Melissa Ault

I have been in early childhood education for 26 years, and it has been a journey of passion and determination. I always wanted to be a teacher growing up, and my first job was when my little boy was young and in preschool - they asked me to work as an assistant in the classroom, and I instantly fell in love with early childhood. I work for the United Way of Connecticut, where I go out and book family discussion groups to talk to parents of young children ages birth to 5 about topics ranging from social-emotional learning to toilet learning. I also work with grandparents who are now caring for their grandchildren, reminding them of what's available now after years of research on what's healthy for children. As a private contractor, I train preschool teachers and directors throughout the state of Connecticut. I make sure to end every session with encouragement - reminding them that they are our superheroes and their work does matter. I think this helps with teacher burnout, because they're taking care of some of our most vulnerable population and our future. I earned my master's degree in early childhood while being a single mom of 4 boys and working full-time, which opened up this world of expertise I didn't even know I had. I've been trained as a CLASS coach through Teachstone and as a Lasting coach through the University of Florida, and I'm also a classroom observer for the states of Florida and Connecticut. All of these experiences help me support teachers with the right questions and reflections, so they leave my trainings with actual goals they can implement to be different and better in their workplace.