A Year in Review ~ Tracy Chambers and Heather Smith

Nancy Sherod and Ana Garcia celebrate the one-year anniversary of their podcast "Tomorrow's Readiness Starts Today," highlighting their global reach with over 2,000 downloads and episodes in 12 countries. They discuss the achievements of San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, focusing on early education and development initiatives. Tracy Chambers, Assistant Superintendent of Education Support Services, and Heather Smith, Director of Early Education and Development, join the duo to emphasize the importance of support for early childhood education providers, including family childcare providers, state preschool teachers, and Head Start programs. Their conversation also shared the upcoming launch of a new website and season two of the transmedia project, "Learn with Me".  As their final episode of year one comes to an end, Nancy and Ana's conversation concludes with highlights of their favorite moments, plans for future episodes (including professional development content) and their excitement for upcoming guests.

Early Education and Development webpage:
https://www.sbcss.k12.ca.us/index.php/en/ess-2019/early-education-and-development

Music by lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay - Where the Light Is

Transcript

Tracy Chambers Heather Smith EED

SPEAKERS

Heather, Nancy Sherod, Tracy Chambers, Ana Garcia

Nancy Sherod  00:00

Nancy. Hello everyone. This is Nancy Sherod and 

Ana Garcia  00:13

Anna Garcia bringing you another episode of tomorrow's readiness starts today.

Nancy Sherod  00:17

We're here celebrating our one year anniversary. It's been a year of great work in early education and development at San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. We've partnered alongside many in our mission to build awareness and supports for all things early ed and in the preschool to third grade initiative.

Ana Garcia  00:33

As this is our anniversary episode, we thought it would be fit to invite our Assistant Superintendent of Education Support Services, Tracy chambers and our director of Early Education and Development, Heather Smith, welcome ladies,

Tracy Chambers  00:45

so happy to have you.  Great to be here.

Nancy Sherod  00:48

 It's going to be a fun episode. We are thrilled to have you both with us today as we jump into this year in the life of not just early education and development, but also the education support services branch with you Tracy as our elite but before we

Ana Garcia  01:05

do that, we want to share some important milestones that we've hit because of all of our listeners. So here we go. Our episodes have covered a wide range of topics central to early education in San Bernardino County, emphasizing collaboration work for development and quality improvements in early learning environments.

Nancy Sherod  01:21

We've also been in several countries. This is really cool data. Think it's really fun. Sorry, we're on four continents. We're in over 12 countries. Some of the big ones that we're part of is Germany, Canada, Spain, even Malaysia, which is really fun and random. So we love that we have listeners across the ocean. 

Ana Garcia  01:39

It's crazy to me. Anyway, we've had over 2000 downloads, 11 episodes

Nancy Sherod  01:45

recorded with this one being our 12th one, our year anniversary 

Ana Garcia  01:48

With numerous partners such as sbcss, community schools, Childcare Resource Center, Cal State, San Bernardino, child development department, and our mixed delivery system team here at sbcss. 

Nancy Sherod  01:58

So lots of fun. People have been through these doors, which we're excited and we're excited now because, you know, it's been a fantastic year of growing more to year more quite a year, right? So this actually launches us into why we're here today, why we have both Tracy and Heather with us. Because we want to do a recap. We want to talk a little bit about you, Tracy, you've been with us for over a year now, leading our branch. So let's start there. Let's start about education, support services, the branch that you're driving forward, and some of the initiatives and some of the great things we've done in the last year. 

Tracy Chambers  02:30

 Sure,  I'd love to tell you about that. So yes, I've been at the county office now about 16 months, and the 16 months have been really exciting and that I've gotten to really learn all of the different aspects that we support in education support services. And so I would say at the heart of the work is really the word support that's in the title of our name. And we really look to how can we come alongside districts and charter schools and offer various levels of support. So when I first came I spent a lot of time learning around the types of support that we provide, so that we could really think about, how do we become one system that can really support districts in a lot of different ways? So of course, early ed, starting with our littles, all the way up to college career readiness and everything in between. And so I can tell you more about that. And Heather,

Nancy Sherod  03:20

you're partnering right alongside there, because our department is new. So you want to do a year in review. What do you want? Where do you want to start with, talking about the department and all the fun that's been happening this year.

