growth. We have remained true to our mission to help move low-income individuals and families from poverty to self-sustainability. This is being accomplished by an extremely dedicated team and their ability to obtain new grants and stretch existing funds. Last year EnAct set a record of receiving new grants for workforce development, summer work camps for home improvements, and food and baby pantries.

In addition to our traditional programs and services, such as emergency assistance, workforce development, educational assistance, money management training, EnAct added a new program in late 2014, Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT). This program has grown to seven vehicles, 13 new employees (many of which came from our low-income workforce development program) and is now the largest NEMT provider in the state of West Virginia.

In the spring of 2015 we added Personal Care as another Senior Services program in addition to our Aged & Disabled Waiver in-home care services. This program will help us continue to grow and offer services in the every growing, aging population of West Virginia.

The second constant that has served EnAct well, is the stable location of our central office at the Schoenbaum Family Center (SFC). Being able to remain in the same location while experiencing such growth has been a blessing. Growth is a big enough challenge without adding the change factor on top. The SFC has been supportive of our mission and growth and we know that we can rely on them whenever we need internal assistance, meeting space, or just an attentive ear.

EnAct will continue to seek out new opportunities to better serve our mission and we want to thank all that have been supportive and will continue to be so. We also challenge and welcome any new collaborative partners to join in and experience the wonderful things that can happen as a result of teamwork. Please visit our website at www.enactwv.org for additional information on our programs and services.