Featured Program:  
Provider Appreciation Day

Focus on Sue Williamson, Activist and Creator of Provider Appreciation Day

What follows is Sue’s story of the creation of Provider Appreciation Day.

In 1995, a small private child-care program based in New Jersey followed its mission to support the family child-care providers with whom it works by creating a special day of recognition. This idea had grown out of a staff meeting and was led by the president of the program and two office directors. This turned into Provider Appreciation Day and I am now Executive Director of that program and have taken on the additional volunteer role of National Co-Chair.

When my colleagues and I started the work to create Provider Appreciation Day, we had no grand plan, no idea of where it would take us. We started it out of a feeling that, by gosh, there “oughta” be a day of recognition for the people who work with young children. If there were “cow” days in Vermont and days dedicated to any number of other things around the country, shouldn’t there at least be one for child care providers? We did some research and discovered that while there were a few isolated initiatives in some states, there was no national day of recognition for child care providers. That year, we tested the idea with the parents in our program and had a successful and positive response. As we talked to other child care professionals in the state, they too wanted to become involved. We brought the initiative to our state Child Care Advisory Council and, with their support, made it a statewide project and started talking to other early childhood advocates around the country. By the early spring of 1996, we announced the first national Provider Appreciation Day at the New York State Family Child Care Conference. We were off and running! We talked to everyone we knew, and people we had never met. We reached out to early childhood organizations throughout the country to spread the word – attended every national conference we could – and relied on relationships we had built up with others to help our vision become real. The response told us that this was an idea whose time had come. We quickly set up an office, incorporated, and established a toll-free phone number. One of the first things we did was to create a complimentary press kit and made it available to everyone who called. My office copy machine worked overtime, and my living room was filled with shipping materials! Oh, my goodness, what had we started?

When we began the work of Provider Appreciation Day, we had a clear vision of our goals. They were simple – first, to have a little fun, and second, to establish a day of recognition for everyone who works with young children, a day of celebration of the work we do, and to offer an opportunity to advocate for the many things that are needed to advance the field of early childhood: respect for teachers and caregivers, better wages, better working conditions, zoning, insurance, access to professional development – the items that are still needed to this day. Advocates called us for guidance – how did we want them to participate, did we want a march on Washington?! Again, we were clear in our vision. We felt that each group needed to create their own events and celebrations by involving their own members and by reaching out to other early childhood organizations in their area. In that way, they would be creating something that not only met their local priorities, but would also instill a sense of ownership and empowerment.

 A call from South Bend, Indiana was one of the first that spoke of an initiative that addressed all of the goals of the national Campaign. The Resource and Referral Agency had decided to do something special. The Board member who made contact with the office explained that her husband and brother were on the local Fire Department. They had decided to deliver “goodie bags” to each family child care provider in their area filled with program enhancement information, fire safety tips, and special “goodies” that had been donated by local businesses for the provider and the children in her care. The Fire Department would visit each provider with the fire truck and they would present each provider with a gift bag. This advocate became a valued colleague and continued to support events in South Bend annually.

This simple project affected many circles of influence and helped to show us how much a single event could make a difference. First, the gift bags and personal visits gave providers individual recognition for their work and enhanced their feelings of self-worth. The method of delivery, the Fire Department, added an additional layer of fun to the celebration. The children loved seeing the fire trucks and fire fighters up close. This had an impact on the provider’s primary circle of influence; herself, her home and family, and the children whom she served. The Fire Department had an opportunity to be seen in a different way as a community support and were able, through the visits, to learn more about the child care community and where many of the children were during the day.

Further, the Department was able to share fire safety information with the providers and each of the families in their programs as well as the other homes in the neighborhood. This reached the provider’s and children’s secondary circles of influence. When news of the event reached the newspapers, this single activity reached the tertiary level of influence. The agency was able to tell their story to the entire city, how their program benefits children and families and the importance of child care providers to the infrastructure of the working community. And it all started with one Board member who took on a leadership role. This example goes full circle. The activity enhanced the reputation of the R&R and strengthened the leader’s position on the Board.