Heather  03:28

I would love to thank you. Nancy, I love that Tracy really focused on the word support and one system, because what we're doing in early education and development is really looking at how we can support the LEAs that we serve, those are our districts, as well as the charter schools in San Bernardino County, but also how we can support the early childhood education agencies that we support, that we work alongside. So we want to make sure that we're supporting our family child care providers. We want to make sure that we're supporting our state preschool teachers and paraprofessionals. We want to make sure that our Head Start and our Early Head Start providers are getting the support that they need. So support really is at the core of what we do, as well, as well as looking at early education as one system. In the past, it really has been a situation where early education if, depending on what environment you worked in, you may or may not have a lot of connection or interaction with someone that's working in another environment, nor would you likely have connection or interaction with someone working at a district office, for example, a TK teacher at a school site. And so we're really focusing on intentional alignment and making those connections between the early education and development world with our local educational agencies and charter schools that serve all of our kids. So that's really the focus of what we do in our department, in terms of things that we've been able to accomplish in the last year or so. We. Been very, very busy, which is great. I think one of the drivers that we have is universal pre kindergarten, and how that aligns to our preschool to third grade initiative in the state of California, we look at how we can embed those initiatives and that alignment within our school systems, but also with our community partners and our department is is somewhat unique in that where we we really have a lot of partnerships with external folks that help us get the work done that we need to get done when we talk about universal pre kindergarten, mixed delivery, specifically, I mentioned all those different types of providers and the different environments that they provide services to children and families, they are at the heart of what we do. In addition to that, we have great partnerships with our San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and footsteps to brilliance with our Learn with me project, which we've talked about on this podcast before. We're still seeing an incredible increase in viewership. We're on multiple platforms now, and we are getting ready to drop a brand new website and season two, which is coming here on october 25

Nancy Sherod  06:12

and we are award winning,

Heather  06:14

oh yes, I Yes.

Nancy Sherod  06:15

We are Emmy nominated and awardwinning, yes at National Educational Television, yes,

Heather  06:21

which we're so excited about, we're thrilled. And then footsteps, or brilliance, of course, is one of our core partners. When we talk about early education, specifically around bilingual literacy, or BI literacy, speaking, listening, reading and writing, it's it's really important for us to make sure that our families in the in the county have as many free resources as possible that we can provide them, and so we're really, really excited to have that. We're still seeing an increase in users, just over 13% and just over the summer, summer months, which is a true testament to you, Nancy, thank you for all of the miles that you put in.

Nancy Sherod  06:58

We visited many libraries this summer and community events to brilliance,

Heather  07:01

absolutely, with our communities, our families need to know about it. And being at those community events with your table set up and sharing at the libraries when you know you're meeting with the Mamas and the dads of the two year olds and their story time really is important. And so just you know, putting in the miles and the effort into that. We really appreciate that, 

Nancy Sherod  07:23

and it's been a lift with all of us, because I know Anna's connected with you, with some of the qssb folks, absolutely, we've had CCRC jumping in there. We've, we've done a lot of growth with the pieces of it. So it's, it's a lift for all of us, which is a ton of fun.

