The Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation (TLLCCF) is proud to announce that Terri Palser, an early care and education teacher at the Kinder Care Learning Centers, Irving, TX, has been selected to receive the 2011 Terri Lynne Lokoff/Children’s TYLENOL® National Child Care Teacher Award. This exemplary early care and education teacher was selected from a pool of applicants nationwide. Palser will receive an award of $1,000 on Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 8:00pm at a special ceremony at Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, PA.
There are a total of 50 National Child Care Teacher Award recipients for 2011. Palser will implement her award winning project with a grant from the TLLCCF. Stated Palser, "My classroom enhancement project is “Blocks Transformation”. I feel that block play is so important in developing hand-eye coordination, thinking skills, cooperation among the children and many other concepts. The different weekly themes that I have in my lesson plans can be incorporated into blocks. Themes, for example, like The Farm, will allow the children to use their imaginations to build a barn and fences for our animals; or the theme: our community, the children can build a fire/police station for our fire/police vehicles. I enjoy watching their imagination take over and create whatever they would like to. This is a center that involves the whole child. Since the child cannot take the finished product home, it frees the child to experiment, plan, make changes and enjoy without the pressure of an end product. My role as a teacher is to encourage the enthusiasm for creating. I am constantly amazed at the imagination and creativity that these children have at such an early age and all they need are the rights tools and encouragement. Blocks can be a messy and loud center but, messes can be cleaned up and what is better than hearing happy and excited voices?!"
The recipients of the 2011 Terri Lynne Lokoff/Children’s TYLENOL® National Child Care Teacher Awards designed an enhancement project that illustrates the educational, social and emotional benefits for the children in their care. A committee of national early childhood educators and experts reviewed and scored the applications. The top 50 scoring applicants were selected. Each recipient receives a $1,000 award: $500 to implement their proposed project and $500 to acknowledge their dedication.
From the inception of the Teacher Awards program in 1994, the TLLCCF with the inclusion of the 2011 recipients will have presented 635 awards totaling more than $600,000 to early care and education providers for their dedication and excellence in providing quality child care.
TLLCCF Executive Director Allan Miller stated, “Child care teachers are professionals. Their curriculum based lesson plans are designed to further children’s natural creativity and stimulate curiosity to explore. Teachers play a vital role in the development of children. They introduce children to reading and writing, expanded vocabulary, creative arts, science, and social studies. They use games, music, artwork, films, books, computers, and other tools to teach concepts and skills.”
Continued Miller, “Preschool children learn mainly through investigation, play, and formal lessons. Preschool teachers capitalize on children's play to further language and vocabulary development, improve social skills and introduce scientific and mathematical concepts. When teachers have done their jobs well they will have instilled a life-long love of learning in their young charges.”
For 24 years, TLLCCF has been making America better by improving early care and education. The Foundation has dedicated its resources to improving the quality of child care for children and supporting and elevating the status of child care teachers and providers. TLLCCF is a nonprofit, nonsectarian 501(c)(3) organization established in 1987 in memory of Terri Lynne Lokoff, a devoted child care teacher.
Terri Palser, Irving, TX, will receive her award at a special ceremony on April 14, 2011 in Philadelphia, PA.
For additional information about the Foundation or the National Child Care Teacher Awards™, please visit
www.TLLCCF.org or call 610.992.1140.
For additional information about Children’s TYLENOL
®, visit
www.tylenol.com.
