DECAL Download

Latest Episodes:

Episode 6 - Supporting the Early Childhood Workforce Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

While many private-sector jobs have fully rebounded from problems presented by COVID-19, this has not been the case for the early childhood workforce in America which has actually shrunk by close to ten-percent from what it was in February, 2020. To better understand the impact of COVID-19 on the early childhood workforce, our partners at GEEARS…Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students…have been conducting focus groups all this year with child care learning centers, family child care learning homes, Head Start programs, and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. Joining us to talk about supporting the early childhood workforce is Callan Wells, Senior Health Policy Manager at GEEARS; Donnis Pace is President of the Georgia Head Start Association and Director of Tallatoona Community Action Partnership….operating a Head Start and Georgia’s Pre-K Program in Cartersville and surrounding areas, and Allison Setterlind is Georgia’s Head Start Collaboration Director here at DECAL.
Full report available here: https://geears.org/research/publications/
The Head Start Heals Campaign helps programs apply a trauma-informed approach that builds the protective factors necessary for resiliency and healing. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/mental-health/article/head-start-heals-campaign
The Georgia Head Start Association (GHSA) is a statewide non-profit organization with the mission to provide education, leadership and advocacy to support the agencies providing Head Start services, and the communities they serve. https://georgiaheadstart.org/

Support the show

Episode 5 - New GELDS website launches in January Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

Two of our websites used for lesson planning are coming together for a new website starting in January. The PEACH (Planning Educational Activities for Children) site is being combined with the GELDS (Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards) site. Joining us to talk about the new GELDS site is Barb McWethy, Workforce Supports Manager here at DECAL, and Shenae Holms, Workforce Development Specialist.

Support the show

Episode 4 - Celebrating 30 Years of Georgia’s Pre-K Program Nov 01, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

It all started with 750 four year olds in 1992 under then Governor Zell Miller. Now, 30 years later, it serves over 70,000 students across the state under Governor Brian Kemp. It’s Georgia’s Pre-K Program, celebrating a milestone birthday this year and laying a solid foundation for academic excellence and future success in the lives of nearly 2-million children. Joining us to talk about Georgia’s Pre-K Program and the 30th birthday is Marla Reisman, Pre-K project director at North Fulton Child Development Center in Roswell, and Stephanie Thompson, Pre-K project director with the Glynn County Schools, part of their Family and Children’s Education Services (FACES).

Support the show

Episode 3 - Meet our Georgia's Pre-K Teachers of the Year 2022-2023 Oct 25, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

Last month, DECAL named our Georgia’s Pre-K Teachers of the Year for the 2022-2023 school year just in time for the annual Georgia’s Pre-K Week October 3-7. The public school winner is Shannon Gibson from Baldwin Elementary School in Baldwin, and the private child care center winner is Alaina Jones from Akers Academy in Cumming. Joining us this week to talk about their experience of being selected Georgia’s Pre-K Teachers of the Year are Shannon and Alaina, along with Meghan McNail, our Summer Transition Program and Outreach Manager, who oversees the Teacher of the Year recognition each year.

Support the show

Episode 2 - Farm to School/Farm to Early Care and Education Month Oct 18, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

October is Farm to School and Farm to Early Care and Education Month…an innovative way to build children’s relationship with food and the local food system through hands-on food education and gardening experiences, interactive and adventurous taste testing, and inclusion of local items into CACFP meals and snacks. Joining us to talk about Farm to School and Farm to Early Care and Education Month is Diana Myers, Nutrition and Physical Activity Supervisor here at DECAL, and Akia Lewis with Georgia Family Connection Partnership and Get Georgia Reading.

Support the show

Episode 1 - Meet Malcolm Mitchell, author of "Hey, Georgia!" Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

Today we are on location at Scott Elementary School, one of the Atlanta Public Schools, as we celebrate Georgia’s Pre-K Week, with a very special guest who just happened to write the new book we are giving to all Georgia Pre-K students and their classrooms called “Hey Georgia.” We’re talking about former New England Patriots and University of Georgia football wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell.

Support the show

Episode 58 - Celebrating 18 Years of DECAL Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

It’s a year of major milestones here at the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning…Quality Rated celebrates a Decade of Stars now marking ten years as Georgia’s Quality Rating and Improvement System…and this school year Georgia’s Pre-K Program celebrates 30 years of high quality early childhood education for the state’s four and five year olds. But sandwiched in between all that is the 18th birthday of our agency as a whole. Prior to 2004, the idea of a state department strictly for children under the age of five was unheard of…and yet it happened officially on October 1, 2004 with Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. Joining us to talk about DECAL’s 18th birthday is Ben Scafidi, a former education policy advisor to Governor Sonny Perdue. Today Ben is a professor of economics and director of the Education Economics Center at Kennesaw State University.

Support the show

Episode 57 - Georgia Pre-K Week 2022 Sep 27, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

This year DECAL and Voices for Georgia’s Children are celebrating the 12th Annual Georgia’s Pre-K Week, October 3-7…our thirtieth year offering Pre-K to students and families here in Georgia. Joining us to talk about Georgia Pre-K Week is State Representative Sharon Cooper, representing District 43 and the East Cobb County area, a frequent guest reader in Georgia’s Pre-K Program classrooms through the years; Polly McKinney, with Voices for Georgia’s Children and Susan Adams, Deputy Commissioner for Georgia’s Pre-K Program and Instructional Supports.

Support the show

Episode 56 - CRRSA & ARPA Spending Plan (Projects Supporting ECE Workforce) Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia received over $2-billion in federal money to help stabilize the child care industry, increase access to high quality child care for all families of young children, and support the state’s early childhood education workforce. The money comes from the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and from the American Rescue Plan Act. Now we are announcing how we will spend the remaining $400-million in a list of projects supporting child care providers, the ECE workforce, families, and other groups. In this episode, Deputy Commissioner of Georgia's Pre-K Program and Instructional Supports Susan Adams discusses projects supporting the ECE workforce.

Support the show

Episode 55 - Chat with Commissioner Jacobs Sep 13, 2022

Show notes

Send us Fan Mail

Our very first DECAL Download podcast was September 24, 2018, and we began with a simple Chat with Commissioner Jacobs. Over the past four years, these episodes have proven to be among our most popular so we always try to take some time for your questions gathered from our DECAL team and on our social media channels. In this episode, Commissioner Jacobs discusses everything from the $2.1 billion DECAL received in COVID relief funding to the tenth anniversary of Quality Rated in Georgia, and how she celebrated by throwing the ceremonial first pitch for the Braves on September 4, 2022.

Support the show

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected