The Curtis Fund Commitment: A Comprehensive Scholarship for Early Childhood Educators, is offered to Vermonters pursuing CCV’s childcare certificate. We checked in with two scholarship recipients, both adult students who are new to the early childhood education workforce.
Jamison Hylander has three clear goals: “I always knew I wanted to see my kids every day, I always knew I wanted to own my own business, and I always knew I wanted to work with my wife.” For the former EMT from Rhode Island, it turns out that child care is the perfect solution. Hylander and his wife relocated to Vermont several years ago and decided to open a child care business together. When he found out he could get a scholarship to cover his schooling at CCV, he jumped at the chance.
Jamison is pursuing the childcare certificate at CCV with support from The Curtis Fund Commitment, a scholarship aimed at recruiting new early childhood educators as well as bolstering those who already work in the field. It’s a good deal: students not only have their tuition covered but are also eligible for up to $3,000 each semester to help with living expenses and other costs associated with going to college. Made possible by The Curtis Fund—a supporting organization of the Vermont Community Foundation—in partnership with the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children and the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, the program is one strategy for supporting early childhood educators and ultimately strengthening Vermont’s child care system.
The scholarship can be a catalyst for change—and not just for individuals, but for whole communities. Jamison and his wife worked with Let’s Grow Kids to get established as a registered in-home provider. They then became a licensed provider, and they have their sights set on becoming a licensed center. “The scholarship is the reason I [am] full-time in school, which moved up our timeline. It has literally given me the opportunity to be at home with my kids every day, see my wife every day, and expand what we’re doing and further expand it quickly…the scholarship jumpstarted this entire thing in this community.”
He’s taking his CCV courses online, which he says makes it possible for him to be in school given his rural location and busy schedule. And he says the technology is relatively simple. (“If I can do it, anyone can.”) He’s able to immediately apply his learning to his work, and vice versa—his learning is enhanced by the real-life experience of working with children. He acknowledges that as a male in a field heavily dominated by women, he is sometimes met with confusion. “But overcoming that, and being that stable force in that child’s life, is so important.”
“It is incredibly rewarding,” he says. “It scratches that need that I didn’t know I had when I was in the medical field of serving the community. Move to a small town and open a child care center and you’ll ingratiate yourself in that community faster and more than you ever thought possible. We’re connected with everybody.”
Former dairy farmer Carissa Deschamps is trading working with animals for working with young children. “It’s exciting,” she says of making the leap toward a new career. “Even before I had [my daughter] I was getting frustrated with the hours of farming and the inability to go anywhere or do anything because you’re always at the farm.” Pursuing a career in early childhood education “is a way that I can still be active and still get to take kids outside…kind of take my love for animals and nature and put that into teaching children. I’ve always been into working with kids,” she says. “At the farm we had preschools that would come and I would give them tours of the farm.”
She’s using The Curtis Fund Commitment to complete the childcare certificate, and plans to continue at CCV to earn her associate degree in early childhood education. The Curtis Fund scholarship is making it possible. “For me that was a big deal because I am staying home with my daughter, so it made it so it wasn’t so stressful financially.”
Carissa is also inspired by the struggle she’s faced with finding reliable care for her infant daughter, especially during the early morning hours required by farming. She wants to fill a need in her community. “When I had her and was trying to find daycares in the area, I decided that I would try and be part of the solution for having good daycares and being somebody that people can feel safe taking their kids to.” And she wants to gain the skills she needs to be an effective teacher. “I would like to be educated so that I’m not just watching the kids, I’m actually teaching the kids.”
Carissa says she attended college for one semester after high school, but it wasn’t something she was doing because she wanted to. “This time I really feel that I actually enjoy college because I like what I’m learning. I like learning about more ways to teach kids.” And she’s been successful at CCV, citing the many resources she’s utilized, from online tutoring for help with writing papers to career services for spiffing up her résumé. She encourages other students to take advantage of these tools. “Know that there are a ton of resources through CCV, and ask questions…Reach out to people—they will help you.”
The Curtis Fund Commitment is available to any Vermont student enrolled in CCV’s childcare certificate program. To learn more about the Commitment and apply, visit ccv.edu/curtisfund.
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