After some searching, I found three local or state
organizations, or communities of practice that appealed to me. First, I found
the non-profit organization, Meals till Monday. You can access them at http://www.mealstilmonday.org/.
Their motto is “Meals till Monday: Because hunger doesn’t take the weekend off”
(Meals till Monday, 2013). They are a
grass roots organization that pools together efforts from community volunteers
to obtain nutritious, “kid fixable” food that is sent home every Friday with
children in need to provide for them over the span of the weekend. Their goal
is to raise awareness about hunger within the community and to make sure no
student is distracted or at a disadvantage due to hunger. The program has
expanded immensely since its creation and they hope to continue to stamp out
hunger in the local schools.
Next, I chose Big Brothers/Big Sisters of West Central Ohio.
This local organization serves a three county area, providing mentoring
opportunities for area youth. You can visit their website at http://www.bbbswco.com/.
Big Brothers/Big Sisters appeals to me because I feel that so many children, unfortunately
lack a strong role model at home. Big
Brothers/Big Sisters allows for that relationship to develop where it otherwise
may never.
Then, I chose a more non-conventional organization and that is
the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. The
Boonshoft Museum, is a child-friendly, “please touch!” museum. I have a very strong passion for including
hands-on activities and play into the learning environment. I feel that is when children do their best
learning! What is great about this museum is that it is operated by the Dayton
Society of Natural History. This is a
group of volunteers that come together to run this museum with the combined
goal of educating children in the area of science! I love this!!! Seeing children excited about
learning something new is what teaching is all about to me! You can discover the Boonshoft Museum of
Discovery at http://www.boonshoftmuseum.org/about-us/leadership.
As far as job opportunities, there are two job opportunities
that really interest me. The first job
would be an adjunct professor at a local college. In my last course, I interviewed
the chairperson of the Early Childhood Education program at Rhodes State
College. I have to have my masters degree in an early childhood related field
and they prefer a person with past teaching experience. She encouraged me to apply when I am finished
with my degree (yay!). While I would love to do that in the evenings, I’m not
sure I am totally ready to leave my child centered classroom yet.
Next, I think having the position of the Early Childcare
Education instructor at our local vocational school would be great. The
position actually came open last summer. The only qualification that was needed
was a degree (associates or higher) in Early Childhood Education. I think it
would be a great opportunity to influence young adults and teach them the
importance that early education has on a child.
References:
BBSWCO (2013). Retrieved March 14, 2013 from: http://www.bbbswco.com/
Boonshoft Museum of Discovery (2013). Retrieved on March 14,
2013 from http://www.boonshoftmuseum.org/about-us/leadership
Meals till Monday (2013). Retrieved March 14, 2013 from: http://www.mealstilmonday.org/
Meals Til Monday sounds wonderful! It's a brilliant idea and much needed. I will have to look it up to see if they have chapters in other cities. They would be a terrific resource for children in low income homes. It would also be a great way to model healthy nutrition practices.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your job search with the local vocational school. They would do well to get someone with your qualifications.
Oh, I find the motto of Meals til Monday to be very interesting and their work noteworthy. Thank you for informing m of this.
ReplyDeleteDear Rachel,
ReplyDeleteSounds like exciting things are happening in your area. The Meals Til Monday is such a wonderful program. I wish we had this in our area.
I also hope to find something in teaching early childhood classes as well!
Good luck!
Lori
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI have heard of Meals Til Monday and they really do make a difference. I also love for my students to take field trips to museums that are hands-on. We have several in my area, but I found my students love the Magic House and the Science Center. The Science Center is actually free for everyone! These types of field trips really do extend learning and expand the students' knowledge.
Thank you for sharing,
Krista
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog posting. We don't have a "Meals till Monday" program in our areak, but we do have children that takes home "back packs" on Fridays that is used to supply them with food for the weekend. Currently, we have a waiting list for children to receive back packs. Therefore, we are working on solutions to accommodate those kids with a supply of food to help them also.