News and Notes
- 6/18/09 - Thousands of child care and social services advocates rally at Thompson Center
With a partial budget threatening to devastate many state-funded programs including early intervention, after school programs, child care assistance, and programs for disabled and homeless children, Chicago Metro AEYC members and staff joined thousands of other advocates to beg Governor Quinn and the General Assembly to choose "People Before Politics!". Legislators will need to revamp the partial budget by July 1 in order to prevent cutting programs that help the most vulnerable of Illinois residents.
- 6/10/09 - Congratulations to Mary Willmore and Mary Leggett
(pictured right), who are the 2009 recipients of the Service to Chicago Metro AEYC Award. Ms. Willmore and Ms. Leggett have been vital components in the Bilingual Basic Skills Course, which gives students the means to achieve Type 04 Teacher Certification.
- 6/10/09 - Chicago Metro AEYC is pleased to announce the charter of 6 Student Chapters
Welcome ECE students from Concordia University, Kendall College, Kennedy King College, National-Louis University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago!
- 5/11/09 - Congratulations Marta Moya-Leang! Children’s Champion
Award Winner
The 96th General Assembly passed a House Resolution which "recognizes individuals who have been designated as Illinois '2009 Children's Champions' by the Illi
- nois Association for the Education of Young Children and commends them for their dedication, hard work, and significant contributions to the State of Illinois, its children, and their families."
- 4/20/09 - Steve Nowicki Featured on Public Radio's The Parent's Journal Podcast
Opening Minds presenter, Dr. Stephen Nowicki, was a recently featured guest on the nationally-syndicated, Parent’s Journal (TPJ) Public Radio program, speaking on raising children who make friends. To listen to this interview, and the full TPJ podcast, follow this link: http://www.parentsjournal.com/radioshow.
- 4/9/09 - FREE The Lorax animated digital book available for download until May 15
Perfect for Earth Day and for every day, The Lorax is a great resource with a timeless message about taking care of the environment.
- 4/5/09 - CEP Hosts Free Workshops for Family Child Care Providers
The Family Child Care Tax Project at The Center for Economic Progress will partner with community organizations to provide basic, intermediate, and advanced income tax and recordkeeping classes to home-based child care providers. The classes focus on providing straightforward and useful information on recordkeeping, tax rules and business issues.
- 4/5/09 - InfantSEE Program Offers No-Cost Eye Exams to Illinois Infants (April 20-24)
During the InfantSEE® Week (April 20-24), local doctors of optometry from the Illinois Optometric Association (IOA) will provide a one-time, comprehensive eye and vision assessment to infants in their first year of life, usually between the ages of 6 and 12 months, offering early detection of potential eye and vision problems at no cost regardless of income or ability to pay.
- 4/5/09 - Chicago Metro AEYC Mourns the Loss of Jim Greenman (July 19, 1949 – April 4, 2009)
Jim Greenman was an advocate, mentor, and dear friend to the early childhood community worldwide. His legacy endures in the lives he has touched and the books he has written. Jim's family has asked that contributions in his memory be made to the Bright Horizons Foundation for children, to carry out his vision of ensuring that children living in crisis situations have access to books, toys, games and music so they can enjoy the magic of childhood.
- 4/1/09 - 2009 Study Group Team Member Grants
$300 Study Group Team Member Grants available from the Chicago Foundation for Education. The application deadline is Friday, April 17th, 2009
- 3/28/09 - Submit Your Program to NAEYC's Engaging Diverse Families Project
NAEYC is happy to announce that complete information about Engaging Diverse Families (EDF), a new NAEYC project, is now available at NAEYC's web site. The application deadline is Friday, April 10, 2009.
- 2/9/09 - Changes to the Quality Rating System
The Quality Rating System's eligibility changes effective February 9, 2009.
