Tia Thomas took advice from one of her daughter’s early learning teachers and began her own path to teaching a few years ago. Now, the Vancouver mom is a teacher in training at St. Johns Early Learning Center and completing courses for an associate degree in early childhood education.
To help fill the shortage of qualified teachers at Educational Opportunities for Children and Families schools, the nonprofit early child care provider developed Parent University. The program helps parents with kids in Educational Opportunities for Children and Families programs and staff earn certificates to teach.
Parent University piloted in 2019 and resulted in 20 graduates among the organization’s staff and parents with kids in a school.
Then, COVID-19 struck, and the program went on hold. It wasn’t until the spring of 2023 that the organization reintroduced Parent University.
The nonprofit’s St. Johns location, 1904 St. Johns Blvd., Vancouver, teaches kids ages 3 to 5.
Thomas said at that age, the children are learning to write their names, small life facts and how to count.
“Right now, we’re trying to teach in Spanish and English,” she said. “All of us teachers are trying to learn in this classroom because most of our kids don’t speak English as a first language.”
Educational Opportunities for Children and Families offers health screenings, safety guides and mental health support, as well as child care. The second largest nonprofit in Clark County, the organization operates more than 30 early learning schools serving mostly Clark County, Long Beach and Woodland.
Clover Spears, the nonprofit’s senior talent development manager, said scholarships and grants fund staff and parents’ tuition, so they don’t have to pay anything out of pocket.
The organization received $5,000 in seed money in 2019 from United Way of the Columbia-Willamette to start Parent University. Spears also got a $70,000 grant from WorkSource SW Washington in 2022.
Staff and parents in Parent University must have a high school diploma or equivalent and pass a criminal background and child welfare check.
“Seeing the growth in the children and what impact we can make on not only them but their families, that’s the most exciting thing,” Thomas said.
Educational Opportunities for Children and Families hires the parents and staff members who plan on attending Parent University first as teacher assistant trainees, then students in the program start obtaining a 12-credit initial early childhood education certificate from Clark College, which qualifies them as teaching assistants. In the summer of 2023, 13 people completed the eight-week online program to earn certificates through Parent University.
Students have the opportunity to “stack certificates” by completing more Clark College courses to obtain the early childhood education state certificate and an associate degree. Additional certificates qualify students to become teacher trainees and early learning teachers.
“We do complete wraparound services. We’re not just serving the kids. We’re serving the entire family unit,” CEO Rekah Strong said. “Some of the goals that our families outlined were about employment or education.”
Strong said the agency continues to expand its services and staff, but there are still not enough providers to meet the community’s needs.
“There are 4,000 kids in this community that qualified for our services, but because we don’t have enough bandwidth to be able to support those kids, they’re going unserved,” she said.
Parent University will help bridge that gap.
Ten people earned the initial education certificate during the summer, 18 employees are currently working as teaching assistants and five are working as qualified teacher trainees, including Thomas.
Thomas became a teaching assistant in 2022. In the 2023-2024 school year, she started as a teacher trainee.
“(We want) our staff to be reflective of the families that we serve and have shared experiences with the babies who come into our program,” Strong said.
