Arkansas Valley District: Chaffee County Representative: Rhonda Hansen

Boulder County District: Boulder County Representative: Matt Eldred More than 140 ECE professionals turned out to the Annual Provider Appreciation Event sponsored by the Boulder County District of CAEYC on Friday, April 30th.  There was live music, entertainment from the improve group Playback Theatre, wonderful catered meal, and lots of raffle prizes.  The evening was topped off with recognition of the Teacher of the Year award for Boulder County, which was awarded to Elaine McCarthy, Director from Children’s House Preschool in Boulder.  In addition, there were more than 100 letters of recognition and thank you notes written by parents of children in care to their favorite ECE teacher in Boulder County.  The Co-chairs Melinda Bayers from The Acorn School in Boulder and Linda Swedhin from the Our Center in Longmont did a wonderful job organizing the event!  The Boulder County Distirct of CAEYC board of directors has set August 29th as their retreat date to plan the upcoming year.  We look forward to partnering with other ECE groups and organizations to advocate for children and child related issues in the upcoming year.  We are especially excited about the completion of the Boulder County ECE Framework document, which in alignment with the State-Wide ECE Framework and look forward to building a cost-model for implementation in partnership with the local Early Childhood Council of Boulder County.

Delta/San Juan District: Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray, San Juan, San Miguel Counties Representative: Carol Phelps

Denver Metro District: Adams, Arapahoe, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Park Counties Representative: Cindy Smith

Fremont County District: Fremont County Representative: Angie Shehorn

Larimer County District: Larimer County Representative: Madonna Mehia   As I send greetings from the Larimer County District of CAEYC, I have on my desk a copy of THE COLORADO STATESMAN.  Larimer District, in collaboration with the  Early Childhood Council, was pleased to be a part of "Doll Day" and excited to see many of the over eighty cardboard dolls for the Colorado Children's Campaign pictured in the April 16 Statesman.  Representative Randy Fischer from Larimer County, is pictured on the front page with one of the dolls.  Family child care homes, child care centers, faith based programs, and programs for school aged children worked together to create the variety of diverse dolls.  The dolls were precious; however the message sobering: "Dolls are cute, but stats about kids in poverty is ugly."   Letters, applications, and nomination forms have gone out to all Larimer County members of CAEYC.  The applications will be reviewed at the June 10th board meeting.  Elections will be held and new members will take office in August.    Board Member Stephane Tillman from Fort Collins and Nancy Almond an active district member and ECCLC employee from Estes Park, graduated as Buell Fellows on May 22.  Board member Beverly Hall completed her Family Leadership classes and board member Albertha Moorlag is involved in extensive Pyramid training . Many district members are taking classes to meet the new licensing requirements.    Spring has finally sprung.  The trees and lawns are a lush green. The many lakes in this area are filled. Lilacs, Iris, and other flowering plants are blooming.  The wild flowers along hiking paths, are beyond description.  It is a beautiful time of year for growing.  Larimer District is looking forward to growing this coming year as well with new members, new trainings, and greater community outreach.

Mesa District: Mesa County Representatives:  Paula Gallegos

Mountain District: Eagle, Lake, Summit Counties Representative: Taralyn Walters

Northeast Colorado District: Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Yuma Counties Representative: Terry Curtis

Northwest Colorado District: Grand, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco, Routt, Counties Representative: Kim Martin

Pikes Peak District: Cheyenne, Elbert, El Paso, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Teller Counties Representative: Ruby Belton

Roaring Forks District: Garfield, Pitkin Counties Representative: Season Doebler

San Luis Valley District: Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache Counties Representative: Patti Newman

Southeast Colorado District: Baca, Bent, Crowley, Custer, Huerfano, Kiowa, Las Animas, Otero, Prowers, Pueblo Counties Representative:  Renee Monohan

Southwest Colorado District: Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma Counties Representative:  Heather Taylor

Weld County District: Morgan, Washington, Weld Counties Representative: Becky Ward-Smith  We had a Membership Celebration on May 11th for all current Weld District members.  Joanne Dalton was our speaker.  Joanne reminded us that we need to pat ourselves on the back for the work we do with and/or for children and be positive about ourselves and stand up and say “I am good at ……!”  Remember to nurture yourself so that you can nurture others.  A delicious dinner and dessert along with door prize drawings made for a nice evening to recognize the hard work of early childhood professionals.  Board member elections were held and we have a few changes to the Weld District Board.  Correen Martinez has stepped down as Vice President.  We thank her for her work and contributions while on the board!   Debbie Becker is our new Vice President.  Becky Ward-Smith will continue as the President, Amber Arens remains our Training Coordinator, Janet Flaugher remains the Secretary, and Julie Skinner the Treasurer. Kathy Hamblin, Karen Fawcett, and Peggy Johnson remain as Members at Large. Linda Neigherbauer joins us on the board as a Member at Large.    We want to encourage all current Weld District members to join the Facebook group!  Information about trainings and other events are posted on this site and you can network with others.  If you are interested in finding out more information about the Weld District group please e-mail us at weldcaeyc@yahoo.com. You must be a current Weld District member to be accepted into the Facebook group.  In collaboration with United Way of Weld County and we will be hosting several training workshops.  Tentative dates, times, and topics are: August 19         6:45pm – 8:15pm         Childhood Obesity September 16   6:30pm – 8:00pm         Self-Regulating Discipline October 9        9:00am – 12:00noon October 21      6:15pm – 7:45pm         Cavity Free Kids          Fort Lupton November 18   6:30pm – 8:00pm         Language & ELL December 16   6:30pm – 8:00pm         Special Needs January 20        6:30pm – 8:00pm         Kindergarten Readiness February 2       6:30 pm – 8:30 pm       Dinner Conversations March 5           8:00am – 4:30pm         Love to Learn Conference April 16            9:00am – 12:00noon     Strong Fathers/Strong Families