30
Celebrating 30 Years of Quality
Serving Blount, Jefferson,
Shelby & Walker Counties
A publication of Childcare Resources,
Central Alabama’s resource for child care.
Remembering Beverly Cook -- page 1
Spotlight on Volunteers -- page 2
Improving the Quality
of Child Care -- page 3
8th Annual Fairy Tale Ball
Exceeds Goal -- page 5
Volume 25 Number 2
Fall 2014
Remembering Beverly Cook -- Resource Library Specialist
Childcare Resources is deeply saddened by the
unexpected passing of Beverly Cook, Resource
Library Specialist, on Saturday, October 11, 2014.
She was 59.
A graduate of The University of Alabama with a
Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education, Beverly
joined the Childcare Resources team in 2003.
She was instrumental in the mission of Childcare
Resources, providing books, resources and other
materials to support child care providers both from
the agency library and through the Mobile Library
Van. Beverly was the lead trainer for the PNC
Grow Up Great grant, creating science based
theme boxes for JCCEO Head Start classrooms.
Mary Ellen Chase, noted educator and writer,
once said, "There is no substitute for books in
the life of a child." Beverly understood this in a
fundamental way.
She drove the agency's
Mobile Library Van in Blount, Jefferson, Shelby
and Walker counties, delivering books and other
educational materials to child care programs
and family daycare homes, so that children in
care would have new books to enjoy and theme
kits to experience. Beverly also was responsible
for Childcare Resources' Early Learning Resource
Library where child care professionals could
borrow books and other resources for their
classrooms.
Beverly recently said about her work at Childcare
Resources, "I enjoy sharing ideas with providers
and watching the excitement
on their faces caused by the
different teaching possibilities
they can
create with the
resources that we provide."
She will be greatly missed by
her Childcare Resources' family
and colleagues in the early
childhood profession.
Investments in Early Education Pay Dividends for Life
From the Desk of Executive Director Joan Wright
Nobel Prize winner James
Heckman,
University
of
Chicago Economics Professor,
offers this advice: “Anyone
looking for upstream solutions
to the biggest problems facing
America should invest in
early and equal development
of human potential.” His
famous Heckman Equation for
economic prosperity is simply
this:
Invest in education + Develop the cognitive and
social skills of children birth to age five + Sustain
early development into adulthood = Gain a more
capable, productive and valuable workforce
that pays dividends to America for generations to
come.
Children don’t get a second chance at childhood. The
human brain develops over time but 85 percent is developed
before age three. Professional development of early care
educators is critical to creating meaningful experiences for
young children which impact healthy brain development.
Childcare Resources works to improve the early childhood
education experiences that enable children to realize their
full potential by focusing on providing resources, training,
technical assistance and career assistance for teachers and
administrators in early childhood programs. By providing
the best tools and latest information about early childhood
development, Childcare Resources impacts the learning
that takes place in early childhood classrooms to facilitate
healthy child growth and development in several domains:
physical, cognitive, communicative, social and adaptive.
This work is made possible by the dedicated team of
professional staff and volunteers at Childcare Resources.
Beverly Cook was certainly an exemplary member of
our professional team. This issue highlights some of our
impactful work in this area and some of our volunteers who
recognize the importance of this work – personally and
professionally. Our annual fundraising activities provide
the opportunity to highlight our work to others in the
community while providing necessary financial resources
to perform our work.
As we move through fall, our thoughts turn to our blessings
and our opportunities to share those blessings with others.
We invite you to continue the journey with us as we aim to
provide quality and affordable child care to all families who
need it in central Alabama.
Spotlight on Volunteers...
Stephen Rueve
Steve Rueve is a Senior Vice President at Regions Bank where
he oversees the Corporate Bank’s customer relationship
management system along with a handful of other systems.
He received his B.S. in Business Administration - Finance
from Birmingham Southern College and his M.B.A. in
Finance from the University of Alabama.
Steve joined the Childcare Resources' Board in 2013 and is
serving as co-chair of the 2015 TEMPO Steering Committee.
He has always had an interest in physical fitness, including
playing soccer at the high school and college level. After
college, he endeavored to coach youth soccer and has always
enjoyed watching children learn and grow. In addition to
coaching, Steve is an avid runner and cyclist.
When asked why he is excited about being a part of the
Board, Steve replied, “I really like the mission of Childcare
Resources which is to serve as a support network for families
who are looking for quality child care. There have been a
number of times in my life when I needed support and I
have been very fortunate to have family, friends, a church
community and co-workers who have provided that help
and provided the support I needed. I am amazed and deeply
gratified by the difference these people have made in my life.
