Janelle Nissen has been involved with Nebraska Growing Readers since it began in 2023 when Laura Cady began working closely with Indian Hill as a test site for writing books and family engagement. Thanks to Nissen and Cady, it has since been a forerunner in hosting literacy events for the program. As Nissen puts it, “NGR hits our mission of that two-generational home-to-school connection as well as getting books in the home.” What Nissen is doing is building a literacy community.
Both Kim Chase and Amy Standley agree on a very specific detail about Nebraska Growing Readers (NGR) books: they fit well in small hands. While this may seem minor, it means that the children these early childhood professionals work with are holding the books, looking at the colorful pictures, identifying what they see; such moments are the early literacy moments NGR strives for.
The Nebraska Growing Readers (NGR) program, which is a collaboration between Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, the Nebraska Department of Education, the Statewide Family Engagement Center, and Unite for Literacy, has aimed primarily at providing free books for licensed childcare providers who can share them with their families, but the books have also been distributed to other organizations where children and families can access them. Al-Hindi said he learned of the program in December of 2023 when Nghia Le, the Director of the Learning Center, showed him the books, which they thought could be useful for the adults in ESL classes to use.
With trust and local ownership, has come a sincere interest in the work Rooted in relationships is doing and a desire to sustain that work within North Omaha. Temeshia Qualls says that she has seen the pieces of the puzzle come together with Rooted work and feels something meaningful is being passed on to the families they work with. But Debra Nared asks an important question: “we may have an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than us, but what happens afterward?”
TransformED accents Rooted in Relationships’ mission to collaborate with communities and with other state entities so as to build stronger infrastructure for early childhood mental health. As Bradley puts it, “It’s imperative to continue to collaborate with other initiatives and programs that support child care providers and the rest of the early childhood workforce. If we can figure out how to integrate practices, we can reduce redundancy and maximize impact.” What better way then for Rooted to celebrate its first 10 years and to set off on the next 10 years of working with communities and with state partners.
In January, Tucker Turtle Came to visit North Platte preschools and the local library as part of Rooted in Relationships’ work to teach children how to self-regulate emotions.
Rooted in Relationships celebrates ten years of connecting with Nebraska communities to build infant mental health infrastructure, collaborate with providers and parents to provide coaching and training for the pyramid model, and highlight childcare professionals and the important work they do.
In the fall of this year, Nebraska Children worked closely with Lakeshore to offer early childhood providers in Nebraska free Calming Corners materials. When licensed Family I and II and Center-based providers completed a 1-hour NDE Cozy Corner training course and submitted basic demographic information, they were eligible to receive free materials from Lakeshore. The initiative continues and will offer licensed providers further chances to enroll as long as the kits last.
The Valley Child Development Center opened in the farming community of Red Cloud in 2018. The Center quickly found a niche when a board member’s niece, Bri and her husband Bruce, who lived in California, learned of the Edible Schoolyard, a program developed by food activist and chef Alice Waters to offer “students experiential learning opportunities that deepen their relationship with food, facilitate learning the skills of cooking and gardening” (edibleschoolyard.org).
In some ways this story begins as a trip to school. Perla Jaimes describes walking with her mother and younger sister. She remembers it was dark; she remembers it was cold. And on the other end of this walk a new school waited.
Growing the Good Life 