Thank you to all of our Funders!
Collaborative for Children has much to be thankful for in 2009 because our funders make wonderful things happen in our community!
Please view our video highlight of activities in 2009 by clicking on the picture to the left.
Operation Playground Restoration
 Hurricane Ike may be old news, but for many Houston-area children in child care, vacant outdoor play areas are a daily reminder of the storm’s recent devastation. Swing sets and merry-go-rounds were destroyed. Climbing structures were uprooted. Tricycles were damaged or blown away. And while the dust has settled and debris has been cleared away, many programs simply do not have the resources needed to replace what was lost.
“During the recovery process, we found that many child care programs’ outdoor play equipment was completely destroyed by the storm. What’s worse is that many programs lacked sufficient outdoor play resources to begin with,” said Carol Shattuck, our President and CEO. “This means that hundreds of young children at these programs have not had access to the kinds of stimulating outdoor environments that promote exercise and healthy growth,” she said.
In response, we recently stepped forward to launch Operation Playground Restoration. Thanks to significant local support from the Junior League of Houston, Inc., The Yao Ming Foundation at The Giving Back Fund, and the United Way of Greater Houston’s Community Building Grant program, the project has blossomed into a collaborative effort to not only replace equipment at five child care programs, but to entirely transform their outdoor environments into beautiful, nature-oriented play spaces.
“We want to use this opportunity to help early childhood professionals understand how to utilize outdoor areas as natural extensions of the classroom where children can explore the world around them and learn to appreciate their natural environments,” Shattuck said.
She said children frequently get bored with cookie-cutter playground equipment and get a lot more out of the outdoor experience when they have the chance to explore nature on their own. They need to peel the bark off twigs; feel the crunch of leaves under their feet; identify insects; and play with soil, plants and trees, she said.
In addition to traditional playground equipment, the new outdoor spaces will include meadows with natural grasses and flowers; gardens for growing fresh herbs, fruit trees and vegetables; butterfly areas; and places where children can dig and explore.
Work is currently underway at Kandy Stripe Academy in Sunnyside and will continue at four other centers beginning early next year.
2009 Luncheon a Huge Success!
 In a word, it was “powerful,” “inspiring,” “informative,” “one of the best events of the year”...
Okay, that’s more than one word, but it doesn’t begin to describe the enthusiastic feedback we received in response to our Grey Matters Annual Luncheon held on October 8, 2009. Thanks to significant support from individuals, corporate sponsors and the philanthropic community, our 2009 Luncheon was our most successful event to date, raising over $180,000 to strengthen the families and young children that will lead our community toward a more resilient future.
 David Brooks, New York Times Columnist and Commentator on “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer”, was our highly anticipated keynote speaker. Using a mix of humor, research and social commentary, Mr. Brooks was so entertaining and engaging that the most frequent comment we heard as people were leaving the event was, “I wish the speaker could have talked longer!”
A long-time observer and author on education policy, Mr. Brooks is currently writing a book on the non-cognitive contributors to success. While he shared a few of the intriguing facts he has come across during his review of the literature, we look forward to inviting him back to Houston in the near future for a more intensive conversation and book signing. For pictures of the luncheon, click here.
Exciting News for the Year Ahead
 What started as a vague possibility several months ago has finally become a reality! We are pleased to announce our recent award of a one-time $5.4 million federal stimulus grant from the Local Workforce Board to improve the quality of child care throughout our 13-county region.
“This grant represents a once in a lifetime opportunity for us. We are so excited to have the chance to significantly expand our scope of services and make a lasting investment in the teachers and programs that care for thousands of young children every day,” said Carol Shattuck, our President and CEO.
Our strategy is pretty simple really: training + mentoring + classroom/outdoor resources = higher quality care. First, since Texas only requires child care teachers to have a high school diploma and eight hours of pre-service training prior to caring for young children, we will be investing a significant portion of the resources to train teachers and better equip them to lay the foundation young children need for lifelong learning. We will offer basic training on child development, age-appropriate classroom activities, positive guidance, and classroom management to help child care teachers create positive, stimulating early learning environments. Programs willing to invest additional time and energy will also have access to intensive hands-on mentoring and coaching services that will help teachers bring their knowledge and skills to life in the classroom. Third, we will provide classroom and outdoor equipment grants to programs that participate in the training component.
By the project’s conclusion next year, we will have made a lasting investment in over 2,200 teachers from 430 child care programs. Not only will this touch the lives of the 32,190 young children currently in care at these programs, but it also will impact the lives of countless young children who will attend in the years ahead.
10th Annual Community Collaborations Luncheon and Forum
The Community Collaborations Council would like to invite you to the 10th Annual Luncheon and Forum on Monday, March 8, 2010 to be held at The Junior League of Houston, Inc. Click here to view additional information.
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