In my opinion, Childcare Resources is all about support!
Supporting
families
looking for quality child
care. Supporting child
care educators with
training and professional
development. Providing
tuition
support
to
families that need a little
financial help. Now that
is an organization I can
get behind!”
Steve lives in Homewood
with Ginger, his wife
of 24 years, and their
children, Alexis and
Charlie.
Steve Rueve
Christine Hudson Goldman
Christine Goldman, a Junior Board member and co-chair
of the 2014 Fairy Tale Ball, joined the Childcare Resources
family in 2011. Goldman is a graduate of Davidson College
in North Carolina and of the University of Alabama School of
Law. Outside of her Childcare Resources work, Goldman is
involved with her church and community, previously serving
on the Department of Camp McDowell and completing her
active years in the Junior League of Birmingham.
Goldman met her husband, Ben, who is also a local attorney,
while they were attending law school. They were married ten
days after taking the bar exam. She practiced law for several
years, both locally and internationally, but she stepped away
from active practice to care for their daughters, Evelyn and
Anne Turner. Now that both of her children are in elementary
school, Goldman has recently taken on a part-time project
with a local law firm.
quality program for them to attend. Goldman reflects: “At
that same time, I began volunteering for a local non-profit,
and I had the opportunity to see firsthand what is was like for
families that were not afforded that luxury. As I would drop
off Evelyn and Anne Turner for pre-school, I would think
of those parents who want the exact same things that I want
for my children: a safe, nurturing learning environment, but
who were struggling to find the same quality and quantity of
choices.” A friend suggested that she get involved with the
Junior Board of Childcare Resources and she has been active
ever since.
Commenting on her choice to become involved with
Childcare Resources, Goldman stated that “As the beneficiary
of many quality educational opportunities, and as the child
and grandchild of educators, Childcare Resources’ mission
statement spoke to me the first time that I read it, and I knew
that I wanted to be a part of the agency.” She went on to
share that when it was time to send her own children to
pre-school, she felt fortunate to have the ability to choose a
The Resource, Fall 2014
The Goldman Family
Page 2
Improving the Quality of Child Care
Quality is at the heart of all we do at Childcare
Resources.
In a recent 2012 report, Child Care Aware of
America stated, “The quality of child care is directly
related to the quality of the workforce. Yet, many
child care providers have relatively low levels of
education. This makes training even that more
important.” Childcare Resources offers training
and technical assistance that is affordable and
convenient by offering sessions:
• at Childcare Resources and at various locations
throughout our service area
• during various days and times
• on relevant
administrators
topics
for
teachers
and
Theme boxes, such as Families, are very
popular with our providers. The theme
boxes are composed of resources and
materials such as games, puzzles, books
and music that center around an early
childhood theme. Teachers use these
boxes as an extension to enhance a
child’s learning in the classroom. The
Early Learning Resource Library and
Van has a wide variety of theme boxes
for providers to borrow, many of which
were created by Beverly Cook, Resource
Library Specialist.
Lisa Nunn, Technical Assistance Leader, and Allison
Fuller, Child Development Consultant, demonstrate
how to use a spacer with a face mask during a
statewide train-the-trainer event addressing best
practices for asthma management in the child care
setting. In partnership with Children's of Alabama and
UAB's Pediatric Pulmonary Department, Childcare
Resources hosted Asthma and the Early Childhood
Classroom training to help child care providers better
understand the asthma disease process, asthma
management and environmental modifications to
reduce asthma triggers in the child care setting.
The Resource, Fall 2014
At Childcare Resources we are improving the
quality of child care for Alabama’s children
by providing professional development
opportunities and targeted initiatives that
build the foundation for competent child
care professionals, while offering access
to developmentally appropriate materials
for classrooms. Our programs provide a
foundation through four strategic services
that contribute directly to the success of
building a sustainable quality early childhood
workforce and environment. The four
services are Training, Technical Assistance,
Consultation and Outreach.
Page 3
Mission in Action
Training offers child care providers access to
professional development opportunities that
build a basis of knowledge rooted in research
regarding how a child develops and best
practices of care and experiential learning that
enable children to thrive.
Outreach communicates to child care providers
the many programs and services, offered by
Childcare Resources, which can help them
deliver quality child care services to our
community's parents and their children.
Technical Assistance delivers a goal-oriented
process of support for the child care provider. In
this process, we encourage child care providers
to develop problem solving solutions related to
the training they receive. This service includes
on-going coaching, mentoring and modeling
experiences.
