WSA Fall Association Meeting

Dates: October 26-28, 2011
Location: Campbells Resort , Chelan WA
Deadlines: WSA Registration deadline 10/14/11 (late fee $25 after that); Campbells deadline d9/25/11
Registration: Online Registration Link
Agenda: WSA Fall Meeting Agenda
Fees: $205 Registration Fee, includes 2 lunches, 2 breakfasts
Accommodations: $77 single, $97 double
Information: Email or call Katy Warren at 425-453-1227.

We have some fabulous nationally-recognized speakers coming in!

Stacey Bess, teacher, author, cancer survivor, mother of six, activist for homeless children and subject of the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Beyond the Blackboard

Nobody Don't Love Nobody is the story of young Stacey Bess's first teaching assignment, the only job she could find, at The School with No Name. In a small shed behind a community homeless shelter Stacey Bess taught Kindergarten through sixth grade to children with no homes and little hope, an experience that effected a profound change in the teacher as well as her students. Stacey discovered that by teaching and modeling love, self-worth, personal power, and courage she could reach children who had previously been labeled unteachable.

At a young age, love and service were modeled for Stacey by her mother, who provided emergency care for traumatized children in her home. Stacey can remember many times having frightened children tucked into bed with her in the middle of the night. An avid reader of poetry and prose, Stacey expresses herself in her writing, especially poetry. As a teenager, she found writing poetry to be a healing process, and she has used that same process with the children she teaches.

Stacey has a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Utah. Her outstanding service has been recognized with a number of awards on the local, state, and national levels, including the National Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service. She has also enjoyed speaking in many forums around the country as she works to shed light on her quest as a leading advocate for the educational rights of impoverished children.

Here's an article about Stacey from the L.A. Times.

 

Helen Blank, Director of Leadership and Public Policy, National Women's Law Center.

Helen Blank is perhaps the preeminent, most respected early childhood activist in the country, and we're incredibly fortunate to have her at our conference.

Ms. Blank served 24 years as the director of the Child Care and Development Division at the Children's Defense Fund. While at the Children's Defense Fund, Ms. Blank spearheaded a variety of efforts for improved early learning legislation. In an effort to pass the Act for Better Child Care, the first comprehensive federal child care legislation, she organized the Alliance for Better Child Care. Additionally she developed a guide for the implementation of the legislation that was enacted, the Child Care and Development Block Grant, that was widely used by state policymakers and child care leaders. In 1991, she led an effective campaign to convince the Bush administration to issue regulations for the Child Care and Development Block Grant that allowed states to use the new federal funds in the best interests of children. She was also a leader in efforts to expand and improve the child care provisions in welfare reform, subsequently developing a guide to assist states in implementing the provisions. In addition, she created the Child Care Now! Campaign, an ongoing initiative, which attempts to focus attention on early care and education.

She has authored and co-authored numerous major studies and reports on state child care policies including A Center Piece of the Child Care Puzzle; Providing Prekindergarten in Child Care Centers; Getting Organized: Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers; Close to Home: State Strategies to Strengthen and Support Family, Friend and Neighbor Care; In Their Own Voices: Parents and Providers Struggling with Child Care Cuts; Working Together for Children: Head Start and Child Care Partnerships; Seeds of Success: Pre-Kindergarten Initiatives; and A Fragile Foundation: State Child Care Assistance Policies, and numerous articles and papers on child care policies.

Also, just a reminder that at the fall meeting we will have a number of association business meeting items to vote on, so please pass this on to those who are coming!

Approval of 2011-13 Strategic Plan

Approval of 2011-12 Budget – will be distributed later

Approval of Bylaws Changes –. Please note that this bylaws draft (and the budget to come) includes our withdrawal from the Region X Head Start Association, and a few other changes, including:

  • Addition of a “Community Representative” to the board, to be appointed by the President
  • A revision and re-ordering of the Board of Directors Responsibilities
  • Removal and/or redefinition of standing committees
  • Withdrawal from the Region X Head Start Association, with an annual review of WSA membership (Memo
  • Changes the position openings from “Regional Rep-Staff”, “Regional Rep-Director”, and "Regional Rep-Parent, to at-large positions open to all Head Start, ECEAP, Migrant/Seasonal and AI/NA WSA members.

Elections - This fall our WSA Board Openings are for:

  • ECEAP Staff Representative: This position is open to candidates who are staff members from an ECEAP funded program.
  • Early Head Start Staff Representative: This position is open to candidates who are staff members from an Early Head Start funded program.
  • Head Start Director Representative: This position is open to candidates who are directors from a Head Start funded program.
  • At-Large Staff : This position is open to candidates who are staff from an Early Head Start, Head Start Migrant/Seasonal, AI/AN, or ECEAP program.