NACCRRA
NACCRRA Featured in Hundreds of Newspapers Across the Country
December 2008
Recently, NACCRRA was featured in national publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, and hundreds of other local daily and weekly publications scattered across the United States.
This significant amount of publicity is a testament to the value of our publications, our outreach and advocacy efforts, and the work of our local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies. As long as we continue to keep the issue of child care in the public eye, we will have a far greater chance of achieving our goal of affordable, high-quality child care for all of America’s children. Please be sure to frequently check your Inbox for emails that highlight NACCRRA’s media attention. You can also find copies of major media hits on NACCRRA’s Employee Board in the kitchen/ copy room. NACCRRA also maintains a media clip book that contains all of NACCRRA’s media mentions, which is kept in the Marketing/Communications Department.
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Departmental News and Highlights
Human Resources Updates
naccrra’s accyn conference a huge success CCR&R staff from Army Child Care in Your Neighborhood (ACCYN) and the Marine Corps Quality Improvement Program (MC-QIP) gathered in Kansas City, Missouri in November to focus on the provider quality improvement process. Attendees heard presentations offered by NAEYC on the accreditation process and by the Francis Child Development Institute on Strength-Based Coaching with providers. They also participated in briefings from Linda Smith on the recently-released Lessons Learned report, Rhonda Everdyke on messaging about highquality care, and Janine Fetters on the new Child Care Aware® Parent Network. This was an exciting professional development opportunity for CCR&R staff to focus on how to make high quality child care a reality in their local communities.
NACCRRA Welcomes New Employees Claudina Hannon, Consumer Education Specialist Stephanie Allen, Exceptional Family Member Consumer Education Specialist Eunice Oh, Events Manager Karin Varley, Graphic Designer Kenneth Smith, Payments Coordinator Kidist Kassa, Staff Accountant Sharon Fatheree, Quality Improvement Manager Jennifer O’Boyle, Data Specialist
Half Staffing Days
Happy Birthday!
This year, the day after Christmas (December 26, 2008) and the day after New Year’s Day (January 2, 2008) will be half staffing days for all NACCRRA employees. This means that each employee is entitled to take off one of the two days without having to use vacation time. It is important that all departments maintain ample coverage during the holidays, so please be sure to coordinate your schedules within your individual departments.
Stacey Minott
12/9
Sharonne Byrd
12/11
Linda Smith
12/15
Rosemary Kendall
12/15
Gail Upton
12/17
Jasmine Smith
12/22
Nicole Reid
12/27
Fran Simon
12/31
Bryan Schultz
1/2
Kendra Beasley
1/4
Flexible Spending Account Reminder
Congratulations to the Following for Their Dedicated Years of Service
NACCRRA staff enrolled in the Flexible Spending Account Program (FSA), please note that the plan year will end on December 31, 2008. If you do not use your contributions set aside for the 2008 FSA plan year you will lose it.
Juliet Butler
Holiday Food Items Please be sensitive to those with allergies when bringing in holiday dishes to share with fellow staff members. In particular, please refrain from brining in items that contain nuts or nut products.
Susan Perry-Manning
12/2, 6 yrs
Michon Lartique
12/05, 2 yrs
Don Valentine
12/9, 6 Yrs
Beverly Houston
12/10, 4 Yrs
Jan Terhune Azhar Hamayun
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12/15, 10 yrs
1/6, 3 Yrs 1/30, 3 Yrs
Mike Nosil
1/2, 1 Yr
Eric Awamben
1/2, 1 Yr
NACCRRA’s e-Learning Department: Meeting the Online Training, Meeting, and Learning Needs of CCR&Rs NACCRRA’s e-Learning Department oversees the complete management of NACCRRA’s e-Learning Solution, which is an online tool that meets the online training, meeting, and learning needs of CCR&Rs. It provides CCR&Rs with high-quality e-Learning opportunities to help staff perform their job more effectively and efficiently and the technology to offer e-Learning opportunities to the people they serve. With its ability to reduce time and effort spent on developing and delivering trainings, its cost-saving measures, and its potential as a funding stream, NACCRRA’s e-Learning Solution offers CCR&Rs a powerful advantage in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Bryan Schultz Director of Professional Development Ext. 183
Krystal Jones E-Learning Manager Ext. 208
Peer Recognition Award
Through NACCRRA’s e-Learning Solution, the E-Learning Department will help position NACCRRA as an online training and thought leader and expert and help our member CCR&Rs improve the overall quality of child care in their communities.
Don Valentine, Director of Finance won the month of December Peer Recognition Award. Don was nominated by two separate peers. The nominations submitted on behalf of Don, described him as a team player who does not hesitate to assist a fellow employee when asked. His peers commented on his patience, willingness to help, treatment of respect and demonstration of professionalism and kindness at all times. Also, his dedication to NACCRRA and his work is deemed admirable.
Communications Reminder: With Symposium quickly approaching, staff members’ needs for graphic design, editing, and Web services will surely be on the rise. To ensure that the Communications Team can accommodate all of the requests of staff members, it is vital that each staff member fill out a Communications Project Request Form. The Communications Project Request Form is now available online at www.naccrra.org/staffonly. Simply fill out the form in its entirety, click submit, and your graphic design, editing and Web services requests will be routed to the appropriate person for timely completion.
Don will receive a gift card and engraved award.
NACCRRA wins honors for “Silliest Pumpkin” in Akridge Pumpkin Decorating Contest.
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Events Calendar >> December 19, 2008 NACCRRA’s Winter Celebration >> December 25, 2008 Christmas Holiday (NACCRRA Offices Closed) >> January 1, 2009 New Year’s Day (NACCRRA Offices Closed) >> December 1, 2008 – January 4, 2009 Bull Run Festival of Lights 5:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Bull Run Regional Park >> December 16 & 23, 2008
Recipe
A Dickens of a Tour: Charles Dickens in Washington 12 noon, Washington, DC
Pumpkin Cheesecake Crust
Filling
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 tblspn sugar
3/4 cup sugar
4 tblspns butter or margarine, melted
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin
Topping
1 1/4 tspns ground cinnamon
2 cups sour cream
1/2 tspn ground ginger
2 tblspns sugar
1/2 tspn ground nutmeg
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/4 tspn salt
12 pecan halves
2 eggs
Combine crust ingredients. Press into bottom of a 9-in. springform pan; chill. For filling, beat cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, spices and salt. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Pour into crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes. Meanwhile, for topping, combine sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Spread over filling; return to the oven for 5 minutes. Cool on rack; chill overnight. Garnish each slice with a pecan half. Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com.
© 2008 NACCRRA Vol. I, No. 2.
Ever ponder how Charles Dickens kept Christmas? Find out on A Dickens of a Tour: Charles Dickens in Washington. Led by a character from A Christmas Carol, this event features scenes from the book and historical anecdotes about Dickens’s visits to Washington in the 19th century. As participants make their merry way past the actual buildings that Dickens visited, participants will see scenes from Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 16. For more information, visit www.historicstrolls.com.