Coach's Corner

Hello Trainers!  We would like to introduce our Training Coach for Northern Bluegrass, Theresa Cruz

"Hola Trainers!"  I'm Theresa Cruz, Training Coach.

I am so excited to be the new Training Coach for the Northern Kentucky Bluegrass Region!  Since my first day, I've received an incredibly warm welcome from everyone and I already feel like part of the gang.

Being a mother of two, who are now in college, I can remember my son's first experience with child care to be an undesirable one.  This experience caused him to have a negative view of education and influenced the way he viewed school for the rest of his life.  That's what inspired me to study early childhood education; I wanted to make it my goal to foster a love of learning in children through a loving, compassionate, caring environment.

I started working in Early Childhood Education in 2003 when I taught my first bilingual Pre-K class in Puerto Rico where I lived for 25 years.  I finished my degree in ECE with a minor in Elementary English from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico and taught Preschool for another 4 years.  In 2007 I wanted to provide children with a more hands on, interactive approach to learning so I opened my own preschool and it currently offers groups from toddlers to 4th grade.

My family and I moved to Northern Kentucky from Puerto Rico in 2013.  I started working as a Director for Little Red School House in Walton and in 2014 it transitioned into Rainbow Child Care Center where I continued as Program Director for another 2 years.  During the time I obtained by Trainer's Credential.  I was enthusiastic about continuing my journey in training and then the opportunity for Training Coach surfaced.

Being chased for the Training Coach position has opened up to me a whole new area of Early Childhood Education that I am proud to be a part of.  This role will allow me to provide support to providers and ensure that early childhood professionals receive trainings that are relevant to their roles in the field and in turn, this will help ensure that they provide quality care to our children.  There is nothing more important to me than making sure that children are receiving the best care possible.

I look forward to meeting my fellow Training Coaches and collaborating with you on different projects.  I enjoy talking so I'll probably be reaching out to each of you to get an insight to your Training Coach role.  I'm very friendly and love to help out where I am needed.

On a personal note, I have been married to my husband Abel for 22 years and we have 2 children (if you can call them that!)  Bianca who is 20 and Christian who is 21.  Bianca is a Junior at Thomas Moore College studying Psychology and Christian is graduating in May with a degree in Microbiology.  I have 2 dogs Zoey and Harley--who are rescues. We found Zoey in a dumpster with her 9 brothers and sisters.  So as you can see I'm an avid dog lover.  I'm head of the Puppet Ministry at my church and I also enjoy crafts, drawing, reading and watching movies.

Theresa Cruz-Training Coach Northern Bluegrass Region                                           Email:  tcruz@4cforchildren.org

From The Field

A brand new feature highlighting our Kentucky Credentialed Trainers.  If you would like to be featured in upcoming editions please contact Gwen Johnson at Gjthom2@uky.edu.

Article written by:  Trainer Cynthia McCombs

Hello fellow trainers, my name is Cynthia (Cindy) McCombs and currently I am a level 3 credentialed trainer.   For the past 29 years I have dedicated countless hours to training educators but in 2011 I decided to obtain my trainer's credential.  Going through FET was an enlightening experience and it was then I realized how important my own professional development as a trainer was.

This past year, I was approached by my Training Coach, Rachael Corriveau, to participate in the QA trainer professional development pilot program.  The Quality Assurance (QA) pilot allowed me to reflect on my personal strengths and weaknesses then develop targeted goals to ensure I continue to grow and expand my knowledge.  A perfect example of the collaboration with Rachael occurred when I shared a goal to implement new technology into my trainings that could be used for pieces such as pre and post assessments.  This turned into a short term goal which was attained by enrolling and completing the online training Low Tech for Trainers.  

The QA process is a great way to not only partner with your Training Coach but it allows you to really evaluate where you are in your own Professional Development.  As trainers it is so important to make sure we stay on the cusp of "what's new".  

                                                                                     ~Cindy  

To learn more about the QA Professional Development Plan for Trainers, please contact your Training Coach.

Announcements

Regional Updates

Introducing the Child Care Aware Regional Model

The Child Care Aware Regional Model for early care and education technical assistance was put in place July 1, 2015.  In the regional model, there are new and exciting changes.  The Regional Model has moved away from defining providers and Child Care Aware staff based on the ADD districts (Area Development Districts), instead "regions" have been created.  There are 8 Regions throughout the state.  Each region has a Regional Child Care Administrator: this person will be the voice for the region at the state level.  This is an exciting change, never before has child care had someone that specifically represents their region.  The Regional Model allows for taking regional considerations into place when statewide decisions are being made on topics that affect early care and education providers.  It is important to note, in the Regional Model all staff have been assigned new job titles.  These new titles better explain their role when working with providers.  The new titles include the word "coach" so your Training Coordinators are now Training Coaches.  I encourage you to locate your regional Training Coach on the map and reach out to introduce yourself.  The regional Training Coach is a valuable resource for providers.  Training Coaches are local experts you can contact to assist you with training related needs.

Calendar for Professional Development

Zero to Three National Training Institute
December 2-4, 2015, Seattle
www.zerotothree.org

SECA Conference
Feb. 11-13, 2016, Tulsa
www.southernearlychildhood.org 

ARC of Kentucky Annual Conference
March 17-18, 2016, Louisville
www.arcofky.org

Trainer's Institute 2016
May 12-13 2016, Lexington
www.kentuckypartnership.org

               NAEYC Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development
June 5-8, 2016, Baltimore
www.naeyc.org/conference

Kids Are Worth It! Conference
Sept. 12-13, 2016,
www.pcaky.org

DEC International Conference
Oct. 18-20, 2016, Louisville
www.dec-sped.org

Tips and Resources

Professional Growth for Trainers

As trainers ourselves we should all strive to be lifelong learners. While Trainers Institute, Beyond Fundamentals and Tech for Trainers offer a range of topics to support ongoing professional development of Kentucky’s credentialed trainers, there is a professional organization with local chapters that you may also want to learn more about.

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is a professional membership organization supporting those who develop the knowledge and skills of employees in organizations around the world. Please note this association was previously known as the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD).

To learn more about their organization go to: https://www.td.org/About

However, of particular interest to local trainers in Kentucky, ATD has local chapters in:

Greater Cincinnati Chapter- http://www.gc.astd.org/

Louisville- Kentuckiana Chapter- http://atdky.org/

ATD of the Bluegrass- Geographical Interest Group       http://atdky.org/Geographic-Interest-Group

Each of these chapters have monthly events. They welcome visitors and the ATD of the Bluegrass is even going to start live streaming their monthly presentations when WI-FI is available.

Be inspired by your training and development peers through networking, collaborating and sharing the business of building people!

ECE-TRIS Secure Upload of Sign-In Sheets

As you know, it is important to protect the personal information of your training participants when submitting the ECE-TRIS sign-in sheets.  Please remember that it is not recommended to scan and email the documents using your regular email as it contains date of birth and last four digits of social security numbers.  Sign-in sheets can be snail mailed, faxed or updated using a secure link offered by ECE-TRIS.  In order to use the ECE-TRIS secure upload feature you must first contact ECE-TRIS so they can give you access to your account.  You can call them directly at (859) 622-8811 or email them at ecetris@eku.edu.

Once your account is set up, you can use your regular ECE-TRIS login information to upload your scanned forms, files and documents securely.  Once uploaded, ECE-TRIS will receive notification that a file is ready.

The direct link to the Secure Online File Transfer is tris.eku.edu​.  You will then see a box that asks for your username and password.  We hope that you find this secure upload to be a cost effective and time efficient way to safely upload your ECE-TRIS training forms.