Boston, MA (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — He Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative of the Harvard Graduate School of Education has announced the winners of its 2024 award Zaentz Early Education Innovation Challenge. Now in its fifth year, the Challenge recognizes and rewards promising new ideas and strategic approaches that have the potential to transform early education.
On October 29, 2024, 10 finalists They presented their ideas to a panel of judges and a live audience. First, Second, and People's Choice winners were selected into two tracks: the Envision track, for those who have an idea and are looking to test it in the real world, and the Accelerate track, for those who have already tested their idea. and we seek to evaluate it, refine it and/or expand its scope. Winners received cash prizes of up to $15,000.
The winning teams are:
Speed up track
First Place: Child Care Business Incubator Expansion (YWCA New Britain) — A child care center that serves as an incubator for family child care entrepreneurs to learn the skills necessary to run and sustain their own programs (Connecticut).
Second Place: CREDIBLE Alliance (Early Learning Companies) — A software application designed to reduce administrative barriers to help early childhood educators receive federal reimbursement for nutritious meals through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (Colorado).
People's Choice: Teacher Housing Initiative (Friends for Children Center) — A program that offers eligible early childhood educators free housing as a salary benefit to increase teacher compensation and support a path to financial security (Connecticut).
imagine track
First Place: NEST Parent CDA Program (Educators for Quality Alternatives) — A Child Development Associate certification program for high school students to study and intern in an on-campus early childhood program serving teen parents, earning their certification before graduation (Louisiana).
Second Place: AR Choice Tri-Share (Joyfully Engaged Learning) — A cost-sharing model that divides the costs of high-quality early care equally between employees, employers, and Joyfully Engaged Learning, a nonprofit organization that supports early learning programs (Arkansas).
People's Choice: Immersive Experiential Major Concentration (Appalachian State University) — A bachelor's degree program with a concentration in child development, which places students in a high-quality early childhood education laboratory school to gain hands-on teaching experience (North Carolina).
“All of the finalists impressed us with their hard work, their brilliant ideas, and their commitment to strengthening early education,” said Nonie Lesaux, co-director of the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Co-director Stephanie Jones added: “There is palpable excitement in the field of early education right now, and this year's Innovation Challenge showed us the kind of strategic and entrepreneurial thinking that can transform our understanding of what is possible.” .
The judges included: Junlei LiSaul Zaentz Senior Professor of Early Childhood Education and Co-Chair of the Education and Human Development Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Maria Gonzalez Moellervice president of the Massachusetts Board of Education and Early Care and executive director of the Community Group; Casey looksSenior Director of Early Childhood Policy at the Center for American Progress and Zaentz Scholar Alumnus; To Laura Pergeneral director of Nurtury Early Education; and Daniel Wilsonprincipal investigator of Project Zero and senior professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
For more information about the Zaentz Early Education Innovation Challenge, visit https://zaentz.gse.harvard.edu/innovation-challenge/.
To watch the recorded live stream, visit https://harvard.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=815c4a4b-e30d-48e6-8a4c-b1f100cf0536.
About the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative
The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) promotes the knowledge, professional learning, and collective action necessary to cultivate optimal early learning environments and experiences. The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative is supported by a $35.5 million gift from the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation, one of the largest gifts ever awarded to a university to advance early childhood education.
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