Tracy Chambers  07:36

Yeah, I would say that's one of the really cool things about the county office that I didn't know I'd come from a district for the last 23 years. And so what I think the county is uniquely positioned to do is to have the time to build relationships and develop partnerships, and we want to make it easily available to those that we serve. And so I think that is a big strength of what we're able to do at the county office. And we talk about the heart of support at sbcss, we really believe in this idea of collective impact. So how do we gather together all the different resources that are available to make that ease of use for our listeners? And that's important. And so that, again, is something I would want to just shout out for those that are listening. When I worked in a school district. I had no idea how many resources were available. And what we're trying to get better at is, how do our partners know? Wow, I don't need to do all this hunting and pecking and searching and finding on my own. I can reach out to the county and they could be someone that is a connector for us. So super proud of the work, especially in early ed I think you guys have set a great example for the rest of our teams to really build off after

Heather  08:46

Thank you, Tracy, I think it's under your leadership we have been able to build not only the partnerships externally with our partners through collective impact, but also internally. We really have you've given us a platform to allow us and to encourage us to build those partnerships, not only with other departments in our branch, in education support services, but also across branches. So we're doing projects with innovation engagement and the departments down there and so really giving us an opportunity to get out of our silos so that we can truly come together to support the families and the children that we serve. So that's

Nancy Sherod  09:23

a credit to you. Thank the same thing, you have lifted a new layer and really made this an open, safe space to be partnering. And there's so many great conversations that happen again, across the branch, upstairs, downstairs, left, right, and all over the place. 

Tracy Chambers  09:39

Wow, well I appreciate that the team is has been great, and I think there had to be sort of a readiness and a willingness. When I first started, I could tell people were craving, you know, I want to talk to the department next to me. I want to talk to the department downstairs. And so giving permission to people to sort of function and not have to go through a. Hierarchy is really been important. So it's been fun for me to watch. And I definitely, in my short amount of time here, have seen a level of collaboration that I think is, again, only going to provide a better service to those that we support, because that end of your user doesn't care that I'm in this department or that department, they just want to help. And so that's that's been a great thing to see from my from my vantage point. 

Ana Garcia  10:24

So ladies, we talked a lot about a lot of the things that we're currently doing. And so where do you see us going next, with, you know, partners and with the branch. What is your vision for ESS and E D,

Tracy Chambers  10:34

 sure, I can just kick us off and then kick it over to Heather. I think as a branch, we are really trying to speak the the same language and have a way that we again, break down those silos. So we're really working, working on building our leadership capacity. So we are coming together on a monthly basis, and we're learning skills and tools and way that we can really promote the direction that we're wanting to head in. So at the heart of what we are trying to do right is to transform lives through education. So we're really working on, how can we build our capacity collectively? One of the things we're really working on is continuous improvement as a team. We all want to be able to have a skill set that whether a district or a school site is experiencing a need in early ed or in discipline or in mathematics that we all have a set of tools that we can come alongside and utilize to really help build capacities to support that work. So the future direction of the branch is to continue to operate in one direction and really have this shared ownership and shared perspective that we can continue to get better at how we provide support. So yeah, that's kind of what I see, and that's really happening through again, the teams really their dedication and their passion and their interest. I think the team was ready for that when I came

Heather  10:50

so exciting. It's great for the next year. Absolutely, for Ed looking forward to the next year, we're going to continue to focus on high quality learning environments for our kids and families. Through quality start San Bernardino, we have incredible partners. You know, Child Care Resource Center, Cal State, San Bernardino, first five, San Bernardino preschool services department. We couldn't do any of that work without them, and so as we come together under that collective impact model, we'll continue to increase those opportunities for our providers to improve their practice and so that they can see improvement in the children that they're serving. In addition to that, we are looking at helping to support the early education workforce through a cohort that we are working with Victor Valley College on. We're actually looking to find an opportunity that is going to start here, probably about october 21 I believe, is the date, and we're going to be actually offering a pathway for those who are interested in earning their associate teacher permit, which is really exciting. We have the early educator teacher development grant that also provides funding, but that is a reimbursement model, and that works for some folks, but that initial cost for some folks is prohibitive, and so through this model, we're able to start by covering those expenses right off the bat. We'll help them get that permit. We'll help them get their associate's degree, if they would like to do that. And then we are planning a soft handoff to Cal State, San Bernardino, where they can continue their education. And if they want to get their bachelor's degree, if they want to get a teaching credential, it's just there's a lot of opportunity, I think, with that project as it's getting off the ground. So we're really excited about that. And then, of course, we're continuing to lean into our community schools. First Five San Bernardino and us are working very closely with our learning systems and supports department here in the innovation and engagement branch to pilot some some innovative opportunities for three of our local districts to really look at their developing community schools system to intake families, children, zero to five. So we're really excited about that. Too