Consultation gives child care providers access
to child development consultants that assist with
guidance and recommendations to real-life
struggles and challenges that arise in the dayto-day operations of a child care program.
Donna Godbee, Early Childhood Specialist, works
with child care center directors during the Divine
Design: Implementing Self-Learning Techniques in the
Classroom training. The directors learned to intentionally
design curriculums and environments so that learning
experiences will be driven more by children's interests
than a scheduled day of events. Learners reviewed
and discussed examples of weekly planning templates
and then used the template to construct a plan for
implementing a theme using this concept. Reading
the behaviors of children will increase self-learnng,
improve teacher satisfaction and minimize behavior
challenges.
The future of our community's children
depends on the effective delivery of our early
childhood education programs and services.
Current scientific research solidifies this more
and more each day. Ninety percent of the
brain’s development occurs in the first 5
years of life. How children mature into adults
is shaped largely by their experiences and
environments. The brain is the only organ
that is unfinished at birth, but the majority
of its development occurs during the time
a child is most likely to receive child care
services outside of the home. The quality of
experiences and relationships in these early
years of life has a deep and lasting impact
on how the brain develops.
Through its efforts in early childhood
workforce development and targeted
initiatives, Childcare Resources is committed
to ensuring that Alabama’s children
succeed, our workforce grows stronger and
our communities thrive. We invite you to
share our messages and support our efforts.
The Resource, Fall 2014 Page 4
Fairy Tale Ball Exceeds Revenue Goal!
Children and parents helping Central Alabama’s
children and families -- that’s what the 8th annual
Fairy Tale Ball was all about.
The 2014 Fairy Tale Ball is now a happy memory
and with the support of corporations, family
foundations and individuals, it was a very
successful event for Childcare Resources. Hosted
by Jim Hansen, Regional President of PNC, and
presented by the agency’s Junior Board, the Ball
exceeded its goal and raised over $93,000 to
benefit children and families right here in central
Alabama. Guests, sponsors and donors actively
engaged in supporting the needs of children and
invested in the early care and education of young
children, which is central to the agency’s mission
to make quality care and education of children
happen by providing information, education,
and assistance to families, providers of child care
and the community.
Childcare Resources
2014 Junior Board
Molly Ray
President
David R. Kinman
Vice President
Jason L. Bryant
Secretary / Treasurer
Mitchell D. Greggs
Christine Hudson Goldman
Fairy Tale Ball Co-Chairs
Christine Hudson Goldman
Lamar Hodge
Nominations Co-Chairs
Zach Bennett
Ashley Berkery
Robert T. Comer, IV
Erin Edwards
Dave Folk
Anna Fowler
Charles Goodrich
Highlights of the Ball included the performance
of Let It Go by Gracie Vaughn of Red Mountain
Theatre; the silent auction, featuring a Gulf Shores
beach house and an exclusive Tennessee log
cabin getaway; the return of Tatoo the Llama;
and hundreds of children, enthralled by costumed
fairy tale characters, stilt walkers and a Wizard of
Oz themed candy bar.
The Resource, Fall 2014 Jacqueline Gray Miller
Andrea Hendricks, PhD
Christopher Holmes
Kate Johnson
Sophie Martin
Bradley Moore
Adam Moseley
Terrance Moultrie
Katie O’Connell
Lindsey Pearson
Madeline E. Reeves
David Woodall
Melissa H. Yan
Highlights from the Ball
Page 5
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the
Junior Board, Childcare Resources thanks the
sponsors of the 8th annual Fairy Tale Ball for
investing in children and families who benefit
from the proceeds of this celebration!
Grand Duke
Earl
James Rushton I
Foundation
Count
Baron
Birmingham Coca-Cola Bottling Company
Brasfield & Gorrie
First Commercial Bank
Hare Wynn Newell & Newton
Medical Properties Trust
The Resource, Fall 2014 Knight
Ray & Poynor Properties
Royal Cup
Sirote & Permutt
Starnes Davis Florie LLP
Page 6
Nonprofit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Birmingham, AL
Permit #4550
244 West Valley Avenue, Suite 200
Birmingham, AL 35209-3616
'Tis the season...
to GIVE
Thank you
for supporting the
2015 United Way
Annual Campaign!
Childcare Resources
Agency Holiday Closures
November 27-28,2014
December 24, 2014 -- Closing at 12 pm
December 25-26, 2014
www.ccr-bhm.org
January 1, 2015
The mission of Childcare Resources is to make
quality care and education of children happen by providing
information, education, and assistance to families,
providers of child care, and the community.
The Resource, Fall 2014