The Indian Creek YMCA Childcare Centre in Chatham-Kent was pleased to host Education Minister Jill Dunlop and Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP Trevor Jones on Monday, Dec. 16 and showcase St. Clair College early childhood educators in action, completing their mandatory work placements.
It also offered an opportunity to engage a constituent group that isn't quite ready to vote - in fact, most of them are still in diapers - our youngest learners.
"During the past several months, I have travelled all over the province to meet with childcare operators and early childhood educators, and visit centres like the Indian Creek YMCA Childcare Centre. As a mother of three who relied on childcare, I know how important access to high-quality care is for families," said Minister Dunlop.
Education has long been at the forefront of Minister Dunlop's portfolios during her tenure as a member of parliament with the Ontario Government, previously serving as the Minister of Colleges and Universities.
"Seeing the happy faces of the children while they play and learn is a clear sign of the level of dedication and commitment of educators," Minister Dunlop said. "Our government is proud to continue to support and recognize their important work through the workforce strategy that is improving wages and expanding early childhood educator training with partners like St. Clair College."
Elizabeth De Santis, the director of childcare at the Indian Creek YMCA, led the tour of the facility, bringing Minister Dunlop and MPP Jones through the space, highlighting student engagement and mentorship opportunities, outdoor environments, and play-based learning opportunities.
De Santis is a graduate of St. Clair College's Early Childhood Education program, and has been working in the profession for 19 years.
Due to experience with the College and close relationships forged with faculty during her time at St. Clair, she makes a point of facilitating as many students as possible for placements at the YMCA.
Education Minister Jill Dunlop, Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP Trevor Jones, St. Clair College program chair Mark Benoit and ECE coordinator Brenda Huff pose at Indian Creek YMCA on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Rich Garton/St. Clair College)
In 2024 alone, De Santis said the Indian Creek facility took in 15 students from the College's ECE program for their placements, noting many of them end up staying on to work at the facility post-graduation.
"I know how essential those placements are, and I also know how important they are for our educators to stay current, to understand quality through the lens of giving feedback," said De Santis. "If we just live in our own little bubbles and we don't ever see anybody else do anything, we don't actually have that opportunity to self-reflect."
"That comes from students coming in for placement, and that's a unique way to be reflective that we don't get any other way," she said.
In fact, all three supervisors in Chatham-Kent's YMCA Childcare Centres graduated from the apprenticeship program at St. Clair College.
YMCA's Indian Creek Childcare Centre features numerous rooms for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers to engage in the YMCA's Playing to Learn Curriculum, a research-based curriculum regularly cited for its unique and innovative involvement of educators and children in an enriched learning environment.
"It is a play-based curriculum foundational on brain development work and it all aligns with what St. Clair College is teaching now, and with the early learning framework around what they would be providing for kindergarten classrooms," said De Santis.
Along for the tour was Brenda Huff, the coordinator of the Early Childhood Education program at St. Clair's Chatham Campus.
"The minister's visit was a great opportunity to share a snapshot of a community childcare in Chatham-Kent," Huff said. "Our relationship-based profession relies on our community partners to welcome and mentor our students on placements. This reciprocal process builds RECEs as mentors in their professional practice."
Huff was De Santis' professor when she attended the College in 2008 and notes the relationship between students and their placement locations has been a hallmark of the program.
"I am extremely proud and moved by witnessing ECE graduates and students in the early learning programs. ECE students grow their skills and competence throughout their placement experiences," she said. "Graduates become colleagues and can be relied upon to continue this cycle of reciprocity that increases our capacity to serve children and families."
