[K]ILLINGTON — The Permanent Fund for Vermont’s Children last week awarded its first Early Educator of the Year Award to Geralyn Barrows, a 30-year veteran child care provider from New Haven.
The Permanent Fund plans to recognize excellence in the field of early education teaching on a yearly basis in the hope of highlighting what high quality child care looks like.
Rick Davis, the president and co-founder of the Permanent Fund, told attendees at the annual conference of the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children that child care education “is arguably the most important profession there is in the state of Vermont.”
The award “sheds a light on the important work being carried out by child care providers across the state,” said Aly Richards, CEO of the Permanent Fund. “We are on a mission to make affordable high quality child care available for all Vermont children.”
Let’s Grow Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of early childhood issues, has found that more than 70 percent of Vermont’s children under the age of 6 are in households where the parents work outside the home. Many of those children are spending 40 hours or more a week in day care at a time when experts have found that babies need interactive relationships with a caring adult.
“We are caring for the children during their most formative years. We have a chance to make an impact on their future success,” Barrows said.
Research has shown that 80 percent of a child’s brain develops before age 3, with another 10 percent forming by age 5. Many in the field of early childhood learning and psychology have come to realize that the way neurons connect in these young minds creates a foundation that affects the child’s future achievement in school and at work as well as their physical and mental health.
Davis said that when he visits child care centers and watches the children, “it is almost as if you can see the circuits connecting in those very young brains right in front of your eyes. There is just too much at stake for us not to get this right in Vermont,” Davis said.
This year’s award was focused on home-based providers and next year’s will zero in on center-based programs.
To be nominated for the Early Educator Award, child care programs, one had to have at least four stars in Vermont’s STep Ahead Recognition System (STARS); have been in business for three or more years; be committed to professional, quality early education programs; participate in continuing education in childhood development and serve as a resource to the families with whom they work.
The STARS program is voluntary unless a day care program receives public education funds. Five-star programs are considered to offer quality child care education services. Those that reach the highest level are typically also accredited by national organizations.
Melissa Riegel-Garrett, pre-K coordinator for the Vermont Agency of Education, said that 72 percent of the state’s regulated child care programs are participating in the STARS program – that is up from 60 percent a year ago. Of those, 29 percent have four- or five-star ratings.
This year’s award recipient and the runner-up have five-star programs. Barrows has been providing child care since 1983 at her family based business, Discovery Hill Family Child Care and Preschool. Some of the the babies and toddlers she cares for now are children of the adults she cared for years ago.
Elsa Bosma was also honored as an award finalist for her 5 STAR nationally accredited home-based program, Puddle Jumpers in Shelburne.
Bosma’s work day starts at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 5:15 p.m. – a little less than 50 hours a week, but that is only the time she spends in the classroom with the children. It doesn’t account for the grocery shopping, mentoring, classwork or the hours spent lying awake all night thinking of a struggling child in her program, she said.
Barrows agreed, “We have these children for eight to 12 hours a day,” much longer than K-12 teachers, she said.
Yet, the average income for an early child care teacher is only $24,000, according to Richards, who says that the low pay contributes to the high rate of turnover in the field.
“The high turnover rate affects the ability to deliver quality care,” Davis said. “It is very important for these children to have steady relationships.”
Davis said he would like to see increased funding to make sure early educators are justly compensated and benefits are adequate to attract and keep good people in the business.
“These are hard-working people spending valuable years with Vermont’s youngest citizens. We need to make sure we compensate them,” Richards said.
At the podium with her award in hand, Barrows described the moment as “a huge step in recognition for child care providers.” She called her colleagues “unsung heroes” and told them that this award was really for everyone in the ballroom.
