The application window for PCPI grants opens October 15, and within this issue, you'll read about how one recipient made good use of these funds this spring. You'll also learn about an upcoming opportunity for parent education offered by Parent-Child Preschools Organization (PCPO) and funded in part by PCPI grants. We hope you're already starting to consider how applying for a grant might benefit your school community this year!

For the first time ever, we are offering a FREE board training for PCPI members. We'll be offering two session times in October and hope you'll share this opportunity widely within your community, especially with those who hold a board position or want to learn more about what this looks like.

Melissa Ranck

Editor, Cooperatively Speaking

PCPI would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Lisa Meyers (Greenbelt Nursery School) for her extraordinary dedication to PCPI and to parent education. Lisa was serving on the PCPI board in 2000 when long-time cooperative educator Rebecca “Becky” Allen passed away. At that time, the Board established a grant fund in Becky’s honor to support parent education in cooperative preschools. For the last sixteen years, from 2007 until she recently stepped down, Lisa chaired the Becky Allen Grant, ensuring that cooperative preschools received financial support to develop creative and innovative parent education programs. Lisa’s consistent support and ongoing leadership has been invaluable to PCPI.

October is National Co-Op Month, and the theme this year is Owning Our Identity. What does that mean in our early childhood programs?

I would argue that a co-op is always the right kind of preschool because the whole reason for a cooperative to exist is to satisfy the needs of its members. People working together to create exactly what they need right in their own community has huge advantages over a large corporation or a school district making decisions that impact your life but over which you have no control. Each cooperative is a unique, independent, flexible entity. Throughout Co-op Month (and every month), let the world know you’re there, doing good work that works for your people. Own it!

This training is FREE for PCPI members. If you are a staff member or caregiver at a member school, this means you!

Last spring, Rutland Parent Participation Preschool (RPPP) was selected to receive PCPI's Katharine Whiteside Taylor Grant, awarded to a Canadian member school with the goal of promoting parent education programs. In May, use of KWT grant funds allowed RPPP to collaborate with several local partners in hosting a virtual parent education speaker event led by Dr. Deborah MacNamara, Tears & Tantrums: Understanding Frustration and Aggression.

RPPP's Teacher Kristel shares, "When this year began, we were struggling to

build community after the past three years of pandemic restrictions. This event allowed us to partner and reach out to our community in a tangible and meaningful way. We had several parents engage in conversations within the preschool that week, both in person and via digital communication. All of the feedback was that they felt it was really eye-opening, helped to change their perspective during the moment of behavior, and that they felt they had received useful tools to add to their parenting. We are so thankful for this opportunity. It was an investment in the lives of many families within the Central Okanagan."

Applications for several PCPI grants will be accepted beginning October 15, so start dreaming with your school communities now about how PCPI might be able to support your efforts!

Thanks to grant funding provided by PCPI, Parent Child Preschools Organization is excited to offer a virtual family education opportunity on October 19th.

Talk With Me! Communicating for Justice (10/19, 7 pm PST) Jamie Cho and Ninderjit Gill

We live in a culturally and linguistically diverse country that has historically and continues to perpetuate language injustice. As a community of learners, we will examine ways to foster effective cross-cultural communication that honors individuals' fundamental language rights. Participants will reflect on their own biases, learn strategies for communicating and listening with intent to learn and understand, and consider actions for equitable and just relationships, particularly with our own children and in our communities.

Jamie Cho, Ph.D. is Assistant Teaching Professor of Justice in Early Learning at the University of Washington. She has her BA in Psychology with a minor in Education and her doctorate in Special Education from UC Berkeley. She has worked in the field of education as an early interventionist, inclusion specialist, teacher educator, field supervisor, consultant, parent educator, and researcher. She also currently serves as secretary on the Washington Association for the Education of Young Children (WAEYC), President Elect of the Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Council (ECTPC), and is a member for the Affiliate Advisory Committee of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Jamie is committed to social and climate justice and works to create equitable and just early learning for all children and families.

Ninderjit Gill is tenured faculty at North Seattle College teaching in the AAS and BAS programs in Early Childhood Education program. She also serves as the Executive Director for WAEYC (Washington Association for the Education of Young Children). Ninderjit comes to her work with children, teacher and families with great care and commitment centering on diversity, equity and inclusion. She works diligently to ensuring those of us who teach, care for and learn with children and families have the skills, knowledge and efficacy to support their development, identity and growth.

Cost: $10

Let us introduce you to Annandale Cooperative Preschool (ACPS), another of our host schools from PCPI's 2023 Annual Meeting. Located in Annandale, Virginia, ACPS demonstrates strong community connections both within and outside of the classroom.

Is there something special about your school community that you just can't help but share? Interested in being highlighted in Cooperatively Speaking? Reach out and tell us more!

A PCPI Members Google Group has been created to give us another avenue to share ideas and information. This has replaced the Yahoo Group which is no longer active.

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Contact PCPI to learn more!