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Playbook | Early childhood program equitable workforce solutions

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Feature Community Colleges Early Childhood Community Colleges & Child Care
Mikayla Braswell plays with her children Tatem and Delaney at the Children and Youth Partnership of Dare County. Katie Dukes/EdNC

Editor’s note: This article is part of a series on the intersections of community colleges and child care. Other articles in the series are available here.

This article was originally published by McDowell Technical Community College.

This playbook includes data on the demographics of the early childhood workforce in McDowell County, a discussion of roadblocks to hiring and sustaining an equitable early childhood workforce, and details on how McDowell Technical Community College has worked to address those roadblocks.

Editor’s note: Dogwood Health Trust supports the work of EdNC.

Feature Community Colleges Early Childhood Community Colleges & Child Care
Katie Dowdle

Katie Dowdle is the Director of Early Childhood Education at McDowell Technical Community College. She previously taught in McDowell County Public Schools, working with students from pre-K through third grade. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from UNC-Chapel Hill and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Educational Leadership at Clemson University.

Rhonda Steele

Rhonda Steele was an instructor at McDowell Technical Community College, where she taught for over 25 years. After working as an instructor in the Early Childhood Department, she also worked as a lead instructor, department head, and program coordinator. She holds a master’s degree in Birth – Kindergarten and in Literacy Education.

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