International Organizations

International Organizations

Children International Organization is one that I can include in my Community of Practice partnership. This international program has been servicing children in poverty for over 75 years. So far approximately 340,000 children in 11 countries have been helped due to this organizations contributors and sponsors.

Nutrition is one issue that this organization has made an impact on.

Sponsorship addresses the nutritional needs of children and youth in many ways. 

·         Sponsored children receive regular health and malnutrition screenings.

·         The feeding programs treat malnourished children by providing them with nutritiously whole meals.

·         The parents are taught nutrition fundamentals and provided with meal-preparation training and information about purchasing locally available inexpensive, nutritionally whole foods.

One job within this organization that I would be interest in is:

Public Relations Coordinator:

Overall Responsibilities

·         The responsible for the execution of public relations activities for CI.

·         Develop ongoing communications such as press releases and supporting multimedia assets.

·         Maintain relationships with key media sources ensuring goals are being met.

·         Work with Strategic Marketing Group in developing and managing new Public Relations opportunities and strategies.

 Responsibilities:

·         Identify and propose internal stories to help promote general awareness of Children

·         International to the media and general public.

·         Cultivate relationships with media – both traditional and new media.

·         Position national/international/local stories to promote the agency’s strategic goals.

·         Work with in-country assets – local communications coordinators, development coordinators

and agency directors -- on tracking in-country PR efforts to ensure that appropriate

topics/events “rise” to the national PR level.

·         Assist the Director of Corporate Communications in developing and managing the Tiered

·         High Profile (Celebrity) Initiative

·         Manage the United Nations relationship.

·         Support the Director in preparing and disseminating media training and managing crisis

·         Communications with Kansas City and field resources as required.

·         Develop strategies that helps promote and support in-country fundraising.

·         Work with the managers of the three social media channels to increase awareness and

·         Drive traffic to websites.

·         Speak publicly to promote CI’s mission.

·         Perform all other tasks as assigned by management.

·         Plan, manage and execute special events within the U.S.

·         Field media inquiries and present proposed responses to the Director.

Skills / Qualifications:

·         College degree, PR/communications major

·         Minimum three years’ work experience

·         Knowledge of PR placement including contacts: national, international and local level

·         Excellent writing skills

·         Top notch project management skills

·         Excellent time management skills

·         Team Player

·         Excellent communication skills

·         Proactive vs. reactive

Another position within this organization that I would be interested in is:

 Sponsor Service Representative

General Job Function

Ensures that telephone and written inquiries from donors and sponsors are handled in an effective, problem-solving manner such that each donor/sponsor receives the highest level of personal service possible.

 Specific Responsibilities

 Answers phone calls from sponsors in a friendly and courteous manner; screens sponsor inquires; retrieves data utilizing a PC; answers questions and engages in problem-solving; completes logs, reports and other documentation of calls and actions taken; proofreads letters. Careful, "between the lines" reading of correspondence from sponsors/donors; discerning the sponsor/donor's needs; may perform other special assignments as needed.

 Qualifications

 Must be fully fluent in English; fluency in Spanish a plus. Must have a pleasant telephone voice and manner and be skilled in effective telephone techniques. An "even keel" personality is essential -- must be able to take the angry and frustrated callers as well as the pleasant ones. A "give service" attitude is vital. Must be detail-oriented and have good organization and proofreading skills. Experience with word processing hardware and software (exposure MS Word is important); 35 WPM typing; well-developed writing skills; knowledge and use of proper grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.

Other organizations that I am interested in that is concerned about the well-being of children and the importance of proper nutrition is the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, UNICEF and the Save the Children Organization.  

Each organization deals with issues that surrounds poverty and the effects that it has on children around the world including in the United States. One effect of poverty is malnutrition and each organization is dedicated to providing resources to children and their families to stop the plight of hunger and malnutrition that is engulfed in these areas.

An employment opportunity that I would be interest in is:

Temporary Appointment: Health and Nutrition Specialist, P-3, Sittwe, Myanmar

UNICEF, the world’s leading organization working for the rights of children, seeks a Health and Nutrition Specialist, P-3, Sittwe, Myanmar.

