When it comes to early childhood education programs, you can’t get much better than a seal of approval from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Like the College of Charleston’s own N.E. Miles Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC), only the highest quality programs in the country have earned the association’s coveted accreditation.
ECDC master teacher Mary J. White ’94 and students from the program are featured on the cover of the magazine Teaching Young Children.
So, it’s icing on the cake when one of your own teachers is pictured on the cover of NAEYC’s national magazine, Teaching Young Children. That’s ECDC master teacher Mary J. White ’94 on the cover of the magazine’s current issue.
ECDC, which is part of the School of Education, Health and Human Performance, is directed by Candace Jaruszewicz.
White has been teaching at ECDC for 20 years. She’s taught in every class and currently co-teaches four-year-olds and kindergarteners.
She started her career as a high school English teacher before coming to the College to earn a master’s of education degree. She served as a graduate assistant at ECDC before beginning there as a master teacher in 1995.
White says she loves working in a child-centered environment where the curriculum is always evolving.
“Curriculum for young children can be intellectually rigorous, stimulating, enjoyable, and responsive to individual needs when teachers can make decisions about how they implement curriculum instead of having to be consumers of a scripted curriculum,” says White. “One of the pleasures of the job is being able to work with graduate students and watch them mature as teachers while they work in my classroom.”
But the College’s connections to NAEYC don’t end there. Deanna Ramey ’95, an alumna of the College’s master’s of arts in teaching program, is currently the editor for NAEYC’s peer-reviewed journal, Young Children.
Like White, Ramey also served as a master teacher at ECDC. In fact, she and White were co-teachers of a class together.
Ramey is in the final stage of earning a doctorate from Clemson University. She says her experiences at the College, both as a graduate student and master teacher, were pivotal in defining her career path.
“During my program I was mentored by outstanding faculty who helped to shape the professional I have become today,” says Ramey. “Returning to CofC as a master teacher was a priceless opportunity. Collaborating with my fellow teachers as we strived to create a rich and engaging learning environment cemented my passion for the education of young children.”
