Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

3 local resources:

Help Me Grow: Though I do not know much about this organization it is one that I would be interested in becoming more involved with. Their website describes what they do as being “The Help Me Grow program is designed to ensure Ohio’s children receive a healthy birth and the resources to warrant a healthy and productive start in life.” I believe that this organization is one that provides positive resources to children and families. 

Ohio Guidestones: Ohio Guidestones is an organization in central Ohio that advocates for children and families. On their website they state their mission as being “built on a solid foundation of experience and expertise, rooted in faith and a legacy of serving children and families. Our range of flexible, customized programs build upon one another so they address every aspect of a person’s needs. We’re a solutions-focused organization with passionate people committed to providing direction and inspiration to children, families and communities to help them become stronger.” This is an organization that I just recently found out about and it is one that I would be interested in becoming involved with or potentially work for. I believe in the mission of what they are doing to help children and families. 

OAEYC: This organization is the Ohio chapter for the National Association for the Education of Young Children. I currently live in Ohio and this organization is one that I have used as a resource in my work with young children. NAEYC has strong roots in early childhood field and is an organization that I have found to be a very useful resource in the past in my work with children. 

Jobs I’d be interested in pursuing:

-Clinical Assistant- This position is one that I would be interested to have as a job. This is a position I found online and it is a position for Cincinnati Children’s. The job responsibilities surrounding this job included developing developmentally appropriate activities and material for children and families.  The purpose of this job is to help children keep from falling behind during their stay in the hospital. One thing that interests me about this job is the fact that I have a younger brother who was born with special needs and this job would give me the opportunity to help children who are in the hospital like he was. 

-Youth Director- This job is one that would be at a YMCA. I believe that this would be a good job that I would like to pursue because it is a job that would help troubled youth. My hope is that at this job I would be benefit to children and families. 

-Parent Mentor- I recently found out about this job in the area where I live. This job is for Ohio Guidestone which is one of the organizations mentioned above. This is a job that would require me to work with parents and families guiding them through the growth and development of children. 

For each of these jobs I would be required to have a level of patience and understanding with both the families and the children. I would also be required to have knowledge of the growth and development of young children.