Los Alamos, New Mexico also has a history of community advocacy through Provider Appreciation Day activities. The Maternal and Child Health Program and the local Resource & Referral Agency were early partners in promoting Appreciation Day as a special day of recognition in their area. That first year, they delivered hand made sheet cakes that were decorated with the American flag and said, “Quality Child Care Keeps America Working” to every registered child care provider and program in town. They have continued their support of the day each year, and in 2003 they reported “The Los Alamos County Council will proclaim Provider Appreciation Day at their May 6, 2003 meeting. The Maternal & Child Health Council will deliver trays of baked goods with handwritten cards and a copy of the proclamation to each day care center and those home providers that are nominated by the community. They will also recognize providers at the YMCA after school sites. A plan is in the works to build a ‘brick wall’ (hand made bricks with the name of each provider) in the lobby of the Mesa Public Library so residents can see how important day care is in the community. A (writer) of the Los Alamos Monitor is writing a positive story about day care providers in Los Alamos (B Lauritzen, personal communication, April 21, 2003).” Just think about this for a minute – a brick wall in the library with the name of a child care provider on each brick as a testimony to child care as an important foundation to the town. Each time I think of this story, I get chills down my back. What could happen if this kind of power was multiplied all over the country?

We could fill a book with the outcomes of the thousands of events that have been created, stories like the ones above. Provider Appreciation Day is now celebrated in every state, and with the help of military child care programs, throughout the world. The stories have warmed my heart, and have demonstrated the power of a few individuals over and over again as they work for a common cause. As we approach our 10th anniversary, I can proudly say that it has been an honor to have been able to be a part of the work.

Biography
I was born and raised in suburban New Jersey, and continue to live there today with my husband of 34 years and one of our four adult children. In 1967, when I graduated from Marymount College, VA with an Associate’s degree, I packed my bags, and moved to New York City with three girlfriends and began a career in business and retailing. While I loved living in the city and the hectic pace in the buying offices of a leading NY department store, I couldn’t envision raising a family in the city and keeping up the non-stop schedule. Marriage and family came next and my professional focus changed to children, families, and community activism. Living back in NJ, I began working in our home as a family child care provider. I found I had a passion for working with young children and also with other providers and teachers. I also found that my childhood habit of speaking out against wrongdoing was becoming a passion for serious advocacy work.

I am now the Executive Director of Monday Morning, Inc., a Professional Child Care Management Service and am an active advocate in state and national early care and education organizations. This work has naturally led me to my volunteer role as creator and National Co-Chair of Provider Appreciation Day. This work, and the power that I felt connected to Appreciation Day, also led me to return to school to gain my Masters degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College, specializing in Leadership in Education.

One of the most powerful outcomes that I witnessed in our work on Provider Appreciation Day was unexpected. As story after story came into the national office, a theme of emerging leadership came out again and again. Something was happening that was far more profound than single celebrations and feel-good tokens. One by one, individuals were telling us of personal journeys and professional growth. These stories of leadership became the focus of my Masters thesis, “Unexpected Outcomes: Researching Leadership Growth through Provider Appreciation Day Events.” In my thesis, I was able to chronicle the stories of eight early childhood leaders and to research how their own personal histories supported or challenged their leadership growth. For some, their own early childhood experiences laid a foundation that made taking the lead seem like a natural progression in their lives. For others, their roles as leaders came almost as a surprise – something they were not comfortable in accepting. Being able to tell their stories not only relayed information, but also caused them to reflect on their own histories and to accept the power within themselves. Not unlike my interview subjects, the power of Appreciation Day also caused me to reflect on my own leadership growth. It’s been a wonderful journey, one I’m glad to say gets better every day.

Featured Person:

Deborah Conn
A Description of My Work as a Mentor Coach Specialist

It was a week for nostalgia. As I steered through the searing heat rippling off Highway 41 in California's central valley and drove past the cotton and tomato fields where migrant workers were harvesting, I was astounded by the contrast between the bright green crops and the surrounding golden grass covered hills smattered with live oak trees. I marveled at how the landscape had changed so much in the last six months from the perky lavender and purple lupine struggling to thrust their blooms above the brilliant Irish-green grass in March, to waves of orange poppies in April, the billowing blanket of mustard plants in May, and finally the golden grasses of summer garlanded with thistle and sunflowers. And more astonishing than the changing landscape, I realized, was how I had changed and blossomed in the last six months. I was on my way to my last visit as a Head Start mentor-coach specialist (MCS) with a Community Action Organization program in central California, and I wasn't the same person who had arrived on their doorstep early last spring.

