Brooke Rose

I attribute my success to my upbringing and the experiences from my childhood that shaped who I am today. Growing up in the way I did, formed me into who I am and has additionally been a driving force of my passion working in early childhood education. Having a supportive environment where a child's development can truly flourish is something I didn't receive as a child, and it's something I want to be able to give to as many children as I can. The most important thing for me is that children know they have someone to go to and lean on, no matter what the situation is, and that they always feel that space is safe. Additionally, I want that space to be a place where they have fun, learn, grow, make fulfilling memories, and get ready for kindergarten. Lastly, I attribute my success to the first family I nannied for. They have truly helped shape me into the wonderful educator I am today and allowed me the space to flourish the way I hope to do for many children.

The best career advice I’ve ever received is to build relationships first and never stop learning. I’ve found that success in education comes from creating meaningful connections, staying open to feedback, and continually growing both personally and professionally.

My advice would be to educate yourself in the field and be open to any and all possibilities. This is an extremely fast- pace field, and every day is a brings new obstacles to get through so always come into it with your eyes open and your mind open. Be ready to take on the possibilities of the day. It's a rapidly changing industry, so you kind of have to stay educated and hold on tight.

One of the biggest challenges in early childhood education right now is teacher retention - that's definitely a hard one. At my center specifically, we're struggling with enrollment after we went through an acquisition last year. I would also say that the mainstream approach of some corporate companies can be challenging for families and educators to work with, in terms of how they implement things in the classroom, how much diversity there is, how much leverage a teacher gets in their curriculum style or how they set up their room. Sometimes being able to help a family out or be a little bit more lenient or flexible in a situation is not always possible when you work in a corporate company. On the opportunities side, I would say there's a lot of opportunities for growth and professional development, and for educators to move up in their careers. As a whole early childhood education is a growing field currently - it's still more or less in its toddler stages, meaning there is still tons of action research to be done among the early childhood field.

The traits in which I find most valuable in both my work and personal life are honesty, determination, and respect. These are all things that are very important to me within myself and in other people. I value being honest within yourself and to others, being determined in your life through goals and plans, and having respect for all those around you. I value my dog, the Lord I praise, my friends and family and my career.