Nominations open for outstanding professionals in child development

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

Nominations are open for the 2016 Child Development Professional Awards of Excellence. Child development professionals spend thousands of hours contributing to making a difference in the lives of Alberta’s children every day.
To be considered eligible for nomination, individuals must work with children in licensed or approved child-care programs, early-childhood development programs or Parent Link Centres. They may also work in early childhood services programs that are approved through Alberta Education or Alberta Human Services.
Out-of-school care, before-and-after care, daycares, preschools and family dayhome agencies will all be eligible for consideration. In addition, staff who have some sort of early learning and childcare training and who are working with school-aged children are also eligible to apply.
Lorna Anton, program consultant at the early childhood development branch at Alberta Human Services, said parents or the program itself can nominate someone or themselves for an award.
“They need to be able to show excellence in things like community partnerships or diversity,” said Anton.
Nine awards will be presented to child development professionals for demonstrating excellence in the categories of innovative programming, inclusionary practices, collaborative partnerships, leadership, promising practices, family/parent support, community building and continuous improvement.
Three awards will be presented in each category including individuals, teams and programs, and all categories must provide a short letter about why they should be nominated and must meet certain selection criteria.
Lisa Daniel, childcare services manager at Community & Family Services in the municipality of Jasper, won as part of a program at the awards last November for Jasper’s out-of-school program.
The program won for innovation and leadership and its use of the outdoors. The program prides itself on using the natural environment as a teacher, and spending a lot of time outside. It also uses Jasper National Park as part of programming.
“I think it’s definitely great to be recognized by the province. It has definitely brought some recognition to our town and to our programming,” said Daniel. “We felt pretty good as a staff being recognized because we definitely felt we do a good job.”
Alberta’s Minister of Human Services Irfan Sabir recently stated: “Every family deserves access to quality services and programs that contribute to a brighter future for their children. The professionals who provide these valued services deserve our appreciation and recognition.”
Once the nominations are in, a selection committee will choose recipients for each category. The selection committee will be comprised of past recipients and other individuals from the early learning and childcare field. This may include colleges and licensing officers from the region.
The awards help form an integral part in promoting the well-being of young children.
“These folks who are nominated and win these awards are the people who are looking after our children every day and get very little thanks, and so it’s a really big deal when they’re nominated and when they win,” said Anton.
The Minister of Human Services will present the nine awards at an awards ceremony and luncheon on Nov. 21 at the 11th annual Child Development Professional Awards of Excellence at the Government House in Edmonton.
To nominate an individual, team or program, please visit their website (http://www.humanservices.alberta.ca/department/15373.html).