CDA Roundtable Impact - Candidate Testimonials

Linda Reddish Author

09/25/2023 Added

32 Plays

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Interviews with CDA Candidates

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[00:00:01.779](upbeat music)
[00:00:13.920]My name is Angela Blaesi,
[00:00:15.960]and I think I got my CDA in 2020,
[00:00:20.070]could have been 2021.
[00:00:21.868]I got it on an online format.
[00:00:25.200]I'm an in-home childcare provider in western Nebraska.
[00:00:29.184](upbeat music continues)
[00:00:33.330]So I would've had to travel a minimum of
[00:00:36.150]an hour and a half a hundred miles to get a class.
[00:00:40.350]That's not feasible for an in-home provider,
[00:00:42.630]just because to go, even if it's just once a week
[00:00:46.050]for a couple hours,
[00:00:47.760]then I have to pay somebody to work,
[00:00:49.800]pay to get there, all the things.
[00:00:51.397](upbeat music)
[00:00:57.720]There's not a lot in Nebraska,
[00:01:00.270]so there's a lot towards the eastern part of the state,
[00:01:03.390]I'm Western, so people have to drive to me.
[00:01:05.872]Luckily, I was able to find someone in Kearney, Nebraska
[00:01:10.020]which is an hour and a half away,
[00:01:12.750]and she is an in-home provider,
[00:01:15.630]and she knew that why I wanted it
[00:01:19.200]and the implications that came with it.
[00:01:22.876]So she took the day off work,
[00:01:24.960]got a substitute for herself
[00:01:26.640]and came to North Platte
[00:01:27.780]and did my observation.
[00:01:30.841](upbeat music continues)
[00:01:34.980]In the fall,
[00:01:37.380]'cause I remember the kids were
[00:01:39.004]starting to head back to school.
[00:01:42.390]And I would make appointments
[00:01:44.640]and then they'd get canceled.
[00:01:46.950]There was only a couple
[00:01:49.080]that said that they would come this direction.
[00:01:52.080]And so then when it kept getting canceled
[00:01:55.650]and canceled it was just really difficult
[00:01:57.930]and kind of got to the point where,
[00:02:00.300]well, I'm not gonna keep trying.
[00:02:03.360]And I finally, I found the one from Carney, Nebraska
[00:02:07.560]and I asked her and she said no, first thing.
[00:02:12.060]And then I was like, there's a,
[00:02:14.850]in Nebraska there's the tax credit that the,
[00:02:18.473]in homes can, could qualify for.
[00:02:21.600]And I just was crying and I was like
[00:02:23.460]I'm just trying to get this stupid tax credit, that's it.
[00:02:26.245]And she finally called me back
[00:02:29.340]and she was like,
[00:02:30.688]"Okay what day works for you?
[00:02:32.250]Like, here's what works for me."
[00:02:33.450]And I was like, I don't get
[00:02:35.041]you can come this afternoon,
[00:02:36.120]like whatever works for you.
[00:02:38.310]And so she did.
[00:02:39.143]She came right away and got it done.
[00:02:42.092](upbeat music)
[00:02:51.570]It was just very positive.
[00:02:53.370]It was a way to communicate, as I said before
[00:02:56.040]with other providers,
[00:02:57.360]other adults during the time of Covid.
[00:03:01.380]But it was really just an overall great positive experience.
[00:03:05.340]It was a learning experience,
[00:03:07.710]but it was wonderful.
[00:03:09.180]It was hard work, but it was wonderful.
[00:03:11.762](upbeat music)
[00:03:16.833]The homework was time consuming.
[00:03:20.880]Doing the, see, I'm gonna screw this all up.
[00:03:25.290]No, you're (indistinct)
[00:03:27.210]portfolio, I'm guessing.
[00:03:28.653]Yes, doing the portfolio.
[00:03:29.486]It was tough, it was a struggle.
[00:03:31.307]I think mostly because,
[00:03:34.020]I mean, we do the things that
[00:03:35.940]our portfolio consisted of on a daily basis,
[00:03:40.170]but actually putting it into words
[00:03:41.970]and explaining it was a whole different thing.
[00:03:44.944](upbeat music continues)
