Category: Chicago Early Learning Workforce Scholarship
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Timothy Avant
Timothy Avant used to live five houses down from the Truman College campus. Now, he’s a student at the college, preparing to become an early childhood educator tuition-free with the support of two scholarships: the Men of Color in Education Initiative and the Chicago Early Learning Workforce Scholarship (CELWS). The former Broadway actor knew he…
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Charlene Barrios
Patience. Patience. Patience. That is the main word that comes to mind when Charlene Barrios is mentoring other parents and educators about early childhood education. She should know since she has spent the last 15 years operating her own daycare center, Kids First Home Daycare Inc., in the West Englewood neighborhood. Barrios initially opened the…
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Evelyn Patino
Evelyn Patino has heard all of the misconceptions about what it means to be an early childhood educator. One of her biggest pet peeves is hearing from others that teachers in an early childhood classroom are simply ‘babysitting’ kids all day with minimal teaching. She also hears that people assume teachers in an early childhood…
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Joseph Rosa-Molina
Joseph Rosa-Molina knows he is one of the outliers within the early childhood education field. Most studies indicate that females make up roughly 95% of the workforce in early childhood education. Yet Rosa-Molina has found a career as an early childhood educator, even if he is usually the only male in his classroom or worksite.…
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Charlette Smith
Charlette Smith first decided she wanted to become a teacher when she was in sixth grade and her teacher Ms. Walker played such an inspirational role in Smith’s life. Ms. Walker was a teacher that stood beside her students and assisted them step-by-step with their classwork to ensure they understood what they were doing. Smith…
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Sinead Abarca
Sinead Abarca found her true calling in education, even if it happened a bit later than she anticipated. When she graduated from high school in 2009, she had a plan to jump right into a four-year university. However, when a scholarship she had planned on fell through, her plans changed. She reluctantly made the decision…