“When we identify where our privilege intersects with somebody else’s oppression, we’ll find our opportunities to make real change.”
― Ijeoma Oluo
Attendees enjoying the cocktail party. 
Attendees enjoying the luncheon.
“Better Together!” That was the theme of this year’s 2019 CCR&R Institute held at the Greensboro Downtown Marriott on March 12 and 13, and it was an opportunity to congregate, enjoy each other’s company, learn how to excel at our jobs, get rejuvenated and also to explore how implicit bias affects early childhood education.
Over 170 staff and 24 presenters from child care resource and referral, Smart Start, Frank Porter Graham Center, UNCG, SchoolHouse Connection, Self Help, the Salvation Army, the Abecedarian Education Foundation, MomsRising and many more gathered from every region across the state for the annual CCR&R professional development conference. Sponsors of the event included Kaplan Early Learning®, Lakeshore Learning®, Discount School Supply®, Teachstone®, The Greensboro Convention and Visitors’ Bureau and Self Help Credit Union. The NC CCR&R Council could not convene the conference without these corporate champions!
Conference highlights included:
- ThinkBabies® Train the Trainer through the NC Early Education Coalition, Dr. Kristi Snuggs’ opening plenary speech about upcoming opportunities and positive changes at the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education and the terrific keynote and session from Dr. Walter Gilliam on implicit bias in early education!
- Session attendees also learned about increasing access to subsidized child care for children experiencing homelessness and how to be a better advocate for babies and toddlers.
- Technical assistance and professional development staff received training on helping child care providers understand and address children’s challenging behaviors and the benefits of coaching and mentoring when working with teachers in the classroom.
- The impacts of family separation on immigrant families and processes to strengthen resilience among children was a popular subject.
- Save the Children shared the unique needs of children in emergency situations and offered a continuing education credit on helping children cope with crisis and helping caregivers recover!
- Paid family leave was a topic as well as using multicultural books in the classroom.
- Community Self Help taught CCR&Rs how to help providers construct budgets that work in their favor as well as recognizing trends and formulating the true cost of child care.
Tuesday night’s reception at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum welcomed approximately 100 conference attendees for a beautiful cocktail party and tour of the original Woolworth’s Lunch Counter where four NC A&T University students started the sit-in movement in 1960. The lovely event was catered by Guilford Child Development’s Regional CCR&R, sponsor of the event along with the Greensboro Convention and Visitor’s Bureau!
Dr. Gilliam leads The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University where research and policy analyses focus on early childhood development and intervention programs. During the keynote on Wednesday, attendees gained insight on how implicit biases affect nearly everything we do, even as early childhood professionals. The keynote address dug down to the core of so many of our current issues. Click here to see and hear Dr. Gilliam’s similar keynote address at Dayton’s Readiness Conference.
Quotes from the conference:
“You and the NC CCR&R Council team did a phenomenal job!”
“Great event. Good energy all around. You guys have it going on!”
“It was great working with you.”
“I thought I was in a TED Talk and I was going to vote for [Dr. Gilliam] for president!”