[00:03:49.710]Overthinking things
[00:03:51.780]and making sure I was doing it correctly.
[00:03:54.960]And I didn't need to overthink things
[00:03:57.540]because it was a laid back class
[00:04:00.630]but yet the work was expected of you
[00:04:03.300]and you had to do it.
[00:04:05.520]As far as the PD specialist went,
[00:04:07.590]I was super nervous.
[00:04:10.121]But it was all through Zoom
[00:04:12.690]and it worked out really good
[00:04:15.134]but I just was super nervous about it.
[00:04:17.220]And I didn't need to be,
[00:04:18.180]because I knew what I was doing.
[00:04:20.580]I know what I'm doing.
[00:04:21.420]I've been a childcare provider for 20 years,
[00:04:23.820]it wasn't like it was my first time.
[00:04:26.310]So it was rewarding though in the end.
[00:04:29.786](upbeat music)
[00:04:38.697]The staff was amazing.
[00:04:42.090]Because when I first signed up for this,
[00:04:45.000]I had gotten an email,
[00:04:46.886]they asked me if I wanted a scholarship,
[00:04:48.270]to do the CDA, and I'm like what is a CDA?
[00:04:51.330]I had no idea.
[00:04:52.920]I didn't know the knowledge, the background that I had.
[00:04:56.910]I did not understand what that was.
[00:04:58.980]So I went ahead and I went to the first meeting
[00:05:02.280]and I was amazed,
[00:05:03.799]I was just blown away.
[00:05:08.230]The teacher that taught this was so professional
[00:05:14.580]and so patient with all of us daycare providers
[00:05:20.310]because she knew,
[00:05:22.102]probably some of the providers knew what was going on.
[00:05:26.850]I didn't know what was going on.
[00:05:28.560]That's the reason why I went to the meeting.
[00:05:30.030]And I'm so glad that I went to the meeting
[00:05:33.240]because she was full of knowledge.
[00:05:37.470]Even though I've been doing daycare for 36 years
[00:05:41.437]she put it in perspective.
[00:05:45.330]Coming out of this class,
[00:05:48.840]you are gonna have a better outlook
[00:05:52.440]on how you run your business.
[00:05:55.080]Even though you know it or you don't know it
[00:05:57.810]you are doing what this book
[00:06:01.110]this CDA requires you to do
[00:06:03.420]and you don't even know it.
[00:06:05.700]So as I was putting this book together
[00:06:09.510]all these questions that were asked,
[00:06:11.340]I'm like, well I do that,
[00:06:13.650]well, I do that too.
[00:06:15.390]But slowly as I was putting the book together,
[00:06:18.240]I'm like oh my gosh, I am a professional.
[00:06:22.650]This is what I do.
[00:06:25.214](upbeat music)
[00:06:30.406]It was like, okay, this is what I do
[00:06:33.390]so we're gonna do the routine kids.
[00:06:36.000]So the kids will all walked in
[00:06:37.890]and we did exactly what I normally do.
[00:06:41.310]And she's sitting at the table
[00:06:42.750]and she's writing things down
[00:06:44.978]and asking the kids questions.
[00:06:47.220]And it was so smooth because this is what I do.
[00:06:54.098](upbeat music)
[00:07:04.170]I signed up to go through the training
[00:07:07.230]through the NECC and K Stork was my instructor
[00:07:13.470]and she was phenomenal.
[00:07:14.490]She was very helpful with any questions that we had.
[00:07:18.210]If there was something we needed.
[00:07:20.640]I mean, she was like, shoot us an email.
[00:07:23.070]And at first I was like, oh gosh, you know
[00:07:25.980]I was kind of like, oh,
[00:07:27.270]I was kind of iffy with how I wanted to do it.
[00:07:29.040]But once I started the class, I absolutely loved it.
[00:07:30.998]And I was actually like jumping ahead
[00:07:35.130]of our weeks that we were supposed to have so much done.
[00:07:38.730]And so I just kept working on it.
[00:07:40.530]'cause once I got in that groove
[00:07:41.700]I wanted to keep working on it
[00:07:42.870]and working on it.
[00:07:44.982](upbeat music)
[00:07:49.050]Through my scholarship that I had,
