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Inside this issue:
Parent Education
| Grant Opportunities | Co-Op Festival | Insurance Coverage | In Memory of Susie Stone | New Member Welcome
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October 2018
Vol. 48 No.9
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Cooperatively Speaking
The Latest News from PCPI
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Hello!
Now that fall is officially here, it's time to renew your membership in PCPI for 2019. Invoices were sent out at the end of September, with payment due November 1.
There are lots of great reasons to be a member of PCPI. Among them are the many funding opportunities made available to member schools and councils, including grants to build community, to support parent education programs, and for travel to the annual meeting. Applications for open grants are included below. We are excited to see your proposals!
Cooperatively yours,
Dianne Rose, M.Ed.
Editor, Cooperatively Speaking
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Furthering Parent Education
by Lisa Meyer
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Parent education is the foundation of cooperative education. To help fund parent education projects, PCPI members in US based schools and councils can apply for a mini-grant from the Becky Allen Fund. Canadian schools and councils can apply for the Katharine Whiteside Taylor Grant. (See current grant information below)
Last year,
Chelsea Children's Cooperative Preschool in Chelsea, MI was awarded $400 to fund a parent library. The grant covered the cost of the books, which includes texts from the leading edge of child development research, as well as tried and true practices for parents to incorporate into daily life with their children. When parents return the materials, the school asks them for brief written feedback based on their experience with the book or suggestions for other borrowers. The practice allows the school to track the success of the project as well as encouraging collaboration and communication between parents.
In addition, Spring-Mar Cooperative Preschool in Burke, VA was awarded $100 to help support a parent education program about incorporating the outdoors into daily life. Guest speaker Rebecca P. Cohen, the author of a parenting book and a children's book series, shared her story of how the outdoors came to be a welcome parenting tool every day, and how it brought her family closer together. She also shared practical tips and her favorite outdoor activities for children.
Over the years many cooperative preschools have benefited from a range of parent education programs supported by the grants. Topics have included various aspects of child development, such as the social/emotional and dealing with challenging behaviors, speech and language, techniques to support play-based learning, nutrition and more. Schools have invited a variety of speakers including psychologists, college professors, occupational therapists, and authors, as well as their own expert staff to provide programs.
Your school or council could be the next recipient of funds to support a parent education program that is just right for you.
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Rebecca Allen
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Dr. Katharine Whiteside Taylor
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Thank you to those of you who have made contributions in memory of
Becky Allen
and of
Dr. Katharine Whiteside Taylor, who devoted their lives to early childhood education and the importance of parent involvement.
If you would like to contribute, please send your check to:
Parent Cooperative Preschools International (PCPI)
PO Box 230327
Portland, OR 97281-0327.
Please make your checks payable to PCPI with a notation that it is for the Becky Allen Fund or the Katharine Whiteside Taylor Grant. Donations are tax deductible in the US and Canada.
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Current Grant Opportunities for Schools and Councils
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U.S. and Canadian preschools with direct membership in PCPI are eligible for grants. Member councils may apply for a grant to fund a council cooperative project. Membership materials are available on our
website
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In an effort to streamline communications and to align with school schedules, PCPI has aligned the cycles for all of our grants. Applications for all grants are due by midnight December 15th, 2018. Grant award decisions will be made by January 15, 2019.
Be sure to send in your applications soon!
Here's a list of what's coming up:
Cooperative Spirit Grant
PCPI supports and encourages parent involvement, parent participation and parent education in early childhood education programs. The newly developed Cooperative Spirit Grant provides financial support for schools who have an idea for increasing parent involvement and participation by initiating a project that will make their school a better place for their children and leave a legacy for future classes. The total grant amount is up to $1,500 to fund one or more programs.
Becky Allen Fund Grant (United States)
The Becky Allen Fund offers an annual grant to one or more cooperative preschools to help fund a parent education project. US based member schools and councils can apply for a mini-grant of up to $500 from the Becky Allen Fund to secure financial support for a parent education project (Canadian members are eligible to apply for the Katharine Whiteside Taylor Grant).
Katharine Whiteside Taylor Grant (Canada)
The Katharine Whiteside Taylor grant offers annual funds to one or more Canadian parent cooperative preschools or councils to help fund a parent education project or other activity that helps members improve in their role as parents.
Parent education topics from the categories of Child Development,
Behavioral
Guidance, Nutrition, and Health and Safety will be considered for the grant. The total grant amount is up to $500 to fund one or more programs.
(US members are eligible to apply for the Becky Allen Fund Grant.)
Apply for the
Katharine Whiteside Taylor Grant by December 15, 2018.
