NGR, an initiative of the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, has partnered with Schuyler and other communities like it to provide books in areas where they are harder to find or to populations who benefit from access to free books.
Shawna Rischling first became aware of COSP through her teaching in a preschool classroom for the Alliance Public School system. Her program is funded by Sixpence, which requires programs to serve at-risk children in the community, and the initiative told her of a new training in COSP. Circle of Security trains parents and other caregivers in developing strong bonds that give their children the security and confidence to explore, learn, grow, and build positive relationships.
Sixpence Vice President Stephanni Renn asked Maddie to write a book about Jeter for the new Nebraska Growing Readers program supported by Sixpence , which resulted in Rare is Beautiful. In June of 2024, Maddie and Jeter were able to attend an MFDM conference at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and were provided with copies of the book to distribute there.
Rooted in Relationshsips offered Pyramid Model training to South Omaha early childhood professionals entirely in Spanish, translated materials and resources, and emphasized a neighborhood approach that encouraged community ownership of the work being done. Stacy Scholten says they held planning meetings and provider collaboration meetings in Spanish, as well as conducting training and coaching in Spanish. And because the Rooted’s name didn’t translate well into Spanish, they instead collaborated with the local group to call the project, Cultivando Generaciones Futuras.
Rooted in Relationships now faces an existential moment: what will the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation initiative that celebrated its first 10 years in 2023 look like without the woman who started it all?
“It might seem crazy what I’m about to say,” Pharrell Williams sings from the speaker in a Tampa, Florida, conference room. Attendees dance along, but around the room some are very serious about their task. They’ve been challenged to count the number of times the word “happy” is used in the song. So why have these early childhood professionals from all over the nation been asked to do this in the “Rev It Up, Calm It Down” session they’re attending at the National Training Institute on Effective Practices: Addressing Challenging Behavior conference? They don’t know.