[00:07:51.600]by the time that I got through the process of my
[00:07:56.340]with my certification with Lisa
[00:07:58.020]and then took my,
[00:07:59.310]when I was gonna take my test,
[00:08:02.006]my scholarship had actually expired
[00:08:06.360]for the month or for the thing.
[00:08:08.220]And so I just called them and they said,
[00:08:11.430]no problem and we could reissue it.
[00:08:14.910]So that's really not, I kind of got
[00:08:16.560]off subject to what I was doing,
[00:08:17.880]but that was kind of one of the other things
[00:08:19.800]that I had a problem with
[00:08:23.520]because when I was trying to find the in-home certification
[00:08:26.738]and I couldn't find anybody,
[00:08:29.190]and then when I reached out to Kay
[00:08:30.270]and gave me Lisa.
[00:08:31.140]But then by the time all that happened,
[00:08:32.580]that was probably, a good six months from when it was.
[00:08:37.263]So that's one thing that I was nice
[00:08:38.790]or I thought was nice,
[00:08:39.780]because they could have just said,
[00:08:41.040]well, nope, sorry it expired.
[00:08:42.660]We can't do anything about it.
[00:08:43.860]But they were very helpful
[00:08:44.910]and made sure that I still
[00:08:46.455]got that scholarship to be able to
[00:08:49.470]go through with all the fees with it.
[00:08:52.890]Yeah that scholarship is issued
[00:08:55.260]at the Department of Education level.
[00:08:57.090]So NDE will provide a scholarship to
[00:09:02.070]cover your fees when you apply to the council.
[00:09:06.180]And so it, that group that I was telling you about
[00:09:09.630]that'll be talking at the beginning
[00:09:11.040]like they provide the funds for that scholarship
[00:09:13.620]and then NECC helps candidates
[00:09:15.841]apply for that scholarship.
[00:09:18.510]But that scholarship all comes
[00:09:20.250]from the Department of Ed's office of Early Childhood.
[00:09:22.770]And you're right,
[00:09:24.120]it's so important and it's so nice that we have
[00:09:27.840]a state office of early childhood
[00:09:31.140]right at that state level that says,
[00:09:33.600]yeah we will continue to make sure
[00:09:35.160]we've got funds available to cover that fee.
[00:09:37.530]So it's a really nice partnership between them.
[00:09:41.760]And then T.E.A.C.H. now.
[00:09:44.599]T.E.A.C.H. is offering that scholarship too
[00:09:46.327]to help cover costs for CDA,
[00:09:47.160]which is brand new this year.
[00:09:48.540]Now this year,
[00:09:50.280]not only will the application be covered,
[00:09:52.800]but they if you wanna do any training,
[00:09:55.080]like what NECC offers, they will scholarship
[00:09:57.810]and cover the cost for training.
[00:09:59.160]So Nebraska's doing some pretty cool things.
[00:10:01.796](upbeat music)
[00:10:06.832]And then when I was going to have my certification visit,
[00:10:11.635]I had a hard time finding somebody.
[00:10:14.430]'cause the person that I had
[00:10:15.780]in Norfolk that we thought had lined up
[00:10:18.475]she wasn't an in-home specialist.
[00:10:21.780]And so I reached out to Kay
[00:10:23.962]and I told her the problems that I was having
[00:10:26.130]and she got me involved, or she got me,
[00:10:31.200]oh my gosh,
[00:10:33.480]she got me the contact information
[00:10:35.820]from UNL extension, Lisa Pup.
[00:10:39.270]And she was wonderful.
[00:10:40.590]And she came in and I was very nervous
[00:10:43.680]and she's like,
[00:10:44.513]"Don't worry about me,
[00:10:45.540]you know I'm gonna do my thing, you do your thing."
[00:10:48.510]Which we did, and it made the experience so wonderful.
[00:10:51.900]Thank you to the NACC, the Department of Ed
[00:10:54.930]and the UNL extension for helping me through this process.
[00:11:00.688](upbeat music)

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CDA Roundtable Impact - Candidate Testimonials

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