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Level III
Illinois Director Credential
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Rachel Stein
Co-Director of Early Childhood Education
Mayer Kaplan Jewish Community Center
Skokie, IL
Years in Position: 3.5 years
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“I think that the IDC program is a wonderful opportunity for
people in the early childhood field to further advance themselves or validate
their credentials. I think it shows outsiders how serious the people in this
field are about their education and about making the most of their experiences
and what they have to offer. The people who work at Gateways to Opportunity
have been so helpful walking me through the final steps and ensuring that I had
everything I needed to receive the highest possible credential. It is a
wonderful program and very highly regarded and I appreciate the opportunity to
be a part of it!”
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I have always known that I wanted to be a teacher. My mom taught preschool and
when I was a little girl, she would allow me to take off one day of school a
year to come to her classroom. It was my favorite day and I knew that being a
teacher was my calling! I pre-student taught and student taught in undergrad in
a large variety of classrooms, from preschool to inner-city second grade to a
mixed first, second, third grade classroom. This allowed me to really get a
feel for many different types of classrooms and teaching styles. I moved to
Chicago and got my first job as a preschool teacher and running an after-school
program for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. It was a wonderful
experience and two years later, I became the co-director of another early
childhood program in the system in which I worked. It was a huge step for
someone so young, but the learning was invaluable. I took my program through
NAEYC accreditation, planned staff development opportunities, applied for
grants, managed a large budget, and worked with support staff to ensure the
daily functioning of the program.
I entered my Master’s Program in Child Development with an Administration
Specialty in the fall of 2003 because I wanted to be able to bring more
learning experiences not only to myself, but also to my staff and colleagues.
Going through the program allowed me to have a team of experts in many
different, yet related, fields right at my fingertips. The experience was
wonderful. I left my directorship in August of 2005 in order to complete my
degree with a year-long internship that I conducted at Illinois Senator Richard
Durbin’s office. My goal in this internship was to be able to learn how
government affects early childhood education and what role someone with my
background could have in that. It was a wonderful opportunity! At the end of my
internship, my husband Mark, and I had a little baby boy named Adam. I am now a
stay-at-home Mom and am able to use all of my useful child development
information every day as I watch my little man changing and developing before
my eyes. Seeing it all in “real life” brings such relevance to everything I
read about in the books and articles and makes it that much more valuable to me
every day! In my “spare time” I like to read, exercise, take walks, and explore
the city and all it has to offer, with my family!
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