My first visit was on March 13, 2002, after the Head Start Bureau decided to use a new approach called 'mentor-coaching' to provide technical assistance to every Head Start program in the country that requested it.

Adults learn best when the learning experience applies to real life, is based on learner experience, actively involves the learner, is controlled or influenced by the learner, is dependent on an safe and respectful environment, allows for different learning styles and individual differences, makes connections, and promotes learner self-direction. (Principles of Adult Learning Amos-Greene, 2000). Unfortunately, sometimes in-service training provided to the Head Start world is what a colleague affectionately calls 'drive-by training.' Participants are entertained (or not) for an hour or two by talking heads on a topic pre-selected by the Head Start Bureau or the individual program administrators usually based on new initiatives or regulations. For this project, we were given introductions to mentoring training, a skeleton outline of what they thought the initiative could end up looking like, a copy of the excellent ACF publication Put the Pro in Proté, and sent back to our regions to figure out logistics and fill in the voluminous gaps.

As the sun was rising over the velvety green mountains and I drove into the valley for my first meeting with the program in March, I had no idea what to expect. I asked myself, 'Did the program embrace this idea of mentor-coaching or did they sign up because they thought it was mandated'? 'Did they already have a system in place'? 'Did they understand the philosophy of mentor-coaching'? 'What would they expect of me'? 'Did I have the skill and knowledge to be an effective mentor'? And most importantly, 'Was I prepared'?

I reflected on what I did know. Mentoring is relationship-based work. It is not an expert consultant coming in and telling a program or proté what to do. It is facilitating a process to help people figure out what they want to do and how to do it, in other words: facilitating self-directed learning. I kept running modification of a quotation from Patricia Neal through my head: 'A master can tell you what he expects of you. A mentor, though, awakens your own expectations' (Brownlow, 1993)

Fortunately, my background and beliefs prepared me fairly well for mentoring work. My personal philosophy and consultation style are based on listening, mutual respect, positive regard, and building a trusting relationship. I have studied adult relationships with children for almost ten years, most recently as part of my Master's Degree program in Human Development at Pacific Oaks College, which has increased my knowledge of the importance of empathy and reciprocity in relationships. I work for a relationship-based organization whose training and technical assistance mantra has been 'It's all about relationships.' And, finally, I have had wonderful mentors who profoundly impacted my life. So equipped with my experience, the training I received, and bi-weekly staff discussions on mentoring, I felt I had a good foundation and was more-or-less prepared.

When I arrived at the program, I met with some staff for about an hour to talk about the mentor-coaching model and the national expectations, and to dispel rumors they had heard. I quickly found that it was going to be a little tricky to talk about the mentor-coaching initiative without opening the door to the real concerns programs might have about the uncertain future of Head Start and controversial topics that were in the news. My first challenge as an MCS: Stay neutral but supportive and informative while building trust. My approach was to first acknowledge that these are tumultuous times in Head Start and particularly challenging for managers who must provide leadership and support for the staff and families. Next, I helped sort out what we knew to be fact about the mentor coaching and school readiness initiatives. Mentoring is so different from most other training or technical assistance Head Start receives that I wanted my first meeting to set the tone and include elements of mentoring so the difference would be apparent from the beginning. I also wanted to make sure that everyone was clear that I was not there as an expert to tell them what to do. Instead, I was there to support them as they constructed their own knowledge of mentoring and decided what approach would best meet their program goals for literacy and children's social/emotional development.

I began our meeting by asking the three to reflect back over the last ten years and identify someone who had been a mentor of theirs, then think about the attributes the person possessed that qualified them a mentor. Next, I had them think back further to their childhood and identify another mentor, and that mentor's attributes. Each shared their mentors' attributes, and I wrote them on a flip chart. Next I asked how their mentors made them feel and charted their feelings. We talked about the difference between a mentor, a role model, a trainer, a supervisor, a coach, and a consultant. Then we went back over the list of combined attributes and circled those that would describe mentor attributes in general, not just their own. I asked if this could be our working definition of mentors as we defined their program's model, and they agreed enthusiastically. I thought with satisfaction, 'That went well. Not only were seeds planted to distinguish mentoring from technical assistance, but I was able to introduce reflection, a key component of mentor and the parallel process.' The activity worked because they trusted the process, and they were learning they could trust me too. In my mind, this is because I facilitated the process, but the work was theirs. I didn't come in and impose my vision or a Bureau mandated definition.

