 A Home Away from Home
In today's society, not many working moms can say that their job is an integral part of their family life -- especially if they don't work at home. But Racquel Garcia, a teacher in West Side Ecumenical Ministry's Head Start preschool program at Archwood, has enjoyed the opportunity to learn and grow while teaching other parent's children. At the same time, her son Xavier has been enrolled at WSEM's Youth and Family Learning Center, another of the agency's six Early Childhood Education Centers. United Way of Greater Cleveland supports WSEM's child care programs.
Racquel is a mom with a lot on her plate. Currently attending part-time at Cuyahoga Community College to earn an associate's degree in Early Childhood Education, she also receives in-service training at WSEM to develop her skills working with children with special needs. Racquel teaches in a Head Start program that uses High/Scope, an innovative curriculum built around children's interests. She describes it as a hands-on learning experience for children ages 3 to 5. The main objective is to build social and emotional skills in a classroom environment so that children can successfully transition to kindergarten and beyond.
About six years ago, Racquel started her career in day care. While working at a private day care center, she heard about the Head Start program at WSEM from her stepfather, who encouraged her to apply. She was hired and now teaches about 34 children. Racquel is bilingual, speaking English and Spanish, which is very helpful because of the ethnic diversity of children in the program.
"We serve mostly low-income families from a mix of ethnic and language backgrounds," says Racquel. "There are Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Ukrainian, African-American and Caucasian-American children. We accommodate this through bilingual and trilingual signs and an atmosphere that welcomes cultural diversity."
Xavier's Story
Racquel's son, Xavier, is now 4 years old, and has spent quite a lot of his young life at WSEM. Because the agency has infant rooms at its main facility, child care staff members were able to take care of him when Racquel returned to work within weeks after his birth.
Early on, it was suspected that Xavier had a learning disability, and WSEM special services coordinator Carol Valley worked with Racquel, her husband, Jose, and Xavier's Head Start teachers to assess the boy to determine the problem. Screening and assessments of Xavier indicated that he had some receptive and expressive communication difficulties. He couldn't engage in basic verbal exchanges such as answering a simple question without becoming confused, often replying with something unrelated to the question, or expressing himself unintelligibly.
"Racquel and Jose were worried at first," recalls Carol, "but we supported them through the whole process. When it was determined that Xavier qualified for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's special education program, we linked the family to the services and the school system put together an individual education plan for Xavier."
Xavier now attends a special education class at a Cleveland Public School mornings during the week, then spends afternoons at WSEM's Youth and Family Learning Center. Although Xavier spends his afternoons at a different WSEM facility than the one where his mom works, Racquel has peace of mind knowing her son is being cared for and taught by her coworkers.
"WSEM has made me grow as a person and a parent," says Racquel. "I've learned so much. With all the in-service training I've received here, they've helped me to become a better parent before I became a parent…Working for WSEM is an amazing experience -- it's been a huge blessing for me and my family."
West Side Ecumenical Ministry's Early Childhood Education Center provides services to children from birth to five years of age. Programs include full-day infant, toddler and preschool care and education; the Head Start program, serving children ages 3 to 5; and the Early Learning Initiative program for children ages 3 to 5. Free services are available to eligible families. For more information, call 216-651-2037 or visit www.wsem.org.
United Way of Greater Cleveland funds the West Side Ecumenical Ministry's child care programs, as well as nearly 180 other health and human service programs, helping more than 400,000 people in our community each year. To find out how you can help the United Way of Greater Cleveland 2007-2008 Campaign, call 216-436-2100 or donate securely online now.
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