Area child care providers can receive help with tuition, fees and books at Wor-Wic Community College as part of a new Child Care Career and Professional Development Fund (CCCPDF) provided by the Maryland Department of Education.
The fund will provide $78,000 for up to 30 eligible currently-enrolled students or child care providers who enroll in Wor-Wic’s associate of applied science degree early childhood education program, the associate of arts in teaching degree program in early childhood education for those who want to transfer to a four-year institution and earn a bachelor’s degree to teach pre-kindergarten through third grade, or the associate of arts in teaching degree in elementary education/generic special education PreK-12 for graduates who want to transfer to a four-year institution to major in elementary education or special education.
According to Dr. Colleen C. Dallam, dean of general education, “the CCCPDF will improve the postsecondary credentials of Lower Eastern Shore child care providers, thereby increasing the quality of care for children during the early critical years of development.”
Vanessa Jones-Warner of Salisbury, director of the God’s Little Angels Learning Center in Fruitland, is the first recipient of the funds. Jones-Warner is enrolled in the associate of applied science degree program in early childhood education at Wor-Wic, and plans to transfer to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to obtain a bachelor’s degree in child development.
Current Wor-Wic students majoring in early childhood education and area child care providers interested in applying for the funding should contact Terry Crenshaw, Child Care Career and Professional Development Fund specialist, at (410) 334-6903.
