20 SUMMER 2022 | WWW.SHAKER.LIFE Meet Ellen Barcus, Family Connections Program Director Ellen Barcus is Family Connections’ program coordinator for the Play and Learn Station. She has worked in child care since 1979 and at the Play and Learn Station for the past 22 years. The busy preschool teacher planned the Play and Learn Station room layout, researching and identifying the furniture and age-appropriate materials that make the Play and Learn Station a rich learning environment. “I love interacting with families and truly enjoy the many opportunities to meet families from other countries,” she says. When the Play and Learn Station was closed during the renovation and the pandemic, Barcus kept in touch with many of her families. She is especially happy to be back at work, where she delights in the “excitement and the magic.” Barcus attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She taught preschool in the Washington D.C. area from 1979 to 1994 and served as a librarian at a preschool for three years. She lives with her husband of 34 years in Cleveland Heights, where they raised two daughters. Her best advice for parents and caregivers? “Play, read, listen, talk, sing, and move with your children every day.” Equipping the room was the next task. It is designed to mimic a typical preschool classroom with learning centers, where children and parents or caregivers can work and play together. Emergent literacy concepts are reinforced throughout the room. Everything is fun, yet everything has a purpose. To expose preschoolers to print, everything is labeled. Vocabulary development is encouraged through dramatic play; sound sensitivity is emphasized in nursery rhymes and singing; story knowledge is developed with a puppet theater; book knowledge is expanded in the reading corner; alphabet knowledge can be explored at the writing center; print-sound relationships are solidified at the listening table. Important school-readiness social skills such as sharing, listening, and working in a group are taught during group sessions. A key component of the program is adult-child interaction. Written directions for each activity are posted with suggestions for follow-up at home. Signs that encourage discussion and word development abound, and a preschool teacher is available to encourage and guide parents, caregivers, and children. The connection with the home is essential, so there are books and resources on a variety of parenting topics. Both the Library and Family Connections are proud of their 24-year collaboration to benefit young families and children, and look forward to welcoming a new generation to the joys of playing and learning. Meet Joanne Federman, Co-founder of the Play and Learn Station Joanne Federman’s career working on behalf of families and young children has spanned more than 50 years and includes childcare centers, hospitals, community colleges, and family centers in Boston, San Jose, and Cleveland. She is a graduate of Oberlin College with a master’s degree in Child Study from Tufts University and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Case Western Reserve University. After serving for 29 years, Federman retired from her position as executive director of Family Connections of Northeast Ohio last May. Hired as the first executive director of the Shaker Family Center in 1993, she oversaw the 2010 merger between the Heights Parent Center and the Shaker Family Center to form Family Connections. Before joining Family Connections, she was employed as a pre-kindergarten teacher with the Mayfield Jewish Community Center as well as an instructor in the early childhood department of Cuyahoga Community College – Eastern Campus. Her many honors include the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Community Support of the Year award and the Hanna Perkins Center for Child Development’s Eleanor M. Hosley Memorial Award. “I think the most rewarding part of my job has been the people and the many partnerships I’ve made in so many different communities,” she says. Her best advice for parents and caregivers is to seek help from peers and community resources when needed. “Children do not come with instructions; raising them is one of the hardest and most important jobs a parent/caregiver has,” she says. SL
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