A new scholarship program in early childhood education at McDowell Technical Community College will significantly increase the number of credentialed employees working in childcare centers, schools and non-profit organizations, as well as those providing licensed homecare throughout Western North Carolina. The program and scholarships have been funded by Dogwood Health Trust through at least 2026.
Students enrolling the college’s early childhood program beginning this fall will attend MTCC tuition-free to complete their studies. The program will also pay for a specific course, EDU 119, that is required to work in childcare centers statewide. In addition, the Dogwood Health Trust grant will also provide language support, if needed, to increase the number of bi-lingual employees in childcare centers and those starting licensed homecare businesses. McDowell Tech is partnering with Centro Unido Latino-Americano (CULA) to recruit bi-lingual students for the program.
In addition, the college will also begin offering an Elementary Residency program during the 2023-24 academic year for school-sponsored employees (must have a bachelor’s degree) who want to work toward licensure in Elementary Education. It is a new program being rolled out statewide and is intended to take the place of the current lateral entry program for non-education majors who want to teach in public schools.
This program also qualifies for free tuition under terms of the Dogwood Health Trust grant. Students in the program will work in public schools and complete “lab time” in the classroom over approximately two years, along with one or two MTCC classes per semester. The need for elementary educators in North Carolina is strong; in January of this year, there were 1,200 vacancies in this area across the state.
Prospective students interested in enrolling tuition-free at MTCC should call Student Services at 828-659-0444 or begin the application process at mcdowelltech.edu/apply-today.
Meet Elia Spencer: New Early Childhood Faculty
In anticipation of increases in enrollment in this program, the college has hired a new full-time early childhood instructor who brings a wealth of experience and education to the position.
Elia Spencer comes to McDowell Tech from Surry County Schools, where she has been Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) Coordinator for the last three years. Prior to that time, she was Interim Pre-K Coordinator for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. She has been working part-time at McDowell Tech since June and will assume her full-time role on August 1st.
Spencer grew up in neighboring Burke County. She and her husband, Marcus Spencer, currently reside in Forsyth County. They have three children—Simon, age 14, Sabeyah, age 13, and Amelia, age 11.
She is bilingual in both English and Spanish and holds a bachelor of science degree in public health education and community health education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (2006), as well as a master’s degree in education and special education with an emphasis in birth through kindergarten studies (2014). She is currently working on her doctorate in education with a concentration in curriculum and instruction from Gardner-Webb University.
Spencer holds her North Carolina Special Educator’s License to teach Birth to Kindergarten, and is a National Board Certified Teacher and Exceptional Needs Specialist. She is also a TEACCH Certified Practitioner. She has received numerous grants for her instructional work and was a Teacher of Promise Nominee in 2015.
In addition to her work as Pre-K Coordinator in Surry and Winston-Salem/Forsyth Public Schools, Elia has worked in Winston-Salem/Forsyth Public Schools and at Clemmons Elementary School and Special Children’s School in Winston-Salem as an Exceptional Children’s Preschool Teacher, Exceptional Children’s PreSchool Inclusion Teacher and Social-Emotional Support Specialist for Preschool. She has particular expertise and a passion for working with Pre-K children who have special needs, especially those who need an individualized education plan, also referred to as an IEP.
Since 2022, Spencer has also taught at Surry Community College on an adjunct basis in their early childhood program. As an educator, she likes to follow the “preschool pyramid model” for training teachers who work with children with special needs or who have social and emotional issues. It is a multi-framework model for promoting emotional and social support for children as well as maintaining classroom discipline and is considered current best practices in the field of early childhood education.
“I am passionate about supporting new and beginning teachers who work in early childhood programs. Kids will be successful if we give teachers the tools they need to also be successful in the classroom,” said Spencer. In her earlier roles in Pre-K education, she was often called upon to work with classroom teachers who had children with special needs in their classrooms. It was those experiences that drove her transition from being an educator and social/emotional support specialist to being an instructor for teachers working this population.
Spencer thinks that the most important thing for beginning teachers to develop is an empathy for children and families. “Some kids don’t have a ‘champion.’ It is critical for us to believe in those kids and work with them from a standpoint of their ‘assets,’ rather than their ‘deficits.’ That is a mindset issue from the teacher’s standpoint. It is important to be supportive,” she said.
In addition, Spencer said she is passionate about inclusion and representation in early childhood programs. “It is an important skill set to be supportive of all teachers and children.”
Grant Goals
In fact, inclusion and representation is one of the goals of the college’s new grant funding. “We not only want to increase the number of quality teachers in early childhood programs,” said Rhonda Steele, Department Chair of Human Services, “we want to reduce the barriers that have prevented some populations from getting an early childhood certificate and working in the field or operating their own childcare businesses.”
“If we want children in early childhood programs to excel, it is sometimes important to find teachers who look like the children they teach,” she said. “That is important from an emotional, social and cultural perspective to promote healthy growth in children.”
“We are excited about the opportunity to develop meaningful workforce solutions that will address long-standing shortages in early childhood programs throughout the region and state,” said Dr. Brian S. Merritt, MTCC President. “We appreciate Dogwood Health Trust for grant funding which has allowed us to bring an exceptionally qualified instructor like Elia to our campus, and which will allow us to offer student scholarships to all Early Childhood students. This is a real game-changer for us and for the profession.”
For more information, including specific scholarship requirements and steps to apply and register, contact one of the following individuals at McDowell Tech or CULA: Rhonda Steele [email protected], Laura Galindo [email protected] or Amanda Buchanan [email protected].
