2020 WOA Education Award Honoree

Jan Swanson

Homenajeada por Mujeres de Logros 2020

~ Education Award ~

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Congratulations Jan!

Gracias por vivir la misión de YWCA Spokane

Throughout her life, Jan has demonstrated leadership and innovation in the field of education by solving a critical need in the community and raising the bar to improve the lives of women and children. Her school sought and achieved accreditation in 1989 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) – the first early childhood program to do so in Eastern Washington. Since then, the elementary school has also been accredited by AdvanceED and formed partnerships with Whitworth University’s Gifted and Talented Education program along with Prodigy Northwest.

Jan began her work to provide high-quality early childhood education for Pacific Northwest children when she founded her own early learning center in 1981, first called North Wall Child Development Center (now North Wall Schools). Jan has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education and a Masters degree in Gifted Education, both from Whitworth University. She is a K-12 certified teacher, and her teaching experience spans preschool, elementary school, high school, and college. She taught classes and wrote written curriculum for the early childhood education program at Spokane Falls Community College.

Throughout her career, Jan has worked to empower women in the workplace, paying them higher salaries than the standard child-care rate. In her eyes, employees were not babysitters or caregivers–they were all teachers and were treated as such. They were expected to have a BA in Elementary Education or an AAS in early childhood or credits in those fields.  Every staff member including herself was expected to take more credits toward professional development each year and to teach the new material to the others. They were given paid preparation time to develop challenging and interesting lesson plans, funding for educational materials, and additional support from a parent-teacher organization. She has been employing credentialed teachers, most of them women, for almost 40 years. Jan was a proponent of flexible work schedules, allowing for part-time employment while employees finished their education. She also supported her employees’ use of the childcare facility for their own children in support of a positive work-life balance.

Jan has been at the forefront of anti-bias education throughout her career. She formed an early connection with Mukogawa’s Japanese school, where children exchanged dolls with students, learned some Japanese, and performed music together. Also, Mukogawa students from Japan did internships at North Wall Schools. The school also works internationally with a non-profit dedicated to the education of rural children in Guatemala. In the early 1990s, when the school was expanding from K-3rd grade to 6^th grade and replacing its literacy program, Jan noticed an obvious bias in what the publishing companies had to offer: the books had no or very few pictures or stories of children of color. She pressed the educational bookmakers to produce anti-biased literature. She and the other teachers sought out and found materials that better reflected the history and culture of North America.

Jan has spent her career becoming a pioneer in the field of Early Childhood Education in Spokane and an advocate for showing respect to children.  She initiated classes for staff, parents, and college students in Positive Discipline.  Jan modeled and expected each staff member to model positive discipline with children. The school was able to demonstrate the effectiveness of speaking to children with the same respect and affirmative language as we expect to be spoken to as adults and seeing children cooperate and participate in respecting themselves, others and the environment because of choice rather than threats or intimidation. Eliminating the words,”no” and “don’t”, was a challenge for all in the early 80s when spanking was still popular in many homes and some other private programs. Her education in psychology taught her that understanding early brain development and appropriate attention to children are critical to their later success in learning. Her multi-age learn-at-your-own-pace approach has produced an array of successful graduates: doctors, lawyers, professors, inventors, software developers and marketers, writers, business owners, crane operators and even a space researcher. At YWCA Spokane, it is our honor to celebrate Jan Swanson and her outstanding achievements as our 2020 Women of Achievement Education award recipient.

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Nueva CAMPAÑA UNA MISIÓN de la YWCA

Una celebración de dos meses de quienes viven la misión de la YWCA de eliminar el racismo y empoderar a las mujeres.

Esta campaña honrará a nuestras ganadoras del premio Mujeres de Logros 2020 e invitará a la comunidad a aceptar el desafío Aprender y Dar de la YWCA centrado en inspirar cambios durante el Mes de Acción contra la Violencia Doméstica.

Del 1 de septiembre al 31 de octubre de 2020, la campaña UNA MISIÓN de la YWCA servirá para celebrar a las mujeres líderes en nuestra comunidad, crear conciencia sobre las experiencias complejas de los sobrevivientes de violencia doméstica y buscar recaudar $275,000. Las ganancias recaudadas apoyan los servicios de YWCA Spokane para víctimas de violencia doméstica y sus hijos, incluido refugio de emergencia, asesoramiento, servicios legales, preparación laboral, cuidado infantil y programas de prekínder para niños de bajos ingresos y sus familias.

Please join us as we celebrate Jan and the other 2020 award honorees through this new campaign. 

Aprende más

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Haga una donación en honor a nuestras galardonadas con el premio Women of Achievement

Considere hacer una donación en honor a las mujeres destacadas que reconocemos en esta inspiradora celebración. Como nuestra recaudación de fondos más importante y más importante del año, los premios Women of Achievement Awards benefician directamente a nuestros programas y servicios, lo que permite que nuestro alcance crezca aún más y que nuestra misión se haga realidad. En pocas palabras, ¡no podemos hacer este trabajo sin usted!

DONAR HOY

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Acerca de YWCA Spokane

Durante 117 años, YWCA Spokane ha ayudado a mujeres y niños a superar barreras sociales, económicas y personales para lograr sus objetivos y lograr una vida más saludable y plena. Hoy en día, las áreas de enfoque incluyen el apoyo a las víctimas de violencia doméstica por parte de parejas íntimas, la promoción de la educación infantil temprana y el enfrentamiento de problemas de justicia social y racial que impactan negativamente a nuestros clientes y nuestra comunidad.

En 2019, YWCA atendió a más de 17.000 mujeres, niños y familias. Los servicios incluyen un continuo de apoyo integral: línea de ayuda las 24 horas y refugio seguro, centro de asesoramiento, servicios de salud mental, defensa infantil, asistencia legal civil, defensa legal y defensa del empoderamiento económico. El Programa de Asistencia y Educación para la Primera Infancia (ECEAP) de la YWCA proporciona a niños de 3 y 4 años las habilidades sociales y de aprendizaje necesarias para un ingreso exitoso al jardín de infantes.

Al trabajar en las intersecciones de la desigualdad, la pobreza y la violencia doméstica, YWCA Spokane puede alterar patrones sociales de trauma de larga data. Para obtener más información, eche un vistazo a nuestro Informe anual de impacto 2019.

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¡GRACIAS A NUESTROS PATROCINADORES DE LA CAMPAÑA 2020, MUY VALORADOS!

Esta celebración de premios no sería posible sin el increíble apoyo de nuestros patrocinadores de 2020. Para aprender más sobre oportunidades de patrocinio comuníquese con Dana Morris Lee, directora de filantropía de YWCA Spokane, en danam@ywcaspokane.org o llame al 509-742-0111.

PATROCINADOR FIRMA

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PATROCINADOR PRINCIPAL

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PATROCINADOR HONORARIO

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Socio de misión 2020

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PATROCINADOR DE PRODUCCIÓN DE VIDEO

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PATROCINADOR Innovación

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PATROCINADOR CAMPEÓN

 

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PATROCINADORES PIONEROS

 

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PATROCINADORES PIONEROS

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Patrocinadores corporativos

Banco Columbia

Cooperativa de crédito global

La revisión del portavoz

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Para obtener más información sobre las oportunidades de patrocinio, comuníquese con Dana Morris Lee, directora de filantropía de YWCA Spokane, en danam@ywcaspokane.org o llame al 509-742-0111.