In a mentoring relationship goals are determined by the proté and the mentor provides support as protés work towards them. How could I get that across? 'Ah-ha,' I thought, 'Let's start by dialoging about what mentoring is not.' So we started with that the opposite end of the spectrum where the most prescriptive technical assistance is usually found in a Head Start program, employee progressive discipline ' when a supervisor identifies the deficiencies of a marginal or poor performing employee and establishes minimum goals the employee must achieve to maintain their job. We charted the strategies a supervisor would use and then discussed what the next level on a continuum of staff development methods would be. The group soon began to see the pattern. On the opposite end of the continuum is mentoring, which builds on strengths, focuses on goals set by the proté, and is relationship-based.

When the director and I met after the session, he shared that the program wanted to enlarge the mentoring team to five ELMCs and would be bringing on the Disabilities Manger and her assistant. 'Hmmm'This group is growing.' I thought, 'The initiative was designed to be one-on-one mentoring. How flexible can and should I be'? We needed to come to agreement on what our relationship would be and on the goals the group wanted to achieve. I knew I had to press them to critically evaluate whether the mentoring model they envisioned would fit the initiative requirements imposed by the Bureau.

When we met next, it was with the whole group, and we spent most of the meeting negotiating. Negotiating sounds adversarial, but it wasn't in the least. It was a very easy discussion. First we brought new members up to speed by repeating the reflection exercise on past mentors, and we discussed the continuum of staff development methods. We had a very thoughtful discussion on parallel process and how 'doing unto others as you would have them do unto others' The five-some decided they wanted to explore listening more at our next meeting. Four of the group is extroverts and three know each other so well that they would jump in and finish each other's sentences, or talk over each other. It reminded me of sitting at the dinner table of a large, warm, gregarious family filled with lots of laughter but also strong opinions. Sometimes, it was hard for me to keep up. I wondered, 'Did they understand that stopping and really listening would change their group dynamics, essentially its culture'?

The group also confirmed they wanted all of their teachers to participate in their mentoring model. They felt they could do this best by facilitating monthly educational support groups for small clusters of teachers, and they wanted me to train them on how to facilitate the meetings. By practicing my own listening skills, I could tell they envisioned providing training and or technical assistance at these meetings on topics chosen by the managers. This was understandable as it is the customary training model. I thought to myself, 'I have to help them build their understanding of a support group without using a traditional training approach myself.' Before I had completed my thought, a light bulb went off ' I could model parallel process by facilitating their sessions as a support group. I have over six years experience facilitating educational support groups, so I was very comfortable leading them and know support groups can be a very effective change method. 'This I might be able to do.' The group eagerly agreed. They loved the idea of getting to use me as a role model and then practice themselves. The more important aspect for me was that they would see what it felt like to be a participant. We also agreed that support groups would meet the Bureau's parameters.

At our first 'support group' session, we talked about the importance of having a standardized agenda for each meeting for predictability. We wanted people to put effort into listening and participating, not figuring out what was going on. We followed a sample agenda I prepared: 1) Climate of Care and Respect, 2) Check-in, 3) Topic: Listening (chosen by group at prior session), 4) Open Discussion, 5) Reflection, and 6) Continuous Improvement... Each person checked in and shared how they were feeling at the moment ? making sure people knew they could pass. Next was the 'Topic' the group had chosen: listening. I started it off with a dyad in which they had to listen to one other person and then discussed how it felt to them. A fruitful discussion ensued. Then we had open discussion and questions (mostly about facilitating support groups) after which we did a reflective exercise. Last on the agenda was 'Continuous Improvement' where we charted what went well during the session and what suggestions we could make to improve it. I reflected on my facilitation and openly included my thoughts as well.

