Waterloo Region Chair Ken Seiling joined Conestoga President John Tibbits and Hulene Montgomery, Executive Director of the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation, to dedicate and officially open a valuable new facility on April 29 - the Early Childhood Professional Resource Centre, located in the Early Childhood Education building at Conestoga's Doon campus in Kitchener.
Funding for development of the Resource Centre has come from the Region of Waterloo ($250,000) and the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation ($20,000).
The new facility is a valuable addition to the community in several ways: it contains materials such as books, media, articles, reference sources, toys and on-site equipment to support early learning and care; and it will present topical workshops and seminars. A variety of membership packages and plans will be offered for professionals and practitioners.
In his remarks, Mr. Seiling said, "It's wonderful to be able to do such partnerships with agencies and organizations in Waterloo Region. We place a high value on children and the quality of care they receive."
Ms. Montgomery added, "For every dollar we invest at this stage of a child's life, we save seven dollars in future costs. Foundations can do their work only where there is outstanding community and educational involvement."
The funds provided have been used for creation of the resource room, initial staffing, and the ongoing acquisition of learning and reference materials. The College contributed the preparation of two classrooms to accommodate the various courses, seminars and workshops that will be an important part of the mandate of the Early Childhood Professional Resource Centre.
Examples of upcoming workshops are one on changes that are happening within the profession, how practitioners can deal with those changes and the dynamics of change; one on establishing a learning environment that fosters social competence in school-age children; and one that encourages teachers to use valuable tools and techniques to reimagine their work through the eyes of a child - to see what works and what doesn't, and why.
Dr. Tibbits pointed out the many years of valuable contributions Conestoga has made through its early childhood education programs and how Conestoga is poised to do even more - in terms of increased enrolment, more and more varied programming, and providing more opportunities for early childhood education professionals to continue their learning, acquiring new and specialized skills. Conestoga is even developing a proposal for a degree program in child and youth development.
"We value this part of our institution," he said. "Not only do we offer a full complement of programs in this field as a valuable resource to the community, but faculty and senior-level students in a number of our other programs have had a hand in developing the facilities and identifying the learning resources you see at this centre - Health Informatics Management, Biotechnology Technician and Woodworking Technician."
Also in attendance at the event were leaders of the local early childhood education professional and service community, plus Conestoga faculty and officials.