Professional Development Opportunity for the Educators and Caregivers in Jamaica!!!

 May Trip (2013)

Every year in May, Early Childhood Educators and other professionals go to Jamaica to take part in doing workshops and helping out with the different communities that are partnered with SCB. 

At Riverton Meadows Early Childhood Development Centre, the SCB professionals participated in:

• Cleaning and sorting the library
• Repainting the library
• Bringing a new carpet for the library
• Putting out literacy kits for the teachers to access in the library
• Restocking the medical clinic  
• Two volunteers helped  paid to send a community resident of Riverton to school to be an Early Childhood Educator.  

At Jerusalem, the professionals:

• preserved strong relationships, assisted  in the classrooms
• Worked in the children’s residence assisted the caregivers where they needed.

 In the Therapy group, the professionals:

• Preserved the work of Carol who is with  (Therapy Missions)in working with caregivers at the children’s residence
• Working with Sister Catherine to fit identified children with walkers and wheelchairs
• This was the first time with this initiative, and the SCB professionals worked very collaboratively and  respecting the existing relationship recognized by SCB.

 The professionals also did a Symposium where:

• Everyone presented their workshops twice, half the professional team came back on the second day to re-present to a new group of educators
• Collaborated with Dr Stennett to arrange schedule
• Terry (team leader) spoke on a West Indies Radio Station
• Workshops that proffesioonals talked about  included:

• Temperament and Learning Styles
• Early Writing Development
• Social/Emotional Development
• Infant Mental Health
• How to create better connections
• Your supporting environment
• Brain Development
• Slap or not
• Introduction to Autism
• Speech and Language Pathologists

At My Fathers House, the professionals:

• Built on the forum of last year, they presented 4 workshops to the teachers and caregivers
• Topics included;
• Speech and Language Pathologist
• Autism
• Overview of special needs

• Some members of the team supported the care staff with the residents, while others continued to fit children for specialized equipment. 

This is a great opportunity for  Early Childhood Educators and other professionals to try something different and also this is a great opportunity to get  experience with other professionals and gaining new perspectives in Jamaica and you get to know the people in the group who might be in the same profession and is a great way to make connections. You  pass your knowledge to the educators in Jamaica and in turn they  teach new things to you.This is a wonderful opportunity, it is hard work ,but also rewarding.