HEARTS Initiative Fully Funded!

Working families in Juneau need access to quality child care. The HEARTS Initiative was developed to increase the number of licensed child care facilities and increase the recruitment and retention of qualified early childhood teachers. At the Assembly meeting on Monday, May 14th, Assembly members heard testimony on the HEARTS Initiative and received a petition with over 325 signatures from community members supporting the funding of HEARTS. On Wednesday, May 16th, the finance committee of the Juneau Assembly unanimously voted to include full funding of the HEARTS Initiative in the CBJ budget.

HEARTS (Hiring, Educating, and Retaining Teaching Staff) recommends educational incentives, CBJ Child Care Fee Waivers, and Child Care Professional Reimbursements as ways to improve the quality and availability of child care in Juneau. The initiative is based on recommendations developed through a two year strategic planning process involving AEYC, Partnerships for Families and Children, JEDC, Juneau Child Care Association, and Juneau Child Care Task Force members. You can read a description of HEARTS here and see the original recommendations made to the CBJ Assembly here.

AEYC is very excited to see the positive impact of HEARTS in Juneau and looks forward to helping with its implementation! Thanks to everyone who supported the initiative. In addition to young children, families, and child care providers, our entire community will surely benefit from supporting quality child care.

Bones, Bones, Bones at the Downtown Library

In February, AEYC took over the Downtown library again for our monthly Family Night. The theme this month was Bones, Bones, Bones. Thanks to our special guest, Kristin Romanoff, from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for bringing lots of animal bones for us to explore, reading a story about bones, and sharing her knowledge with everyone!

Special Guest, Kristen Romanoff, talks about bones!

A grand total of 115 people stopped by Family Night in February, all these people put together have (at least) 23,690 bones in their bodies!

Families make q-tip skeletons of themselves!

Q-tip skeletons with each person's face as the head, and dog bone fossils!

Activities included Make-your-own dog bone fossils (you could even bring the bone home to your dog afterward!) and Q-tip skeletons.

Some people decided to wear their bones
on the outside for this event...

Making a dog bone fossil with clay!

Kids in the Capitol 2012

Thanks to the nearly 60 children from local early learning programs that pulled a little red wagon through the Capitol during Valentine’s week to deliver hand made valentines, thank you cards, and the Invest In Young Children packet to each and every legislator.

The children were great ambassadors for the cause of support funding of early learning programs such as Best Beginnings, Parents As Teachers, thread ROOTS awards, Head Start, and Infant Learning.  

Special thanks to Kueni Maake from ABC Center, Lisa Arehart from Tlingtit and Haida Head Start, Roseanne Funk from Neighborhood Kids, Blue Shibler from Discovery Preschool, and Lupita Alvarez, our First Lady of Juneau, a dedicated early educator, as well as AEYC staff Nikki Morris, Robin Bergey, Lauren Brooks, Cathleen Balantic, and Joy Lyon. 

Families Love Family Night at the Turf!

Families in Juneau have been avoiding cabin fever this Winter by meeting with friends and getting some exercise at Family Night at the Turf. This event takes place on the 4th Friday of every month from 4:30-6pm at the Dimond Park Field House (www.dimondparkfieldhouse.org). 

Birds-eye view of the Turf during the month of February

79 people attended in January and 141 people were present in February. Don't let this deter you from coming, at the Turf, we've got enough toys for everyone!

Older siblings sometimes help keep track of their younger siblings!

Thanks to all the dads, grampas, uncles, brothers, etc. who filled out the survey in January about being a guy and caring for young children in Juneau. This information will be used to create a brand new Father's Toolkit with materials and resources for the men in Juneau who care for young children. Your input is greatly appreciated!

Thanks to all the families who donated baby food and other items in February to be given to the SE Alaska Food Bank! Your contribution will go to families with young children here in Juneau. If you missed your chance this time around, we'll have another food drive later this year.

Hula hoops, although edible to some, were not accepted at the food drive!

An Orange in January!

Did you ever wonder how that delicious orange makes it all the way to Juneau in the middle of the winter? On January 3 at the Downtown Library in Juneau, families got together to celebrate citrus fruit and learn where it comes from!

 

Activities included: citrus taste-testing where people voted for their favorite citrus (lemon, grapefruit, or orange?);  and making orange-clove air fresheners!

We were joined by David Ottoson of Rainbow Foods and he read stories about citrus fruit and talked to us about how these fruits make it all the way to our grocery stores in the middle of the winter.

The next downtown library family night is on February 7th from 5:30-7pm and the theme is Fairy Tales! We hope to see you there!

Cool Cats!

The final downtown library Family Night of 2011 happened on December 6th. The theme, Cool Cats, was definitely the cat's meow. Families made paper bag cat puppets and painted their faces like cats (or other creatures).

A family works on their paper bag puppet together.

Rachel from Gastineau Humane Society visited us bringing along her feline friend. She talked briefly about cats and then families were invited to pet our (feline) guest before both visitors returned to the Humane Society.

Children visit with our restless furry friend.

The evening ended with a story about a dog who acted more like a cat and a surprise visit from a big black dog who was, in fact, dressed as a cat!

Surprise! Do you think this dog really wants to be a cat?

Dance Together!

In October, Family Night at the Turf became an evening of dance/movement related activities! Several families were in attendance and participated in free-style dance to some fun tunes as well as a creative movement session where we acted out a nature walk using our imaginations and bodies.

A blur of arms and legs during our creative movement activity!

Of course, the usual Turf activities were available. Many new families attended Family Night in October and were given a great example of what a great time it is! Free dance- and movement-themed books were given to each child who participated in dance activities. We continue to invite families from nearby neighborhoods and communities to attend this event!

Kids hitch a ride as one father gets his exercise by pulling them around!

One family samples the free books before deciding which one to take home.

Time for a snack break... This family has a picnic on the Turf! A common sight at Family Night!