Five years of hard work and dedication paid off with the achievement of an important goal for a Career Technical Agricultural Education Pathway at Thomas County Central High School PREP Academy.

The Early Childhood Education program recently earned its industry-certification from the Georgia Early Childhood Education Foundation. It received $10,000 to be used toward program equipment and resources.

“This is a five-year process of meeting 87 standards in early childhood education,” teacher and program advisor Cindy Carnes said. “This is a tremendous accomplishment and it took lots of hard work. This certification shows that we are a quality program with high standards.”

The program had to adhere to a list of standards set by the foundation. These 87 standards are divided into nine areas: instruction, equipment and facilities, learning resources, instructional staff, Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs), program promotion, advisory committee, student career related services, and health and safety.

Some certification requirements included collection of work samples for a portfolio, all ECE teachers had to pass a content knowledge test, and the program had to have a CTSO. TCCHS has a Future Educators Club, a CTSO sponsored by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. Carnes and fellow program teacher Amy Smith are its advisors.

Also, the program had to complete an application and prepare for a site visit conducted by representatives from the Georgia Board of Education.

“The committee looks for student involvement in a related club or organization which develops leadership skills and provides for competition opportunities to enrich the student's professional skills,” FGE advisor Amy Smith said. 

A committee visited TCCHS ECE program to review the work samples and documentation, as well as view the facilities and meet with advisory committee members made up of community stakeholders.

Student Rondesja Mitchell participates in the ECE program because she loves children.

“I want to work with them for the rest of my life,” Mitchell said. “I love the program and the wonderful teachers who [have] taught me everything I know about children. I get to interact with children and learn from them at the same time. The program will also help me get a job in the future.”

Some of the important lessons Mitchell has learned about children include how they grow in the womb and the skills they are expected to have at age two.

“I have learned that children are so unique,” she said.

Participant Courtney Robinson has known she wants to work with kids “for a long time.” She said it is important for TCCHS to have its ECE program because students get a head start on what they need to know to become a teacher.

“This program has been beneficial to me because it has taught me a lot about being a teacher and also how to take care of a child the proper way,” she said. “Throughout the program I have learned how to be a good teacher and what a teacher has to do in their day-to-day job. Also, in my second year of the program, I learned about all the proper ways you should feed your child and what you should feed them. Another helpful thing that I learned in my second year of the program was CPR and first aid.”

Robinson calls the program “an eye-opener” for her and for most people. Some activities students do include trips to Hand-In-Hand Primary School to read a book to pre-k or kindergarten students and Garrison-Pilcher Elementary School to conduct a themed lesson with a first or second grade class. Also, students in their final year of study have the opportunity to intern at system elementary schools so many hours per week.

“I am in this part of the program right now, and I love going to see my students every Monday, Thursday, and Friday,” Robinson said. “They make my days so much better. The kids loving seeing the high schoolers come over. They think we are amazing.”

TCCHS has received an official banner its ECE program can “proudly hang” to show its certification accomplishment, Carnes said. The program must re-certify every five years to ?maintain its industry certification status.