Pam Dudding-Burch
Contributing writer
The popular saying, ‘teamwork multiplies success’ is proving true at Craig County Child Care Center. Director Teresa Oliver, along with her caring staff, seems to leave no stone unturned when it comes to seeking the best child care educational opportunities for their children.
Oliver wanted to celebrate the success of a new venture they ‘tapped’ into last year. “We were one out of only five schools in the entire state of Virginia to receive this grant,” she said.
The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) awarded one of five Mixed-Delivery Preschool Grants to Total Action for Progress (TAP) to support innovative early childhood in Craig County.
Mixed Delivery classrooms are ‘fundings’ that are combined with different resources such as Head Start, Department of Social Services subsidy, tuition and in some localities, Virginia Preschool Initiative VPI funds. (Sadly, Craig County does not receive VPI funding due to no matching funds available yet from Craig County.)
Amy Hathaway, a representative from the VECF, stated, “Thanks to their strong community commitment to young children, Craig County is able to pilot a model of delivering high-quality public preschool services in private child care settings.” She added that the lessons from their work will be shared with other communities across the state.
The VECF grant created a collaborative team between TAP, United Way, Craig Youth and Community Services and other local community organizations to not only assist the Child Care Center in providing leadership for implementing quality early childhood education, but also to enhance the entire family or parent’s ability to gain economic self-sufficiency (employment), parenting skills and overall healthy lifestyle.
Before the grant, CCCCC had about 15 children and now, Oliver said; “I would like to celebrate that the Craig County Child Care Center is now serving 32 preschool age children thanks in part to partnering with TAP Head Start and a Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) grant.” Oliver added, “I’m pretty happy for Craig County’s youth.”
