We had an all program ECYD meeting yesterday. In case you missed it, here’s a detailed recap-

Approximately 15-20 students attended the  meeting. We enjoyed hot pizza from the cafeteria while  Dr. Sharon Bergen, Executive Director of the MN School Age Care Alliance and MN Association of Education for Young Children [MnSACA/MnAEYC] and Nicole Meulemans, Director of Student Life and Activities at DCTC, shared information about starting an ECYD club/organization at DCTC. Our program Dean, Dr. Sherralyn Cox, was also in attendance.

Sharon informed our group that MnSACA/MnAEYC currently has about 2,000 members of professionals. A few years ago NAEYC (National Association of Education for Young Children) created a Vision15 document in which a goal is listed to increase emphasis of student engagement. MnAEYC also carries that goal at the state level.

There are currently no other MnAEYC student chapters in the state so ours would be the first, if we choose to incorporate the chapter structure. With the chapter structure, each member would be individual members. Students would join at the state (MnAEYC) and national (NAEYC) levels and choose the chapter to be involved with (ours). ($50 annual dues)

Sharon reiterated that MnSACA/MnAEYC is here to support students in the field, whether or not they are involved in a chapter. However, with a chapter, our group could be recognized as a chapter. She mentioned that then there could possibly be scholarship opportunties. MnSACA/MnAEYC cannot offer financial support to non-members. As our group became established, we could also sponsor state events, etc.

Nicole discussed that at DCTC student groups need to be student driven. She mentioned that the group would need to determine roles and responsibilities such as president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, etc. depending on what makes sense with our particular group. Students would also need to set up a plan/timeline for meetings and activities. Many groups at DCTC meet twice a month. It was suggested to meet once a  month with an online component to be used between meetings.

There is paperwork that would need to be filled out to apply for a club/organization at DCTC, as well as MnAEYC, but much of the information required would be similar. DCTC paperwork is to be submitted in March. That gives us some planning time.

Students said that they are interested in a club because they want to be involved in something larger and come together outside of class. Some didn’t know that we could have a program club/organization and wanted to learn more about it.

What activities might the club do? Students mentioned being interested in fundraisers, getting in the community and going to conferences. Jill mentioned a desire for connecting our students more with nationally accredited programs.

During brainstorming, Sharon provided many interesting ideas. Our group would need to decide what focus it wants to have.

• Advocacy
  • Week of the Young Child
    • Public Service Announcement
    • Fast Food Tray Liners
  • Voices for Children Day at the Capitol
• Awareness
  • Read Across America
    • Read-a-thon of children’s stories (out loud) in cafeteria/commons area all day long
• Networking
• Conference
  • State
• Fundraising
  • National Conference
• Community Service
• Charity
  • Adopt-a-Library
    • Storytime
• Leaders/Guest Speakers on campus
• Being involved with MnAEYC (committees, etc.)

Sharon ended the meeting with this thought, “If you work hard, you can do it. The only obstacle is the amount of effort you are willing to put in.”

So what’s next? Another meeting will need to be scheduled soon. Using MeetingWizard (or similar program), we’ll locate the best overall date/time for students. Some action items for that meeting may be:

• Voting to approve starting an ECYD club/organization
• Create an executive committee to begin major planning
• Decide what the focus of the club/organization is
• TBD

Questions/Comments? Contact us!