Member Spotlight
Community Connections for Children
Community Connections for Children (CCC) is a non-profit in York, Pennsylvania, that houses various state-wide programs, including (among others), Keystone STARS (PA’s quality rating improvement system for child care and school age programs) and Child Care Works (a child care subsidy program). We spoke with Susan Chlebowski, who has been working with CCC for the last few years, and Elizabeth Marcello, who has been with CCC since 2016, to learn more.
How did your respective backgrounds in nature-based education and more “traditional” early childhood education lead you to your collaborative work at CCC?
After many years of witnessing young children thrive through long periods of daily open-ended play outdoors in all seasons, Susan began to wonder why overly-academic early childhood programs, which took place primarily indoors, were so common. She wished more children could experience nature play. Elizabeth was working to support directors and teachers in conventional early childhood education (ECE) centers, but often found they were entrenched in teacher-directed practices that didn’t always honor children’s developmental needs. Both Susan and Elizabeth dreamed of being part of the solution.
The two met at Susan’s nature preschool and their meeting reinvigorated Elizabeth’s desire to focus on play and nature in her work. Elizabeth encouraged CCC to hire Susan, a Montesssori-turned-nature-based educator who had nearly 15 years of experience running nature preschools.
Fast forward to 2023, and Elizabeth and Susan now both call their work their dream jobs. They work together through CCC’s supportive network to bring free professional development and coaching in nature and play-based practices to any early childcare provider in CCC’s 13 county region in central Pennsylvania.
Your work aims to address inequities in access to nature play. What does that look like in practice?
Many ECE providers aren’t given training on the benefits of nature play and how to implement it in, and out, of their classrooms. That’s where CCC comes in! CCC provides cost-free coaching to ECE providers, helping to eliminate one of the barriers to nature play, and making training more accessible.
Amazing! What’s next for CCC?
Elizabeth and Susan have recently embarked on a yearlong Nature Play Pilot Project with the staff of a YMCA Childcare center that wants to make a full shift to a nature- and play-focused ECE program. In their collaborative work with the YMCA staff, they are co-creating what they hope will be a blueprint for other childcare centers. Plans include extended time in nature to enjoy child-led play and exploration, an emphasis on whole-child development, and a love of learning that can support children throughout their lives.
The support we have from CCC to do this work has been incredible. They not only fostered my passion for play- and nature-based learning and my dream of working with providers in this capacity, but also saw the value in doing so. Through this work we meet the needs of not only the programs with which we work, but the children and families that these programs serve. - Elizabeth Marcello
