South Central Service Cooperative

Greetings: As we are in the midst of our second year of working together to serve our communities and families, I can’t say enough about the capacity we are building to improve early childhood care and education in our communities. Below are a few highlights! 📚 Arkansas Children’s Week We participated in the statewide celebration of Arkansas Children’s Week, engaging communities collaboratively. Providers, families, and community stakeholders celebrated with the theme: “Fall in Love with Reading. 🌱 Cultivating Curiosity “Camp Curiosity” day camp for early educators, in partnership with A-State Childhood Services and the Museum of Natural Resources. Finding math in nature to process art, creating meaningful learning environments that promote problem solving, reasoning, and creativity, all while finding joy and discovery in nature. 🤝 Regional Collaborations Hosted the “Bridging the Gap” Early Childhood Summit. The event received local media attention and brought stakeholders together from across the region. Planning data walks in partnership with the Union County Excel By Eight Core team. Sharing resources and recruiting families and partners! Collaborative recruiting efforts include: county provider list, print and digital versions, and sharing program information throughout the community. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family Engagement Continued ongoing Family Cafés, in collaboration with Curricula Concepts, to give families a voice and space to connect. Connecting families with local resources. Notice family surveys at events. You may also find them on the back of books and resources distributed by local leads. 📊 Data for Impact. Collected important local data, which will help inform and drive access to quality child care locally. In partnerships with the Arkansas Research Center - EDI team and Excel By Eight. Data Road Show coming to a community near you! (hint: Smackover & Parkers Chapel next. Building capacity focusing on improving the quality of our teacher-child interactions as programs participate in the CLASS Observation Tool pilot! Thank you to our programs that participated in the counties of Calhoun, Ouachita, and Union! Welcome, Columbia County friends, to the CLASS Pilot coming in FALL 2025! Thank you to our regional/state training partners who have supported us as we learned about the CLASS Observation Tool! Congratulations to program leaders who are becoming CLASS Observers! It is a joy to do this work with you as we remember there is always one more under The Big Red Umbrella! Read the entire newsletter: https://shorturl.at/hjkaz

Prepare your students for the careers of tomorrow—today. This one-day workshop offers a deep dive into South Arkansas’s growing lithium and chemical industries. 🗓 July 22, 2025 | ⏰ 9:00AM–3:00PM 📍 South Arkansas College 🍽 Lunch included Designed for: STEM teachers, CTE coordinators, counselors & admin 📩 Sign up today: www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=562607

Free training. Free lunch. Powerful learning. 🥪🧠 What more could a science teacher want? Register here: www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=562607

From the Smackover Formation to your classroom—discover how science is powering the future. 🔋
Register here: www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=562607

Science teachers—this one's for you! Explore lithium, brine chemistry, and the Smackover Formation in a hands-on PD experience. Register here: https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=562607

Exciting Professional Development for all Math, Science, STEM, and Economics teachers on July 22, 2025. This event will be held at SouthArk. Come learn from Lithium industry partners the science, math, and economics of this new industry in South Arkansas. Let's prepare our students today for the career they will have tomorrow.

Empowering teachers, nurses, and coaches with the skills YOU need- join our specialized training designed for you! The American Heart Association (AHA) is offering a BLS Train the Trainer two-day course hosted by Rhonda McDonald. This course is designed to teach participants how conduct a CPR training course for AHA Heart saver, First Aid, and Basic Life Support (BLS) classes. Please note that participants are required to attend both days of this training in order to complete the course and become an AHA BLS Instructor. In order to attend this training, Participants are required to: 🔴 Possess a current BLS Card and bring the card to the training 🔴 Complete the BLS Instructor Essentials Online Course prior to the training and bring the certificate to the training. 🔴 Purchase the BLS Instructor Manual and bring the manual to the training If the participants arrive to the first day of training without ALL of the required documentation and materials, they will not be allowed to attend this training. 🔴 Click HERE to access the BLS Instructor Essentials Online Course: https://shopcpr.heart.org/bls-instructor-essentials-online?srsltid=AfmBOora4IHDPxyy2sfByeVzDNdQJRLp_TPOXbgJuqha56FXaxRVIRfH 🔴 Click HERE to purchase the BLS Instructor Manual: https://shopcpr.heart.org/bls-instructor-manual Please note that this specific training is not covered under the Professional Development Consortium. Meaning that districts will be required to pay the listed fee.

