Adams State University Teacher Education alumna Debra A. McCammond ’12 is the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Coordinator with Aurora Public Schools (APS). She received a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on ECE and a minor in business. "Earning my degree from Adams State has opened up many opportunities for me, most importantly, my current position with APS Early Beginnings."
She runs a child care center for the children of teen parents enrolled in schools within the Aurora Public School system. Currently, the program has 40 infants and toddlers ranging in ages from 3-weeks-old to 4-years-old. She has two Colorado Preschool Program classrooms in the building with 32 high-needs children enrolled and she supervises a staff of 19. "When I came on board, the building was not completed yet. Since January of 2014, I have been instrumental in designing programming and meeting with community members along with district personnel." She is also responsible for recruitment of clientele and hiring for the many positions. "I also partner with the principal in the child development center next door to develop trainings and build a sense of community amongst our staff."
Before earning her degree at Adams State, McCammond was a supervisor with Community Partnership for Child Development in Colorado Springs, the Head Start grantee in El Paso County. With her years of experience, in the field of early childhood, along with the courses she took at Adams State, McCammond was able to build on what she already knew and take it to a higher level.
"I have the confidence to know I can succeed because of my degree and how hard I had to work to earn it. I am able to guide and instruct my teachers with more intentionality because of the added knowledge I acquired through the classes I took at Adams State," McCammond said.
All her Adams State professors were valuable assets in her learning, but she places Dr. Linda Christian, professor of teacher education, at the top of the list. "She designed the ECE cohort program and took care to make sure the instruction was offered in a way that honored all of her student’s different learning styles. The classes were relevant to what we needed to know to continue on in this field."
According to Christian, the Interdisciplinary Studies Early Childhood Education Non-Licensure Program is hybrid. She met with students once a month in Colorado Springs at Community Partnerships for Child Development, which allowed use of the space for free. Christian said McCammond was a leader as a student and others looked to her for support and help throughout the program. "I am so proud of her. It takes a lot of courage to leave a job and community that you feel secure in and have had success with and move to a new city for a new challenge."
The Interdisciplinary Studies Early Childhood Education Non-Licensure Program fifth cohort will graduate in the spring of 2015. Christian said the program is undergoing revision and soon all courses will align to new ECE competencies from Colorado Department of Education and a new option of licensure will also be offered.
