Symposium recognizes early childhood educators

Today we are hosting educators from across the New River Valley for the Igniting Connections Early Childhood Symposium. Our goal is to bring together early childhood educators across the New River Valley to connect and discuss and learn about best practice. Your presence here today speaks volumes on the need for more professional development opportunities for each of you. But most importantly, this day gives us all a chance to reflect on the incredible dedication and commitment you provide to our children. When someone says thank you, it means everything. We're in relationship with our children or with. We're in relationship with our students and their families, and they stay on our minds all the time and sort of feel that acknowledgement and that thanks is priceless. So in this region, I think our child care community is becoming more cohesive. I know there's a lot of programs out there that are moving into supporting each other, like the symposium brings together a couple groups. I think that's important. There's always power in numbers. I think it's important, one, to collaborate, to celebrate, as we were talking about, celebrate victories and learn from each other. I think that's how we get stronger as a community. Virginia Tech's role in this work is important because we are the key facilitators, and I think as one of the largest employees in the New River Valley, we see it as a way to support our communities and support economic development, not only for ourselves around recruitment and retention, but for the broader community, because we know the value that quality early care and education has for our working parents and our overall health of our communities. And as a land-grant institution, that really falls in line with our mission to support the communities in which we live and work. So we see this as a vital part of that strategy.