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As �ڰ������� works to help fill North Carolina’s pressing need for early childhood educators, it is celebrating the graduates of its first round of Childcare Academies, held in Chatham, Harnett, and Lee counties.

The 61 graduates each completed an eight-week Intro to Early Education class. This class equips them to get their North Carolina Early Childhood Credential, making them eligible to serve as lead teachers in licensed childcare facilities in North Carolina. Students also earned a variety of additionally required health and safety certifications. 

“They were all ready to go out and be employed after this,” said Ginger Harris, �ڰ�������’s Education Programs Department Chair. 

For some students in the program who were already employed in childcare, completing the Childcare Academy program meant being able to keep the job they had already landed. For others it meant being promoted to lead teachers in a classroom.

Harris said the graduates also included a family of four who were planning to open their own childcare center together. Several other students in the program said they planned to continue their education in �ڰ�������’s Early Childhood Education Associate Degree program.

�ڰ������� is currently running a Spanish-language Childcare Academy on its Lee Main Campus. Harris expects to offer additional sections of the eight-week Intro to Early Education class this fall in each of the counties through its continuing education program. 

Community members who are interested in participating in the academies should email Harris at gharr082@cccc.edu. For more information visit �ڰ�������’s education degree, diploma and certificate offerings.