Advancing as a Profession Task Force welcomes five new members

The Task Force for Advancing Early Childhood Education as a Profession in Vermont welcomes five new members. They are:

• Beth Traver Adolphus, executive director of Oak Hill Children’s Center in Pownal
• Cadence Di Masi, early childhood educator at Pine Forest Children’s Center in Burlington
• Laurie Metcalfe, executive director of Northshire Day School in Manchester Center
• Lisa Pike, director of VCP Children’s Center in Bradford
• Nicole Walker, director of Apple Tree Learning Centers in Stowe

The Task Force is made up of early childhood educator leaders who represent the diversity of Vermont’s ECE regions and settings. Our five new Task Force members join an established team from throughout the state with roots in family home-based programs, public school-based programs, public and private center-based programs, and preparation programs. Their primary work is to determine how Vermont might align with the recommendations of the Unifying Framework for the Early Childhood Education Profession. Task Force members also engage with teams tasked with designing how their recommendations could be implemented. Specifically, the Task Force is working on a fair and accurate process to establish equivalency, or to help experienced early childhood educators qualify for a professional designation by showing evidence of their knowledge and skills.

The five new Task Force members join Alyson Grzyb, Christina Goodwin, Jen Olson, Kelly Hayes, Kim Freeman, Laura Butler, Meghan Meszkat, Staci Otis, Su White, Susan Torncello, and Tammie Hazlett on this leadership team. Meet the full Task Force here.

Vermont is nationally recognized by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Commission on Professional Excellence in Early Childhood Education as a leader among states effort to create what will eventually become a national early childhood education profession. Vermont is unique in that our initiative is workforce-led, and workforce members statewide actively participate.

“The work to advance our profession is critical to a sustaining a future for our early childhood workforce,” said new Task Force member Laurie Metcalfe. “Participating in the Task Force allows me to share my insights, have a voice for early childhood educators, collaborate with my colleagues, and discover together, thoughtfully and intentionally, how we will approach this next phase and progress towards establishing early childhood education as a profession. It’s where the ‘rubber meets the road’ and real progress is made.”

Visit our website to learn more and get involved in the work to advance early childhood education as a profession in Vermont.