Exchange Fellowships

Overview

The VTAEYC Exchange Fellowship is for early childhood educators and allies who want to work at the intersection of early childhood and pressing societal issues related to our planet, equity, our communities, and creative arts. Fellows work in a topic team, one from the early childhood world and another who is passionate and active in other ways related to the topic area.

Fellows have the opportunity to build content, relationships, and engagement opportunities for the specific intersection topic they are exploring. The goal is to engage in the exchange of information, resources, and perspectives related to each topic, both from the lens of young children and families and the specific fields of study and work.

Program Details

Requirements

Fellows should plan to commit approximately 2-3 hours per week for nine months.

Fellows should also:

Benefits

Fellows will recipient support and mentorship from the Fellowship coordinator and current and past fellows.

In addition, VTAEYC also provides:

Current Fellows

Our Planet x Young Children

“I consider myself a nature-based early childhood educator and am passionate about helping other educators embrace nature and sustainability in their classrooms, programs, and schools. I believe that in early childhood, we have the opportunity to help young children feel a connection to the planet that will spur them to become lifelong stewards.”

Our Equity x Young Children

“I feel honored to have a very diverse population of children here in Central Vermont. It inspires me to share what I have learned about being open, accepting, and encouraging for all families to share their culture and history with us.”

“A sense of community and belonging is more necessary now than ever. Families are feeling isolated, schools are struggling with behaviors, children are not equipped with the tools to cope with the amount of stress, and parents are needing support. Children and families need communities to wrap around them and find ways to offer support to one another, to know that no one is alone in this. I feel this to my core.”

Our Communities x Young Children

“I have supported individual and community groups all around the world in improving social and material environments for play. My work has been in connecting disparate stakeholders around children’s play, and supporting those relationships over time.”

“Almost all of my work intersects with children and families. Three related specific passions have guided me since my undergraduate days: community (from both a value and action based perspective) socio-economic inclusion/access and the role and power of language.”