Nancy Sherod  14:14

big fun projects coming our way. Super exciting. Anything else we want to kind of make sure we highlight as we launch, launch into this new year and we get ready for year two of the podcast, which we'll talk about in a second. But there's fun stuff coming, and you know, I want to make sure I don't miss anything. But no, we're good.

Heather  14:33

Thanks. So okay, yeah, 

Tracy Chambers  14:34

stay tuned right, right,

Nancy Sherod  14:36

always. Well, we really do appreciate you both being with us today as we celebrate this exciting milestone one year, one year we've been here, and it's been quite a year. Anna right, lots of learning, lots of growing. What's one moment before we sign off? What's one moment that kind of stands out to you in those 12 episodes that we've shared with our listeners, 

Ana Garcia  14:54

I think they were all great moments, but one that stands out to me is the third episode where we had the opportunity to have. Interviewed our very own San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, Ted Alejandre, and our own Director here at Heather Smith. I think they really set the tone to what our podcast would be this year and our vision and where we're going. And so I thought that that was a great episode for us to start with.

Nancy Sherod  15:18

That was actually fun, right? It seems like a million years ago. Yeah, very Yeah. 

Ana Garcia  15:24

How about you? Nancy, 

Nancy Sherod  15:25

oh, my goodness, the learning. I think you can always hear my voice when you're listening that I'm like, Oh, I didn't know that. Oh, that's exciting. Let's ask more there. So it's been such an amazing opportunity to get to know some of the partners in our department. We all have our different focus areas, and so sitting in this room with you, Anna, we get to dive into the work and see what's bigger and what's happening beyond. You know, the pieces that we juggle every day in our day to days. But yeah, I really loved our conversation with Cal State. That was a fun one. Yeah, learn with me. Was fun because we were getting to launch it. It was brand new back then. So lots of fun. It's been fun. It's been it's been a great year. Yeah, been a great year.

Heather  16:03

Thank you so much, ladies for doing this for us. Because this is what another hat that you wear in the eed department. It's a fun one. It certainly is something innovative and and we really, I really appreciate the time that you dedicate to this podcast, and I think our listeners do too. So thank you

Nancy Sherod  16:19

and we're getting numbers up there and downloads. So we're excited to see what this year brings with us. And our episode plan for the upcoming year, we're going to continue to visit community partners who are digging into the supporting our little ones across the county. We're also going to add a new layer. So stay tuned this year, we're going to add a professional development, professional learning layer to our podcast, so we're going to have episodes that we're inviting people to share. So do you want to know the best ways to sit your child on your lap and read with them, and things to point out, questions to ask? We're going to have an episode on that. Do you want to know what developmental milestones you might want to look for, or what things that make you pause and you're worried about? We're going to have an episode for that. So it's going to be a great year to have people here that are boots on the ground serving children zero to eight, and we're going to be here for the families, for the educators, for all of the people that are hanging out with our little learners across so stay tuned for episodes on all sorts of fun things coming up. It's going to be an amazing year, so you won't want to miss it. So whether you've been listening to us from episode one or you're just listening now, we want to thank you for being with us for this amazing year. This journey has been one of growth for us, and we hope, awareness of key learnings, ways to support children, zero to eight. Yeah, yeah. All right. There you go. So here we are. We're at the end of our first year, the end of our 12th episode. Here's to a new year of continued learning, where we're going to spend time in a little PD podcast as we move forward as always. This is Nancy Sherrod.

Ana Garcia  17:46

I'm Anna Garcia. Thank you for joining us today with another episode of tomorrow's

Nancy Sherod  17:51

readiness starts today.