Northern Pennsylvania Regional College (NPRC), Erie Arts and Culture, and the Northwest Institute of Research (NWIR) are partnering to offer the “New American Child Development Association (CDA) Preparation Course” starting March 14 at the Multicultural Community Resource Center (MCRC) in Erie. This will be the 18th CDA cohort in partnership between NWIR and NPRC, but the first to be offered with a multi-lingual, multi-cultural focus. This course will be taught as an on-site, in-person course.
Both in nature and design, this course was developed for our diverse populations through the combined use of traditional classroom instruction with the art and cultures of the various international communities thriving in northwestern Pennsylvania. The collaboration between Northern Pennsylvania Regional College and the artists and educators from Erie Arts and Culture will celebrate the diversity throughout the communities and within early childhood classrooms.
Upon successful completion of this preparatory course, students will be well-prepared to serve our youth as early childhood education educators and earn their Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. An earned CDA credential following the completion of this course will also give students the opportunity to receive six credits of Prior Learning Credit into NPRC’s Associate of Applied Science in Early Childhood Education.
Stephanie McIntosh, the instructor for this course shares, “We are thrilled to bring this New American course to the Erie community. Being able to combine traditional learning and our rich, local cultures will bring groups together to continue bridging gaps and reducing barriers to classroom learning for today’s multi-cultural youth.”
Director of Applied Studies, Leigh Anne Kraemer-Naser, talks with Erie News Now’s Amanda Post about this program. She explains, “By partnering with these resources in the community, we are going to offer this program with the traditional how to work with children in the classroom in a childcare facility, but also teach how to infuse culture, how infuse the arts into those practices, and really just embrace the rich things people bring to the table. This is a multi-lingual, multi-cultural focused program to help folks really ease into the Erie community and get on a career path.”
This course will meet Mondays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. beginning March 14 and ending December 19 at the Multicultural Community Resource Center in Erie. Registration for this course will be open until March 4. For more information about registering, please email Karen Lindbergh at the NWIR.