Editors:

Valerie Blade ,

Cricket Tepper, &

Kathy Prose

Southern Oregon Child & Family Council, Head Start, Early Head Start & LISTO

March 17, 2014

2013-2014, Issue 24

MEETINGS/TRAININGS

Tuesday, March 18th

Area Managers Meeting

(A&B)

Self-Assessment Leadership

Team (A&B)

Policy Council (MC-A)

Wednesday, March 19th

Head Teacher Meeting (RWD)

Directors Meeting (Admin)

Thursday, March 20th

ASSE Meeting (A&B)

Friday, March 21st

New FA Training (Library)

Data Comm. Meeting (A&B)

Health Monitoring Comm.

March 24th-March 28th

Spring Break

Monday, March 31st

Make-up day for EP & WCY

Ed. Center Planning (CNTRS)

Center Meetings (CNTRS)

Child Staffing (CNTRS)

INSIDE

Pg. 2– Marshmallow Challenge

Pg. 3– Community Partners

Pg. 3– Kudos Korner

Pg. 4– Six Flags

Pg. 5– Open Position

Pg. 6– Smart Shopping

Mission Statement Children will enter school healthy, ready to learn, and with age-appropriate skills by partic-ipating in Southern Oregon Head Start and Early Head Start. Southern Oregon Head Start will support family well-being and nurturing relationships between children and parents, and will encourage lifelong learning for both children and parents. Southern Oregon Head Start will be recognized as a leader in our community in providing high-quality services for children age birth to 5 years. Our employees will be highly competent, well-qualified, competitively compensated, and dedicated to the work they do. Southern Oregon Head Start will be well-managed to maintain high-quality services.

The Weekly Memo

“Our greatest natural

resource is the minds of our

children.” — Walt Disney

Teachers Tim Adams and Marissa Shafer celebrating Dr. Seuss

Week at the White City center.

Submitted by Katie Ulrey

2013-2014, Issue 24 Page 2

What is the Marshmallow Challenge?

Split staff into 4-6 person groups. Give them mini marshmallows and uncooked

spaghetti noodles. As a team they have 15-18 minutes to build the tallest tower

and at the end of the 15 minutes the team with the tallest tower that is free

standing is the winner. Encourage teams to work together and even create a

friendly competition by talking about the progress of each team as they go. For

even more fun and to add to the atmosphere, play some music. Below is a list of

songs that last just about 15-18 minutes. I then sent an email to all staff that

participated with some follow up re-

flection questions about the team, how

they communicated, what was difficult

and what was the most fun. We will

share at the next CM.

Right Now by Van Halen

The theme from Rocky

Olympic FanFare by John Williams

The Final Countdown by Europe

Submitted by Katie Ulrey The Winners!

We are happy to announce the addition of Stacey Delgado to the Transportation Department. She is a certified behind-the-wheel trainer and examiner and will be a great addition to our team. Welcome,

Stacey!

Thank you,

Brenda Moon, Transportation Supervisor

Judy Brown, Operations Manager

2013-2014, Issue 24 Page 3

On February 6, 2014 Nancy Nordyke presented Dr. Ortiz with the Head Start agency award

in recognition of the experience, knowledge, and generosity she provides Head Start, the

children and the families we serve. Dr. Ortiz, a local dentist at Grinz for Kids, demon-

strates her commitment to Head Start by providing dental services to children in our pro-

gram

and serving on the agency’s Health Services Advisory Committee. Head Start is thankful to

have Dr. Ortiz as a partner in our mission to prepare children for success in school and

throughout life. Thank you Dr. Ortiz! Submitted by Rachel Dunn, EHS Health Supervisor

Early Head Start has partnered with Capitol Dental to provide early dental examinations

and fluoride treatment for children in our program. After receiving consent from parents,

Matt Tripp, the Extended Practice Dental Hygienist from Gentle Dental travels to all four

Early Head Start centers to provide these services during school hours. Along with the

benefits of early identification of dental caries and cavity prevention, the time Matt

spends with children encourages them to feel secure about future dental exams. Early

Head Start appreciates the partnership with Capitol Dental and the services they provide.

Submitted by Rachel Dunn, EHS Health Supervisor

Thank You to all who supported the Wilson Center moving to and from Merriman A. As they say, it takes a vil-

lage and a couple of days to transform a storage area back into a classroom. Amazing what can be done when we

all work towards the same goals.

Thanks again, Robin Hill Area Manger and Wilson staff

I would like our Maintenance Department to be acknowledged for all of the hard work that they do. Their response

time in, our time of need is impeccable and their ability to work with the entire agency to meet everyone’s needs is

impressive. Every time you leave our center, things are better than when you arrived! Thank you!

Sincerely, Carey Gilbert, Early Head Start Grants Pass

KUDOS to HEIDI TUCKER!

Heidi has a special little bond with one of our students at FRC. He comes to visit her at her window often on his

way to class and after school.

We have had a hard time getting this little guy to wear his glasses for quite a while now and HEIDI has got the magic

touch!

He has been wearing his glasses for 4 DAYS IN A ROW NOW! (More by the time this memo comes out, I am sure)

Heidi has been giving him special stickers (and even a fresh cut flower once) when he wears his glasses to school!

He is so proud of himself!

WAY TO GO HEIDI! Sometimes it take just that SPECIAL PERSON to MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

Submitted by Sherry Whaley, Health Screener

2013-2014, Issue 24 Page 4

Early Head Start

Current Open Positions

EHS Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visitor (MIECHV)

Home-Based Specialist

Non-Exempt/Bargaining Position

40 hours per week/49 weeks per year

Position requirements: AA in Early Childhood Education is required, BA preferred; Candidates must have a minimum of one year experience in an early childhood setting working with pregnant women or parents of infants/toddlers; strong knowledge of child nutrition, health, safety, and special needs; demonstrated skill in strengthening the parent/child relationship; high level of computer proficiency; general knowledge of community resources. Job duties include: partnering with parents and prenatal women through home visits, parent/child so-cialization, health follow-up, child growth and development, peer counseling, and resource referral; excellent verbal and written communication, interpersonal, group facilitation, adult training, efficient organization of workflow and meeting report deadlines; represent SOCFC and coordinate with other MIECHV programs.

EHS Teacher Assistant

and

EHS Center Assistant

Non-Exempt / Bargaining Positions in Jackson County

Teacher Assistant position hours per week TBD and 49 weeks/year

Center Assistant position is 38 hours/week and 49 weeks/year

Must have a high school diploma or equivalent required. Child Development Associate or Step 7 on the Oregon Registry required for Teacher Assistant, preferred for Center Assistant. Mini-mum one year experience working with 0-5 year old children in an early childhood setting. Ability to apply the understanding of developmentally appropriate activities of children and meet and promote the social-emotional, physical and cognitive development needs of chil-dren. Must have excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills and comput-er proficiency. Responsible for the care, safety and well-being of children and demonstrates and models pre-dictable and nurturing care giving routines. Actively participate in

debriefs, observations, planning of child care routines and set up of child care

environment. Assists with daily maintenance of equipment, materials and facility cleaning.

Internal candidates must complete an internal application, along with a current, detailed resume and submit to Human Resources no later than Friday, March 21, 2014 at 5:00 p.m.

2013-2014, Issue 24 Page 5

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