👩‍⚕️Calling ALL School Nurses! 👩‍⚕️ The American Heart Association (AHA) is offering a Basic Life Support (BLS) course that is specifically designed for school nurses and healthcare professionals working in educational settings. This course will provide the essential skills needed to: ❤️ Recognize and respond to life-threatening emergencies ❤️ Perform high-quality CPR for adults, children, and infants ❤️ The use of Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in both adult and pediatric populations ❤️ Recognize signs of respiratory and cardiac arrest ❤️ Apply skills in realistic school-based emergency situations This specific course is valid for certification or renewal of a previous certification. Upon successful completion, participants receive a BLS Provider certification that is valid for two years. Please note that this training is NOT covered under the Professional Development Consortium. Meaning that districts will be responsible for paying the listed fee.

Power the future with real-world learning! 🔋 Connect with industry leaders and bring career awareness into your classroom. Register here: www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=562607 #FutureReady #STEMPD

Our updated print shop menu is live starting today!
New prices, same great service.
Email me — let’s start your next project! 💌📚

South Central Service Cooperative will be hiring a full-time P-4 teacher at our Hampton ABC site! Requirements and information include the following: 🐾 AA Degree in Child Development or Early Childhood Education 🐾 Work under the direction of a certified teacher 🐾 A Paraprofessional and a floater are provided 🐾 190-day contract 🐾 Teachers must be fingerprinted and receive a satisfactory criminal background check and a satisfactory Child Maltreatment Registry check. Apply today at: https://www.scscoop.org/page/scsc-employment-opportunities

What's all the buzz about Lithium? Come learn more about how Lithium is impacting learning, jobs, and the economy in South Arkansas. Free training for math, science, CT,E and economics teachers. July 22, 2025, at SouthARK. Lunch is provided.

🚑💥 Today’s professional development was shocking—literally! They got certified in CPR, AED, and First Aid! #weARsouthcentral #yourBESTsolution

Get Ready! Our next Wear it Wednesday is July 2nd. Wear your red, white, and blue! Who will have on the most? Let's have some fun. #weARsouthcentral #yourBESTsolution

Engaging with community, engaging with families. Sharing data and sharing resources in the Strong community. And, look who is here encouraging families to sign up for free quality children's books. It is an honor for SCSC Local Leads to partner with the Excel By Eight Union County Core Team.

📣 SCSC PRE-K ANNOUNCEMENT 📣 ABC students will not be officially enrolled unless all documents are on file required for admission. This includes: 🍏 Copy of Birth Certificate 🍏 Copy of Social Security Card 🍏 Copy of her Insurance Card 🍏 Verification on income - Copy of W2's, copies of monthly check stubs ( two consecutive check stubs if paid bi- weekly or twice a month or 4 consecutive check stubs if paid weekly) 🍏 Health Screening (well child-check-up) 🍏 Copy of immunization record The date of expectation of all documents is July 17, 2025 after that we will be bumping the students to the waiting list. Please get these documents turned in ASAP to keep your spot.

There is still room to sign up for our Canva Workshop. This workshop is for beginners to intermediate users. Here is the link to sign up: https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=549805

Robot Roundup was an incredible training experience! Huge thanks to Tammy Glass with the Arkansas Computer Science Specialists for sharing your expertise and inspiring us all.

More photos from Camp Curiosity for Early Educators. Educators consider art from the child's perspective while thinking about the learning potential of process art, stages of development, and the authentic opportunities of meaningful interactions during art play. The following was shared by a local educator/program owner who attended the event with her staff: "We really enjoyed ourselves today. This was one of the best classes we've attended". Thank you to our partners: A-State Childhood Services and the Museum of Natural Resources.

Thank you Dr Shane Warrick at SAU and Dr Stephanie Watson from UCA for hosting a great "We Are Accounting" professional development. Participants received breakfast, a better understanding of the profession, curriculum support, participated in fun engaging games, lunch, and insights/discussions from Accountants in our area.