Qualifications:

   Relevant education advanced degree in Public Health with strong public health/nutrition background, with significant (5-8 years) country experience in complex emergencies.

·          Proven leadership, coordination and management experience in complex emergencies.

·          Experience facilitating, developing and monitoring joint program and work plans.

·          Excellent knowledge of the UN and NGO humanitarian community. 

·         Ability to coordinate, training in nutrition sector coordination essential, able to deliver training if required.

·          Experience in conducting and coordinating nutrition/food security assessments, knowledge of latest technical guidelines and standards, including prevention and management of acute malnutrition

 I believe that each of the international organizations would be great to add to my Community of Practice partnership.  They each have years of service dedicated to helping children and their families in need. 

National and Federal Early Childhood Communities of Practice

Organizations that I would like to include in my Community of Practice Partners are:

        School Nutrition Association-They place emphasis on providing students will health nutritional meals. They provide workshops for school districts to increase the consumption of healthy foods.

            National Education Association (NEA)-I chose this organization because I am already a member and I value its commitment to early childhood education.  The NEA promotes high-quality learning opportunities for children from birth to age 5 (National Education Association, 2013).

     National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE) NAECTE members are people from all across the United States and from countries around the world. They are joined together by the common interest in Early Childhood Education.

Employment opportunities that interest me are:

Child Development Specialist

Requirements: B.S. in Child Development, Psychology, Education, or Speech and Language Pathology with additional coursework in Special Education or related field or equivalent degree from another country. Minimum 1 year working with young children birth to 5 years. 3. Current CPR. 4. Bilingual (English/Spanish) required (National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators, 2013).

District Supervisor, School Nutrition

Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in hotel/restaurant management, nutrition or related field plus progressively more responsible experience related to food service management.  Master’s degree in related field and experience in school nutrition programs is desirable. The ideal candidate must have considerable knowledge of the principles and practices of institutional food management, dietetics, and personnel management.  Ability to assess and evaluate job performance of staff. Candidates must have leadership and management skills necessary to work with students, staff, administrators, and parents.  All must have the ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.  Good presentation and communication skills are a must (School Nutrition Association, 2013).

Fitness Instructor

Requirements: A bachelor's degree is not a standard educational requirement. However, some employers generally preferred applicants who hold bachelor's degrees in fields such as physical fitness, physical education and exercise science. Coursework related to these programs include sports safety and first aid, anatomy and physiology, human nutrition, exercise physiology and kinesiology as public health, physical education and recreation leadership (Education-portal, 2013). 

Exploring Roles in the Early Childhood Education Community

Three organizations and/or communities of practice that appeal to me are:

         

The Food Bank of South Jersey-I choose this organization because it serves families in need. They have several outreach services such as churches and other organizations that help give food to those in need.  They also have services especially for children.  Kids Café is a program that supplies meals to children in a safe and supervised environment (http://www.foodbanksj.org/ProgramsServices/KidsCafe).  At this present time my school is having a collection campaign. We are asking for each child to donate at least one can product.  Also, my church uses the Food Bank donations to pass out food to people in the surrounding community that are in need.

        New Jersey Department of Health-Offer child nutrition classes by professional nutritionists, dietitians and registered nurses. Also advise parents about financial support offered by the state such as, Women, Infant and Children (WIC) which is a program that mothers and children age 5 and under receive financial assistance to purchase healthy food. Another assistance program is New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-SNAP, formally known as food stamps. I would like to learn more about this program based on information that I have received from recipients.

Children’s Defense Fund-This is a national organization that advocates for the well- being of children.  I became interested in the CDF when I came across an article about Mrs. Marian Wright Edelman, founder.  From this article I reviewed the CDF website and joined their mailing list. I have been very impressed with the stand that the CDF takes on the behalf of children and their families.

Job opportunities that interest me are:

Early Childhood Supervisor for Camden City School District-This position is available within my current district.  The minimum requirements for this position are:

•   New Jersey Supervisor’s Certificate or New Jersey Principal’s Certificate
•   New Jersey Teaching Certificate
•   At least 5 years teaching experience in preschool education
•   Preferred experience in urban settings.
•   Preferred experience and knowledge in Special Education and/or Literacy background
•   At least five (5) years of successful experience in an Early Childhood leadership role with demonstrated organizational skills and the ability to work well with people (www.//http.camden.k12.nj.us).

