Dawson County Family Partners, (Courtesy)
LEXINGTON — Dawson County Family Partners is excited to announce that 17 Early Childhood Professionals in Dawson County have been selected to participate in a Professional Development experience created as part of the Knowledge Network for Early Childhood Education Workforce Project, also known as K.N.E.W. Opportunity.
The KNEW Opportunity is a statewide project designed to increase recruitment and retention in rural early childhood educators in Nebraska. Dawson County providers selected for the professional development coursework created by the KNEW Opportunity are:
Esmelda Amarente
Marcela Arredondo
Dalcy Bodfield
Kristin Byrne
Arlie Herrick
Taysia Holbein
Suzanne Holmes
Sami Hubbard
Stacey Land
Ranae Lux
Kassandra Miller
Erica Purdum
Darla Rittgarn
Halie Thaden
Mercedes Torres
Presley Williams
Briauna Wuehler
Dawson County is one of the 15 communities that has been selected to participate in the initial phase of this opportunity. This opportunity is a 2 year program which is supported by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, from a bill sponsored by Senator Deb Fischer.
KNEW seeks to learn about how communities build local capacity, support early childhood educator recruitment and retention. According to recent data, 84 of Nebraska’s 93 lack enough licensed child care to meet the demand. This opportunity is helping provide crucial support for educators along with the opportunity to study what community-driven strategies can do to help support sustainability.
To learn more about the KNEW Opportunity please visit: https://www.unk.edu/academics/coe/project-knew/index.php
