Carrollton Early Childhood Director presents at PAT Conference

By Editor | November 2, 2023 |

By Carmen Ensinger

Carrollton Early Childhood Director Sarah Schmidt traveled to New Orleans earlier this month along with several other employees of the Early Childhood Program, to attend the Parents as Teachers (PAT) International Conference from Oct. 16-19.
There were over 3,500 people in attendance at the conference, all of whom were either home visiting staff, program administration, or other program staff (Doulas, secretaries, etc.)
Schmidt’s session was on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 10:30 a.m.
“That was the first set of ‘open sessions’ that wasn’t a keynote speaker for all to attend,” Schmidt said. “These open sessions are for all attendees to choose something that interests them or applies to their current work.”
PAT sent out a call for proposals to lead a session back in February and Schmidt decided to submit a proposal.
“I submitted my application and proposal at that time and received notice in mid-March that my application had been accepted and I was invited to present a workshop at the annual conference,” Schmidt said. “The session I presented was titled, ‘Support Staff for Greater Longevity and Efficacy.’ It was based on the idea of ‘how can supervisors help build this community to maximize benefits for families.”
Schmidt said this presentation was born from a mini-presentation she gave over a year ago for another entity. She was then asked to speak at the Illinois State Board of Education Forum for Prevention Initiative last November about it.
“That presentation received an overwhelming amount of support and positive engagement,” she said. “So, when the opportunity came to present about this at a national level, I figured I’d give it a shot. I was ecstatic when it was accepted because this is something I feel is missing from education as a whole – not just early childhood or home visiting.”
The basic concept of Schmidt’s presentation is that sometimes it is forgotten that staff are human too.
“Something we focus on in education and home visiting is to always see the positive in what we do and who we work with,” Schmidt said. “Yet when we work with our staff or bring new staff onboard, we focus on the negative. That is completely backward from the work we’re doing. So, what can we do to change it and how will that affect our staff, which ultimately affects the families/children we work with.”
Schmidt said she has a very simple approach that has been effective in many aspects of working with her staff and it seems to make sense to others when it is laid out in front of other supervisory staff.
“There are five components to creating a solid relationship with staff, which leans into a better work experience for everyone,” she said. “Those five components are: Mentorship, environment, daily conversation, open support and fun.”
According to Schmidt, the best thing one can do for staff is to give them someone to rely on for big things and small things at the same time.
“Mentorship can be something as small as ‘don’t park there because so-and-so, who’s been here for 20 years, always parks in that spot’, but also the bigger concepts of ‘I need to get a resource for a family and I’m not sure where to even begin,’” Schmidt said. “Also, having strong mentorship doesn’t have to be just one person to one person, it can be different people for different situations or reasons. But making sure everyone has someone they can bounce ideas off or be their targeted support makes a huge difference in creating a strong team.”
Part of the mentorship idea leads to the environment of a workplace and/or team.
“Environment is the feeling of an office or team and it can be things like pictures on the wall, furniture and layout, but it is also the relationships and body language you see; are people smiling, are their bodies relaxed, do you feel tension when you walk into the space,” Schmidt said. “That feeling of an environment is created in a lot of ways but it can be unintentionally destroyed very easily, so making sure it stays positive is imperative.”
Part of that mentorship and environment is two very simple things which are very often forgotten – daily conversation and fun.
“It seems silly to tell adults that they NEED to be talking in their workplace or that they NEED to have fun, but it has been amazing to me how many places aren’t doing those things,” Schmidt said. “Even if it’s a quick and simple, ‘hey, how was your visit’ or ‘you doing ok today?’ It can completely change the relationship you have with staff and it absolutely changes the feeling staff have about their supervisor.
“I’m a firm believer that just having those daily conversations will help, but having fun should be part of those daily plans. Having fun looks very different, it can be silly little anecdotes in the office or it can be events away from the office to do zero work and all fun. But it all plays a part in creating a lasting relationship with your staff so that they can feel supported as they move through the daily activities of our jobs.”
Schmidt said she saved the best for last because it is what she considers the absolute most important part of developing a strong staff – open support.
“This isn’t just pointed conversations of support, but it is also the small moments of noticing a change in someone’s demeanor, knowing them well enough to know how to approach the concern and following through with support, whether it is conversation, a small token, or giving them the space they need,” she said. “It is even more important to recognize that we won’t always agree and sometimes we will let each other down, but building a relationship to know it will mend. Knowing you’ve built a relationship that makes it ok to have those hard moments, rebound and come out stronger at the end of the day.”
How one approaches their staff and maintains that relationship directly impacts their ability to be successful in their work.
“When staff feel supported, the heavy days are a lot lighter, and in turn, they can show up bigger, more engaged and better prepared for the families/children that we work with,” Schmidt said. “Additionally, knowing them as people helps me match them to the families we work with. Finding commonalities or places they will compliment a family in our program makes it more enjoyable and more effective for everyone involved.”
Sometimes it can be the small things like hobbies they enjoy or number of kids they each have, but other times it is the bigger things, like both being a child of a drug user or both experiencing the loss of a parent at a critical age.
“Finding those commonalities can often create a closer bond between staff and the families we work with,” Schmidt said. “This ultimately increases their longevity because they feel connected to not only our work, but the families that welcome us into their homes and their lives.”
Of course, there are tough days, difficult moments, mistakes and always finding areas for improvements.
“But at the end of the day, if my staff knows I care about them and value them as a person, then we can continue to show up each day, ready to tackle those hard things together,” Schmidt said. “Viewing your work team as a relationship is crucial, and relationships don’t prosper without effort. This is a process that takes constant attention, persistent effort and conscious decision making every day.”
Schmidt has been the Early Childhood Program Director at Carrollton for six years. She has a staff of 11 between all three Early Childhood Programs at Carrollton that includes two Pre-K classrooms and the PAT program). The PAT program currently serves 50 families through home visits.
The Prevention Initiative is the state grant provided for the home visiting/PAT services and also paid for all travel and lodging expenses for Schmidt and her team to attend the conference in New Orleans.
All attendees are certified in basic PAT curriculum (called Foundational) and most are further certified in PAT curriculum (model implementation certification which means you can implement the curriculum – not just have access to it.