Today concludes my second week at the Columbus Early Learning Centers. Before I give you a brief status update, I wanted to focus this post on the work that this organization performs for the Columbus Community. As I mentioned in my first post, the CELC is an organization committed to providing affordable child care and education with a focus on responsive caregiving, intentional teaching, community collaboration, and promoting a healthy and active lifestyle. The CELC has over 125 years of history, placing it amongst the oldest childcare programs in the country. The center’s first location, which opened on North Fourth Street in 1887, provided childcare for children as young as three months old for five cents per day.

Today, the CELC operates two locations including one on Broad Street and another off of Champion Avenue, which is the location that I am working at this summer. In addition, the CELC continues to provide affordable childcare and early education by offering a tiered tuition program. As a result, nearly 72% of the children that we serve come from families that live below 150% of the federal poverty line, 85% come from single parent headed households, and 78% are of minority status. Research has shown that the cognitive scores of children from high socioeconomic backgrounds are about three-fifths of a standard deviation higher than those children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. White students have also been shown to score significantly higher than their minority peers. In addition, children from single parent headed households are less likely to graduate high school and attend college than children who grow up with two parents at home. This presents a both challenge and a unique opportunity for our staff to make a meaningful impact on our children’s educational development. The staff understands that even though many of our children come from background that tends to lead to lower educational performance, these outcomes are not predetermined. In fact, research that I have read has shown that preschool presents the best opportunity to close the educational achievement gap.

Therefore, my hope is that the volunteer program that I am creating will have a role in closing the achievement gap that many of our students face. I am also hoping that members of the Columbus community can play an active role in this process. I want our volunteers not only to have the opportunity to make a positive impact on a child’s day, but also to help break the cycles of poverty that have prevented many low-income and minority children from being successful later in life. After two weeks, I have finally achieved my first major success in making these goals a reality… I have finished a rough draft of a volunteer manual that I plan to provide to new volunteers during the volunteer orientation session (my next project). In addition, I have continued working in the classrooms and helping out wherever I can. Next week, I am hoping to start reaching out to individuals, organizations and business to begin setting up volunteer opportunities for the summer. Stay tuned as I keep you updated on the status of the volunteer program, the Columbus Early Learning Centers, and my summer in Columbus!

(Note: The postings on this site are of my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Columbus Early Learning Centers)