Other jobs that I would be interested in are within the Children Defense Fund office in New Jersey. Currently positions are not available however, positions available nationally are Senior Health Policy Associate, Policy Associate for the Juvenile Justice department, Executive Director, Community Health Outreach Assistant, and Chief Development Officer. There are many qualifications for these positions but what they have in common is the commitment to improving the state of children’s lives, particularly children from low- to moderate- income families (Children’s Defense Fund, 2013).

I'll See You Later

The time has come again for us to move on.  This class has been very enjoyable.  The assignments have made me reevaluate myself and how I communicate with others. I want to say "Thank You" to all who has posted comments on my blog and participated in class discussions. I truly appreciate everyone words of wisdom.  I wish everyone well on their journey.  I hope to "see" you all again in our last few classes. My personal email address is trcooke2@aol.com.

Adjourning

The hardest group I had to leave was at my former school.  The pre-k grade level was abolished and I was transferred to another school.  I was at my former school for over 15 years  first as a Paraprofessional and then as a Teacher. I had formed a bond with my colleagues as a family.  I did not want to leave and I did all that I could to stay.  At that time I was ready to change my grade level if that meant I would stay at that school.  I loved the fact that we were a small school that housed only grades pre-k thru 3rd grade.  I loved the way the staff supported each other and I enjoyed watching the children progressed through the grade levels.  I also loved the freedom to teach that we had at the school.  My principal motto was to teach and give the children all that they needed to succeed. As I packed up my belongings and distributed supplies to the staff I felt almost like a kid leaving for college for the first time. Not knowing when I would see my friends and family again.  To help alleviate the leaving process and the sadness that I and others felt we as a staff came together and went out for dinner and drinks.  It was a wonderful "good bye" and a "hello" to new experiences.

I would hope that I would continue to keep in touch with my current classmates through our blogs or other forms of communication.   I have "seen" several of the same people in many of my classes and even though we have not met each other we have in return become familiar with each other.  I do not know what to expect for graduation day.  So hopefully if we take the opportunity to participate in the ceremony we may get the chance to meet face to face finally.

Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it is the time for reflection to acknowledge the pros and cons of the situation and determine what is the next phase.  The next phase can be another opportunity to work together again or to simply part ways or in our case to see each other in future classes.

Conflict Resolutions

Just recently I had to deal with a situation with a colleague who happened to be a "friend".  I have known this person for at least 15 years and we have worked together off and on at various schools.  She is at least 20 years older than me.  We would communicate often, attend lunch etc.  I considered her a "friend".  At this time last year we both started to look into buying a home.  One day we ran into each other at the Laundromat.  During a general conversation I told her I was looking into condominiums in an area that is considered affluent.  Her response was, "They don't want you."  I did not respond to her but kept talking like I didn't hear her. Also, at this time she informed me that she was attending a program that once she completed it she would receive a grant that she can use for a down payment towards a house.  At that time I told her that the program sounds great and  asked could I have the information to see if I qualify too. She never gave me the information.  I had asked her several times and each time she refused to give me any information about the program.  After that day in the Laundromat my feelings we hurt by her comment that "They don't want me."  I felt like she was not being a friend and I didn't fully understand why she behaved that way.  Nevertheless, I continued going through the process of buying my first home. There was two places that I always dreamed of living at.  One was the condos that were located in the affluent area and the townhouse that I live in now. I decided not to move into the condo because it reminded me of my apartment.   I felt like I was placing limits on myself, one out of pride because I wanted to prove something to my "friend" and because I was scared of coming out of my comfort zone. Plus the association fee was crazy.  The condo was 2 bedroom 2 bathrooms.  My townhouse has 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, front and backyard, a basement and a den.  Both places were the same price.  Anyway, for several months, my "friend" had been trying to contact me.  I admit I was not answering her calls, emails etc.  Part of me did not answer her because I did not want any negativity around me.  The ordeal of buying my first house  and moving from a place that I had lived in for 18 years was scary, exciting and frustrating enough and I was scared she was going to say something to deter me. Plus, I did not want to be bothered with the issues at that time. However, I knew we were going to eventually run into each other and this past Saturday we did.  She asked me what did she do.  I explained how I felt and informed her that I did move and am very happy.  She apologized and said she didn't mean it that way.  She even cried.  She also informed me that she tried to inquire about the condos and was told that she did not qualify.  That explained her behavior in the Laundromat. However, her situation was not the same as mine.  We are in two different income brackets, she is a Paraprofessional.  I could have told her ahead of time that she was not going to be able to afford to live there.  Anyway, I apologized for ignoring her. We stood around and talked for awhile about different issues with our job. We ended our brief meeting with I'm sorry hugs and kisses.  I thought we had ironed out our issues and for me I was done.  I gave her my address and phone number and welcomed her over to my house.  Well, a week later I got a letter in the mail from her.  Saying she did not intentionally mean to hurt me and she is not a jealous or envious person.  She declined her invitation to my house and feel that I will always look at her differently.  Personally, now I look at her differently because the words jealous or envious never came out of my mouth.  As far as I knew the issues were out in the open and we had ironed them out.  I felt as if she was trying to throw the blame on me.  In my opinion she was not supportive as a friend from the beginning.  I think if it was the other way around and she would have moved first she would have been happier. 

