Moultrie Tech to Open Model
Classroom in Tifton
MOULTRIE , GA. Moultrie Technical College’s Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) program and the Kids’ Advocacy Council in Tifton have teamed up to create a model classroom on the college’s Tifton campus. The only thing missing is the children.
ECCE instructor at Moultrie Tech, Kathryn Kent, says, “The Kid’s Advocacy Council (KAC) and Moultrie Tech have a shared mission. We want to improve the quality of childcare in our area and to train professionals to work with children and meet their developmental needs.”
She adds that a model classroom had long been a desire of the KAC, but they never had the space.
Kent joined the KAC board of directors in early 2005 and then lobbied for a location on the MTC Tifton campus to house the model facility. She says MTC president Tina Anderson and Vice President of Satellite Operations Shawn Utley made the space available.
KAC Child Care Resource and Referral Office representatives Mandy Wilson and Carol Weaver, who joined Kent in planning the model classroom, will use the space for monthly training sessions for those currently working in the child care field.
The classroom will also be a place to show child care providers how to use their own space to meet the developmental needs of the children in their care and to encourage continuing education and training.
MTC Early Childhood Care and Education students will utilize the space to set up learning centers and to design thematic units and bulletin boards, giving them hands-on experience before entering the child care workforce.
Joni Fender, also an ECCE instructor at Moultrie Tech, says, “Students can create a learning environment on the real-life scale. Then they can share what they have learned with those in the community and make connections with potential employers.”
While Moultrie Tech will provide the space, the KAC will provide the resources to create a framework of storage, furniture and large play equipment.
Lakeshore Learning Materials has agreed to match this amount with manipulatives, children’s books, puzzles and toys. These materials, when not on display in the model classroom, will become part of the KAC lending library. Local child care providers can check the materials out to use in their own centers.
Kent says, “This is a cooperative effort to meet the needs of all child care professionals in our area.”
For more information regarding the model classroom or Moultrie Tech’s Early Childhood Care and Education program, call (229) 891-7000 in Moultrie or (229) 391-2600 in Tifton, or log onto the college’s website at www.moultrietech.edu.
