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Today they may be learning their colors, shapes, and letters…but before you know it, those four-year-olds in Georgia’s Pre-K Program will be all grown up and headed to technical school or college.  That’s why each year we join Path2College 529 Plan and the Georgia Student Finance Commission for our Pre-K to College Sweepstakes.  Joining us this week to talk about Pre-K to College is Mitch Seabaugh, Executive Director of the Path2College 529 Plan; Devon Porter, DECAL’s Summer Transition Program and Outreach Manager for Georgia’s Pre-K Program, and Nicole Lewis, the parent of Griffin Lewis, a Pre-K student at Baker Place Elementary School in Grovetown, one of our scholarship recipients from last year.  

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During the COVID pandemic, DECAL offered POWER payments to all eligible early learning professionals and staff here in Georgia.  POWER stood for Providing our workforce essential recognition and at $1,000 per person in three rounds totaled over $118 million in supplemental payments from the American Rescue Plan. Today POWER has become POWER-ED, a wage supplement paid through DECAL Scholars to support early child care workers as they begin or further their education. Joining us this week is Abby Mozo, Professional Learning Operations Analyst here at DECAL, and Lindsey Peterson and Charlotte Pelz, both with Care Solutions, who help us administer the program. 

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DECAL's Thriving Child Care Business Academy opened its virtual doors in September 2023. The Academy offers a wide selection of free online trainings and educational resources to help owners and administrators of child care programs learn the best management practices that will help their businesses thrive. Joining us to talk more about the Academy is Quality Innovations and Partnerships Communications and Outreach Manager Sonja Steptoe and two of DECAL’s partners in the Academy, Gary Romano, president of Civitas Strategies; and Alyssa Foskey, Area Director with the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center at Valdosta State University. 

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An Early Childhood Care and Education Student at Ogeechee Technical College in Statesboro has been named as the school’s 2024 GOAL Student. Ashley Ford is a mother of two daughters and a child care teacher at Kids World Learning Center in Statesboro. Ashley joins us for this week's podcast, along with Sarah Beverley, who is a Student Navigator and GOAL coordinator at the college, and Dr. Christi Moore, Professional Learning Director here at DECAL.  

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This summer, kids throughout Georgia will continue to have access to free nutritious meals and snacks through Happy Helpings, Georgia’s Summer Food Service Program. Joining us today to tell us more about Happy Helpings are Director of Nutrition Services Tamika Boone, Marketing and Outreach Manager Cindy Kicklighter, and special guest Deborah Wilson, the founder and director of Georgia Nutritional Services and a Happy Helpings sponsor. 

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If you have been around DECAL for any time over our past 20 years now, you have heard the name Jennie Couture.  Jennie was our Director of Practice and Support Services who retired in 2022 after a 40 year career dedicated to special education, inclusion, and behavioral support. To honor Jennie and her love for inclusion, the Georgia Foundation for Early Care + Learning began the Jennie Couture Legacy Scholarship Fund, a program that serves early childhood educators with professional development opportunities in areas so close to Jennie’s heart:  inclusion and social-emotional development. Joining us to talk about the Jennie Couture Legacy Scholarship is Laura Wagner, Executive Director of the Georgia Foundation for Early Care + Learning; our first recipient of the award, Tierra Faulcon with Faulcon Prep Academy in Smyrna, and of course the lady, the legend herself, Jennie Couture. 

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DECAL’s Inclusive Early Learning Week will be celebrated the week of February 12-16, 2024. The mission of IELW is to promote inclusive practices within early learning environments across Georgia. This year we are also celebrating the Inclusion and Behavior Support Program’s 10-year anniversary at DECAL. Joining us to share more about inclusion and IELW, are Peggy Sutton, Inclusion and Behavior Support Regional Supervisor, Tabitha Howard, Center Director at YMCA Paulding Early Learning Center, Tina Holt, Georgia’s Pre-K Inclusion Lead Teacher at YMCA Paulding Early Learning Center, and Michele Biggers, whose 14 year old daughter Payton has written a book about inclusion called Autism Gives Me Superpowers. 

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Since Fall of 2019, DECAL has had a group of volunteers working in their communities to share information with families about the resources available in our state. Our DECAL Family Peer Ambassadors are fathers, mothers, grandparents, foster parents, and other kinship caregivers of young children. They serve as leaders in their community, providing families of young children with information about child development and strategies they can use to support their children’s school readiness. Joining us today are Bridget Ratajczak, DECAL’s Child and Family Development Supervisor and CDC’s Act Early Ambassador to the state of Georgia; Jenny Semendy, DECAL’s Child and Family Development Training Specialist, and some of our Family Peer Ambassadors: Taquana Stubbs from Douglasville; Christina Sanchez from Atlanta, and Teyona Early from Warner Robins. 

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Since 2016, DECAL has offered paid internships to students currently enrolled in a Georgia college, university, or law school with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. We took a break during the pandemic years of 2020 through 2022, but last year the interns returned. Joining us this week to talk about their experiences so far are two of our communications and government relations interns: Mackenzie Weston is a senior at Kennesaw State University, and Trey Freeman is a senior at Clayton State University. Working with the Georgia Foundation for Early Care and Learning is Brianna Thomas, a graduate student from Kennesaw State University. Also joining us is Mark Dock, Senior Manager of Human Resources here at DECAL. 

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The 2024 Session of the Georgia General Assembly opened recently with everything you might expect from the Wild Hog Supper to Governor Kemp’s State of the State Address. But what can we expect for DECAL and early childhood care and education in Georgia this session? Joining us to talk about the Georgia General Assembly, Governor Kemp’s State of the State address, and other topics is Polly McKinney, Advocacy Director for Voices for Georgia’s Children and a partner at Lexicon Strategies, and Rian Ringsrud, Deputy Commissioner for Finance and Administration for DECAL.

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