Today's Child Learning Centers is proud to announce that employee Amber Eckels and her classmate at the Delaware County Technical School in Folcroft, Sierra Ragsdale-Miller, just received an award for a lesson plan focusing around cultural diversity they developed.

     "It feels so great to win after putting in all the work that we did. I'm so glad we're done," Eckels said.

     The competition, sponsored annually by the Family Community Career Leaders of America (FCCLA), took the pair from Delaware County Technical School in Folcroft, to Seven Springs, PA for the state level competition. Once there, they wowed the judges with their creative display boards and props they used in the actual lesson. Eckels and Miller won first place at the state level, taking home a scholarship to Sullivan University in the amount of $6,000.

     The duo then journeyed to Chicago this month for the FCCLA national level competition. At the national level, the pair won gold medals, equivalent to 3^rd place for their presentation. They also received certificates commemorating their participation in the national level.

     Their presentation, "Cultural Celebrations" focused on how to teach children to understand and interact with people from cultures around the world. Eckels and Miller developed the lesson plan at DCTS and implemented it with the children at the school.

     The two spent much of their time researching the cultures of Asia, the Middle East and Spain, forming and implementing the plan over the period of one year. Some of the activities they did with the children included: playing matching games with the children, breaking a piñata to celebrate Spanish culture, eating foods from the different cultures, and performing songs and dances from the different cultures.

     Eckels said, "It taught me so much about teamwork and all the different cultures in our world. We have to learn to respect them all."

     Placing as high as they did at the national level was completely unexpected. "Our goal was just reaching nationals, actually placing at nationals was incredible," Eckels said.     

     To qualify for participation at the national level, competitors had to have won at their individual state level; and they must be enrolled in an occupational Early Childhood Education and services program. Competitors have a period of one year to develop the lesson plan, beginning July 1 and ending June 30^th of the school year prior to the national leadership conference.

    What the participation at the national level involved was: submitting a portfolio to an event room consultant and then planning for a 15 minute activity. Following the activity, assessors would take 5 minutes to interview the participants before completing a rubric and rendering a decision.

     Participants were evaluated on the quality of their portfolios, presentations and resource containers. Scores were given out based on how well they demonstrated the skills required to complete each activity.

     Darlene Hines-Hill, Amber's Center Director at TCLC said, "We are all so proud of her. She's a great employee, always communicating well with the children, parents and other staff members."

     At TCLC, Eckels is always in a classroom, working directly with the children at TCLC's STAR 4 center in Colwyn, PA. She is a model of consistency, always demonstrating the highest quality of professionalism and care that is expected from all employees.

     Ms. Hill went on to say, "I didn't realize how young she was, she's so mature in her thoughts and actions."

     Today's Child Learning Centers, with 14 locations in Delaware County, has been providing quality care to hundreds of children since its inception in 1989. Today's Child is currently the largest privately-owned provider of care in the county, serving some of its most high-risk areas.