Throughout college I have become very interested in educational policy and reform. I first heard about the First School project while in my Education 41 class in the spring of 2006 and was intrigued by the idea of it. The vision of First School is that, “Every child has a right to a successful, enjoyable, high quality FirstSchool experience that fosters intellectual, physical, emotional, and social well-being, and optimizes learning and development.” First School seeks to provide this with a continuous educational experience for children ages 3-8.
The ideals and vision of the project were ones that I supported and left me eager to find out more about it. At that time I did not have a good avenue to pursue anything further with the organization. However, when I had the opportunity to choose a location to do my service at this semester, the prospect of working with the Frank Porter Graham Institute and the development of First School quickly came to mind. I have now been very fortunate to have been able to work with this organization. Over the course of my service with them I have been able to learn more about proper researching techniques as well as more about how educational reform can take place. I have been able to see the inner workings of all that goes into the development of a new model for education and how teams of people collaborate to develop a project. More than anything else, I have learned that through dedication and passion it is possible to take a great idea that seems unattainable and turn it into som! ething real.

I began working with the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute around mid October, 2006 and continued my work throughout the 2007 Spring semester. A large part of what I did was research and literature review on any health issues that would go into the development of First School. An example of this would be finding out what types of school health services actually have an impact on a child's health. In addition to that I also worked with the Child Development Institute on their NAEYC accreditation process through various tasks such as tallying and computing data. There were also many other various activities that I often had the opportunity to take part in such as curriculum committee meetings.

FPG Child Development Institute

CB#8180, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8180

http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~firstschool/