NCBA Education Grant Opportunity
The Cooperative Development Foundation has recently established the
Cooperative Education Fund with a
mission to expand and enhance cooperatives through research, teaching, extension, innovation and development.
Through grant making, the fund will support cooperative research, sponsor cooperative education events and scholarships, and develop cooperative education materials and programs. The planned a
nnual impact includes $90,000 - $100,000 in grants, sponsorships and scholarships:
- 10 -15 grants to support cooperative education programs
- 6 - 10 event sponsorships
- Individual scholarship support through the grant to the Ralph K. Morris Foundation
The fund will accept grant applications twice a year with deadlines on May 1 and October 1
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2018 Co-Op Festival: Will You Be There?
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October is National Co-op Month,
an opportunity to celebrate the many ways cooperatives are using innovation to create shared prosperity for their members and communities, our schools included.
The theme of this year's
National Co-op Month
, "Co-ops See the Future," embodies what co-ops envision and work to achieve every day -- a more sustainable and inclusive tomorrow.
Co-Op Festival October 6-7
If you happen to be near
Washington, D.C.this coming weekend, take time to celebrate at the
2018 Co-op Festival on the National Mall.
PCPI and our member schools will be represented in a tent sponsored by the C
ity of Greenbelt, MD, a cooperative town and home to PCPI members Lisa Meyer and Leta Mach. Stop by between 11am and 6pm on October 6th or 7th and say hello if you have the chance!
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| Meet & Greet at NAEYC Annual Conference? |
The
NAEYC Annual Conference
will be held in Washington, DC November 14-17. Will you or someone from your school our council be attending? We'd love to plan a co-op meet and greet, so please fill out this very quick survey to let us know if you'll be there.
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Non-Fault Accident Medical Insurance Coverage
by
Sean Slater and Lisa Mault
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Things happen in life. Sometimes things happen because someone else was at
fault. Other times things just, well, happen. When working with children, you never know what is going to happen. Children can get hurt just because they are doing what they do best, being a child. They can get injured at home, on the playground, in the classroom, really anywhere they go or are playing or are learning during the day.
With the high cost of medical expenses, parents sometimes have large health insurance deductibles. When accidents happen while in the care, custody and control of your co-op/preschool, now it becomes a big deal to parents may look to you to help pay their medical expenses.
To best protect a business that works with children, a non-fault accident medical insurance policy is a great investment. The advantage of this coverage is that it is separate from your primary general liability policy. This means it does not effect your claims history or reduce your policy aggregate limit when claims are filed. Non-fault Medical pays many of the out of pocket medical expenses (for a parent) when their child gets injured at your co-op/preschool. We have found that having a Non-Fault Accident Medical plan reduces the likelihood of lawsuits being brought against your co-op/preschool, which keeps your insurance premiums low.
A flyer has been mailed to each PCPI member school to explain the coverage in more detail along with the exclusions and limitations of the policy. The coverage provides a maximum medical benefit limit of $25,000 per accident per child. The plan chosen by PCPI is a primary coverage plan with a $100 deductible. This means that parents are not required to use their own medical insurance first. The cost per child is $3.85 for the year. PCPI also has chosen to allow each PCPI member site to add parent volunteers to the coverage as well at a cost of $3.85 per volunteer per year.
Thank you for your time and commitment to your children as well as to PCPI. We look forward to working with you. We would love the chance to help improve your coverage while reducing the cost to run your programs. Our office is able to assist with the main general liability and property coverages for your operations as well. Check out our website at for more information about our agency.
Please feel free to call or email us with any questions or concerns.
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Some people are larger than life, and anyone who knew her would say that was an apt description of Susie Stone. Susie, a parent, teacher, and vocal proponent of cooperative education, passed away September 22 surrounded by family and love in her home town of Richmond, California.
Susie served on the board of the California Council of Parent Participatory Preschools, on the board of PCPI, and as Director of a preschool in the East Bay area of CA. She was the recipient of the CCPPNS Life Award, the, PCPI District Award (1997) and the PCPI National Award (2008). Earlier this year, Susie was awarded Honorary Life Membership in PCPI for her extraordinary service to the cooperative preschool movement.
Susie's energy could be felt when she entered a room. She was an advisor to many and a lifetime advocate for children and families. Her passion will live on in those who had the privilege of knowing her.
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Shout Out to New Members!
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We'd like to offer a warm welcome to our newest member schools. We look forward to getting to know you better!
Lake Oswego, OR
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Bethesda, MD
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| Share Cooperatively Speaking with Friends |
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Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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