I told the group at the beginning of the session that I would inform them anytime I moved from support group facilitator to a trainer roll. This happened a few times during the session. To insure there wasn't any confusion, I literally stepped to the side when I was in the commentator/trainer role. In retrospect, I think it helped them internalized the difference. The session lasted one and a half hours, the same length they wanted their support groups to last. It was rich with discussion and enthusiasm, and I could already see the impact of the listening exercise. The other half of our time together was spent with each of them leading one of the parts of a practice support group. They took the exercise seriously and did so well that I was bursting with pride in their accomplishment. When we charted what worked and suggestions for improvement at the end of the day during 'Continuous Improvement', the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and people felt they had learned new skills. The ELMCs decided (and I agreed) that they were ready to go out and lead a support group session with teachers before my next visit. We planned to debrief their sessions and go more in-depth on effective support group strategies for our next meeting topic. At our one-on-one meeting, the director decided to add improving listening skills to his personal goals. They were off and running. If I was skilled enough, I could nurture their learning and development as individual support group leaders and as a relationship-based team. My meditation as I drove to their program every two weeks for them and myself was, 'Trust the process'Trust the process'?

The ELMCs first practice sessions were very successful. I was so impressed with how each of them was committed to learning from their experience and improving. We used the 'Continuous Improvement' process as each of them debriefed, charting what they thought they did well and listing suggestions they had for their own improvement. I continued to facilitate the ELMC support group over the next two months focusing on the topics of their selection:

How to deal with conflict if it arises 
Reframing negative comments to positive 
Using authentic praise 
Identifying and building on strengths 
Building relationship-based organizations 
Using family partnership agreements to link family and child literacy 
Evaluating support group progress and effectiveness

And for our last session:

Nurturing the nurturer 
Continuing mutual support after the formal HS mentoring initiative ends in August 
As I traveled over the golden hills and past the lush fields on the valley floor to my last mentor-coach visit, I thought of the basket of small folding wooden-cased mirrors I'd brought for each of the ELMCs as a metaphor for reflection. My hope was that the mirror would remind them to continue to reflect on their philosophy, beliefs, and practices as they ventured forth facilitating their own support groups. As I drove, I did my own reflection. What was so interesting to me was that this had been the group that I was the most uncertain about whether I had the skills to guide to success. They had been a little scattered in the beginning -- but by golly, they had heart and were motivated! They reflected honestly on their own personal attributes and set goals to improve personally as well as programmatically. Another reason for their success was the group's willingness to set reasonable goals and timelines. To celebrate their success and our last visit together, we planned to end our last visit eating sundaes at a local homemade ice cream store!

When I reflected on my own growth as I traveled, I realized that I'd done my best mentoring work with this group. Yes, there were areas I could have improved that would have made me more effective, for example, increasing my preparation time. I could have done more research on effective mentoring and increased my repertoire of mentoring strategies. I could have also done more formal reflection and journaling on the process in addition to the simple activity report I completed for the Bureau. But all in all, I felt I had achieved success.

One of the reasons I had done my best work was that my visits were a parallel journey for me as the mentor. I worked to create a supportive climate in which learning and change could take place, and I was willing to learn and change too. I made changes in subsequent sessions when the ELMCs made suggestions during 'Continuous Improvement' at the end of our session. I also always did a self-check to see where I was at on the continuum of staff development I had created and made sure I shared with the group when I was in a role other than mentor, such as trainer. I was open with the group about my learning as we went along, and I believe they appreciated and respected that. Some might question whether being open put me in a vulnerable position, but it worked and created a mutual trust in addition to modeling introspection. It was a true reciprocal relationship and learning partnership among the six of us. I was willing to take on a mentor role and give up being the 'expert' and center of attention. It's easy to be an authority and tell people what to do. It is much harder to wait for people to construct their own knowledge and gain buy-in through their own experience.

The remarkable change in the scenery as I made my last trek into the valley provided me with a metaphor for the changes in me as a mentor-coach. I had become a student of my own experiences, gained confidence, honed my mentoring skills, and defined my own mentoring style. As it turns out, facilitating this support group for five months was a far more rewarding professional experience than the best workshop I've ever presented. I encourage other educators and consultants to explore mentoring as a fascinating and effective professional development model.