High schoolers learn skills, opportunities for early childhood education careers

KINGSPORT — This week, high school students from Kingsport City Schools and Sullivan County Schools had the chance to explore careers in early childhood education in an in-depth, hands-on fashion. The Kingsport Chamber of Commerce Education & Workforce Development program developed and hosted a two-day summer program for high school students. It gave students insight into an early childhood education career path and opportunities in the area, as well as the chance to obtain useful industry credentials and certifications. The chamber partnered with several organizations to sponsor the event and provide a trove of knowledge for the student participants. Madison Greene, the communications and initiatives manager at the chamber, shared how the program came to be. "It actually began as an idea to get partners together to give high school students an opportunity for CPR training and then, from there, it kind of blossomed into 'how can we develop this into an opportunity for these students to learn more about early childhood education and the opportunities to work in a childcare facility,'" she said. Partners such as Sullivan County EMS, the Childcare Resource and Referral Network, Northeast State Community College and Eastman Credit Union gave presentations to the students. Students received training on CPR, basic first aid and medical emergency treatment, safe sleep, mandated reporting and handling with care. They were given presentations on career and education opportunities such as apprenticeship programs, associate degrees, technical certificates and DHS and DOE licensures. Students also went on tours of local childcare facilities, engaged in networking opportunities and received resources on hand washing, diapers, proper disinfecting, behavior management and other childcare-related topics. Jaylynn Stallard, a rising senior at D-B EXCEL, participated in the program and enjoyed the hands-on learning activities. "I really liked learning how to do CPR. It was really fun," she said. "I enjoyed getting to see and learning about ways to just help students and how to report things and just things that are necessary for being an everyday civilian." For Stallard, early childhood education has always been an area of career interest. "Since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to work with kids. I adore kids, I love kids, I've worked with kids since I was 11." She has participated in similar work-based programs in the past and liked the chamber's focus on guiding students toward career paths they may be interested in. This was the chamber's inaugural early childhood education program. Greene shared that it has been in the works for about a year, developed in collaboration with Leadership Kingsport. Greene hopes to not only continue the event next year, but to see it expand. "We said 'if we serve one student then we achieved our goal because we got one kid in here, we taught them about different opportunities,' and we ended up with eight, which we were very excited about," she said. This year, the chamber partnered with Kingsport City Schools and Sullivan County Schools, offering the program through the schools' work-based learning and CTE programs. Next year, Greene hopes they can offer the opportunity to more school systems. "We know that early childhood education and access to quality, affordable childcare is an issue that impacts everything from early reading and literacy rates all the way up into the workforce," Greene said. "We hope that this creates a long-lasting impact that will involve children getting interested in education and being dedicated employees that will continue to thrive."