I would love for your opinions of how you think I should handle this situation.  

From our studies this week I believe I need to use the four components of the NVC and the three R's.  I say this because it is so much emotions involved with this situation.  Eventually we may be able to come to a compromise but at this time I truly doubt it.  I say that because if me buying a house caused all this drama, then how can we be friends if we can't celebrate each other successes.  If the situation was different I would have help her.  We could have walked through the process together.  Maybe my realtor would have known other programs that could have benefitted her.  

Communication Evaluations

As I review the evaluations from the previous assignment I was surprised that each of my participants scores were in close range to the scores that I received completing the same evaluations.  For the verbal aggressiveness my average score was 51 which placed me in the low category. This category states that I am respectful of the viewpoints of others and intelligence of others, and attempt to change their minds with gentle, inoffensive suggestions that do not attack their self-concept. I agree with this statement because I personally do not like conflict. At times, I think this can be a down fault because others perceive this as a weakness and tend to try and take advantage of me.  There have been incidences in my personal and professional life that I believe I should have stood up more for myself.  Instead, I choose to almost take the easy way out and let the person believe and say  whatever they wanted even though I believed they were totally wrong.  However, I noticed that when I am pushed to a certain limit I tend to fly off the handle and become overly expressive then it takes me time to calm down.

In the next next category, Communication Anxiety my average score was 44 which places me in the mild category.  This category states that I feel uneasy in some communication situations and somewhat more confident in other contexts.  Communication does not seem to be something that you worry a great deal about.  This is totally true and each of my respondents and myself had me scored in this category.  I have to admit that I had to learn to become better at public speaking.  I took a course in undergrad that helped me a lot.  Now that I am grade level chair, and had been an union representative for several years I had to adjust to speaking in public.  I never had a problem speaking to my parents and their families.  I just have to remember to use correct English and try not to speak in slang.

The last category was Listening Styles, for this evaluation I fell in group 1.   Group 1 states,  I am people -oriented, I am empathetic and concerned with the emotions of others.  This listening style helps you build relationships, but it can interfere with proper judgment because you tend to be very trusting of others.  This to me is positive and negative.  I believe you should be empathetic and concerned for others.   The problem I have is when others are not empathetic and concerned about me.  In my personal life this is a struggle, and I have been in several relationships that failed because when I needed reciprocity no one was there.  However, when the tables were turned they expected me to bend forwards and backwards to support them.  In cases like this I eventually end up walking away and ending the relationship. The relationship becomes too stressful and I am usually unhappy.

I have to admit the people that I asked to complete the evaluations knew me better than what I thought they did. Their answers were right on point compared to mine.  This totally surprised me because of their age differences and the capacity  in which they know me.

From this assignment it made me aware about my self concept and the perceptions I have of others.  Your self concept helps determines how you communicate with others and  influence your perceptions of others.  You based your judgments of others on your own experiences. It is something that happens naturally.  Professionally and personally the two helps me realize my strengths and weaknesses, from that I can determine what I need to do to improve my relationships.