Reminders: Vermont Early Childhood Fund (VECF) grant applications are open through Friday, April 11, 2025. And don’t forget to share your thoughts and suggestions on The State of Vermont’s Children report by April 11, 2025.
“A baby’s giggle or a child’s ask for comfort transcends the need to speak English,” said Sawsan (pictured above), a newly hired classroom assistant teacher at Lund’s Early Childhood Program in South Burlington. “The language of children is universal.”
Like many child care providers throughout the state, Lund’s Early Childhood Program (LECP) found itself in fall 2023 with a dilemma: How do we fill open child care staff positions, and how can we increase representation of our workforce to more closely reflect the diverse families and children we serve? Could there be a solution that supports well-paying jobs for New American families while also making a dent in the statewide child care workforce shortage? With help from BBF’s Vermont Early Childhood Fund (VECF) grant, the answer was yes!
Lund’s Early Childhood Education Program is a five star, high-quality and trauma-focused program that benefits families throughout Chittenden County, especially those who are low to moderate income. Lund’s LECP Coordinator Judy Harvey saw an opportunity to create a paid trainee program with specific outreach to Vermont’s New American community. The goal of the program is to train new potential employees who could apply for open positions at Lund or other child care centers throughout Chittenden County.
With about $70,000 provided by BBF’s VECF Opportunity Grant, Lund began by partnering with local community organizations who work with New Americans to promote interest in a paid trainee program. They also partnered with another fellow VECF grantee, Seed & Sew, for professional development for current staff on anti-bias curriculum and social-emotional learning. Next, the program translated their parent handbook into four common languages spoken in their community—Spanish, Somali, Nepali, and Arabic—to serve as a resource both for the new trainees and for families whose children are served.
The training program began in spring 2024 with a goal of bringing three trainees on board. They were able to achieve this goal and also bring on an additional fourth trainee.
Gita (pictured) is one of the trainees who was eventually hired as a classroom teacher. “I first enrolled my son in the Head Start program and loved the model of educators connecting with the whole family,” she said. “Parents are very involved in the program, and I heard about the paid trainee opportunity through another mom. It was such a good fit; it felt like a sign from the universe that I was meant to be here.”
Gita began working in the classroom in spring 2024 as well as taking classes through Northern Lights at CCV online. A key to her success and the success of the program is a mentorship model that pairs new teachers with more experienced classroom teachers. VECF helped provide an increase in wages for the mentor teachers as they took on this new responsibility. Mentorship and support from Judy and the rest of the staff at Lund created a supportive environment for each of the trainees to succeed.
Gita and Sawsan, another trainee through the program, were hired at Lund last fall. Because of Gita’s hire, Lund was able to open four new slots in their infant room. Sawsan filled a position to support programmatic needs and support multiple classrooms. They are both continuing their training in early childhood education and working towards their associate degrees. Neither worked with children in their careers before immigrating to the United States, but they are both parents and find great gratification in working with children. As Sawsan learns English, she appreciates that children don’t hold judgement about not always knowing the right words to speak, and she says providing a safe, loving environment for her students transcends language.
The LECP Coordinator notes that it’s been important for Lund to provide wraparound services and support as an employer. Once the open positions at Lund were filled, they worked to provide a warm handoff and ongoing connection to partner programs who are hiring to ensure needs like language access and ongoing training are still being met. Because of the trainee program’s success in 2024, Lund was awarded a second VECF grant to continue the training program in 2025.
When Gita was asked what advice she would give to someone interested in a training program like this or a child care provider interested in using this model, she said, “It’s never too late to try something new! Even though English is not my first language and I was nervous about starting a new career, I found something I love. You will find something you like too! It’s never too late.”
