Trying Together has released its 2025 fall catalog to help educators find professional growth opportunities that align with their career goals. The catalog provides course details and credentials.
Learn More
In the past year, Trying Together awarded nearly 4,500 PQAS credits to support continuous improvement in early learning programs. It aims to increase the number by regularly updating its Professional Development Catalog to make it easier for educators to continue to learn.
All courses listed in the catalog are led by a certified PQAS instructor and are Act 48 approved.
The courses are broken down into nine sections:
- Assessments and Supportive Services (Early Intervention)
- Child Development
- Classroom Environment
- Curriculum Development
- Family and Community Engagement
- Guidance and Behavior Management
- Health and Safety
- Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI)
- Professionalism and Program Organization
For more information on how Trying Together can assist educators in their learning goals, email learning@tryingtogether.org or call 412-421-3889.
Are you interested in using children’s books to engage young children in critical conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice? Join EmbraceRace on October 22 for “Using Books to Engage Young Children in Talk about Race & Justice.”
About
During this online event, Aija Simmons, Sara Rizik-Baer, and Savitha Moorthy will describe Mirrors, Windows, and Glass Doors*, a community-focused effort from Tandem, Partners in Early Learning that uses children’s books as a departure point for expanding the capacity of families with children under five years old to engage in critical conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.
Presenters will explain the factors that led to its creation, how it continues to evolve, the questions the working group is actively grappling with, and what they hope to accomplish. Participants are encouraged to ask questions and comment.
Registration
To register, visit the event webpage.
Are you interested in connecting with school leaders to discuss strategies for integrating justice and anti-racist systems into your school? Attend “Transform for Tomorrow,” a three-part virtual series for school leaders that explores how educational organizations can make plans for what comes next.
About
As a Superintendent or school leader, you are already preparing for what will be a very different 2020-21 school year. You are adjusting to new ways of preparing your teachers, educating your students, and supporting your parents. Have you also integrated matters of justice? Are you constructing anti-racist systems?
This three-part virtual series presents opportunities to share and learn from one another about how our schools might, together, make plans for what comes next, no matter what tomorrow brings.
Webinar Dates
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- Justice: Learning and Leading
July 14, 2020 | 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. | Register
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- Justice: Teaching in STEM
July 16, 2020 | 1 – 2 p.m. | Register
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- Justice: Learning and Strategizing
July 21, 2020 | 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. | Register
Registration
To register, visit the event webpage.
Join EmbraceRace on June 5 for their webinar, “‘I [STILL] can’t breathe’: Supporting kids of color amid racialized violence.”
About
Black, Brown, Native, and low-income individuals talk with children about how to interact with police. They file formal complaints against abusive officers, take cellphone videos that go viral, share their stories with media outlets, file lawsuits, and protest with allies at their side. With COVID-19 as a backdrop, some predict a “long, hot summer.” Others see a promising new determination by many white individuals to become a vigorous part of the solution.
In this complicated context, what conversations about policing, violence, safety, justice, and race should parents and caregivers be having with their children of color? Join EmbraceRace on June 5 for that discussion. Questions and insights are encouraged.
Registration
To register, visit the event webpage.
More Information
Please note that this event is high in demand. Those who are unable to get onto Zoom will be direct to the live broadcast on EmbraceRace’s Facebook page. A recording of the event will be available at a later date for those who are unable to attend. For questions, please contact EmbraceRace through their contact form or on Facebook.
![“I [STILL] can’t breathe”: Supporting kids of color amid racialized violence](https://tryingtogether.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/TryingTogetherSiteVisits-BF028-1.jpg)
The Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council invites you to a day of networking, discovering alliances and collaboration building among diverse organizations throughout Pennsylvania led by and/or supporting underserved/unserved populations who experience marginalization and oppression.
About the Summit
Oppression affects many of us, for different socially constructed reasons: racism, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual identity and orientation, disability, economics, rural/urban location, religion, and so much more. Although our discrimination experiences may be different, we can be a valuable support and resource to each other in our struggles for equality, inclusion, and social justice.
Join the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council on May 21 and 22 to participate in the discussion. This year, the Summit will focus on the goal of meeting and engaging new potential allies, stimulating learning from one another, and exploring opportunities for partnerships and collaboration.
Download the Summit agenda.
Registration
Registration is free and may be accessed via the event page. Availability is on a first come first serve basis.
More information on the event, hotel accommodations, travel, and more can be found on the event page.
Questions
For questions, contact Dana Thompson at 717.214.8103 or danathomps@pa.gov.
A+ Schools, Carlow University’s Education Department, and Trying Together are pleased to present, “Restorative Justice Practices: Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline” on Thursday, March 21, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Arsenal Middle School.
About
A long-time social justice activist, civil rights trial attorney, restorative justice practitioner, writer, professor, and scholar with a PhD in Indigenous Knowledge, keynote speaker, Dr. Fania E. Davis is considered a leading national voice. Dr. Davis will share her personal journey to restorative justice. Attendees will also hear her presentation on what restorative justice is, how it differs from other forms of justice, and its history. Dr. Davis will also share the way it is being used in Oakland, California’s schools and juvenile justice system.
The evening will conclude with a panel discussion between Dr. Davis and Mr. John Wetzel, Secretary, PA Department of Corrections. During Mr. Wetzel’s tenure an elimination of a 24-year average growth of 1,500 inmates per year occurred presiding over the first population reduction in PA in more than four decades. With more than 29 years of experience in the corrections field, Mr. Wetzel has been selected as chair of the Council of State Government’s Justice Center’s Executive Board and Vice President of ASCA.
Register
Get more information and register for this event.
Join Just Films in their free screening of Pittsburgh filmmaker Tammy Thompson’s “We Wear the Mask.” After the screening, Thompson and the women featured in the documentary will participate in a panel discussion and Q&A session. This event is free and open to the public. Register here.
For any questions, contact Melody Harris via phone (412.365.1578) or email (m.harris@chatham.edu).
About the Film
“We Wear the Mask” powerfully represents the challenges for low-income women in Pittsburgh, and demonstrates the psychological effects of poverty. Women are disproportionately disadvantaged by growing economic inequality in our country and region. This evocative documentary follows three different women who have faced similar struggles, and illuminates the human impact of economic injustice through their stories.
Just Films
Just Films is brought to you by the Chatham University Women’s Institute, Gwen’s Girls, the Women and Girls Foundation, the Women’s Law Project, and YWCA Greater Pittsburgh.
Share their flyer with your networks.
In today’s world, each new day brings an onslaught of information, images, data, and stories. While immigrant families with young children may cycle in and out of the front pages, the need for early childhood educators from all backgrounds to stand together to protect and support them continues to capture our time and attention.
As an active member of the Protecting Immigrant Families campaign, NAEYC continues to stand against family separation, and to stand in opposition to the new proposed regulation on “public charge,” which they believe would punish parents and harm children. With stories of two-year-olds in court and tent cities on the border, NAEYC remains deeply concerned about what has happened and what will happen to the hundreds of children still separated from their families, as well as what will happen to the families yet to be detained.
Opportunities to Stay Informed and Advocate
Speak Up, Speak Out
If you believe in a world in which all young children can thrive and learn, our society must be dedicated to ensuring that they reach their full potential. This world does not include incarcerating children, separating them from their families, or forcing families to stop accessing critical services and supports because they are afraid. Rather, NAEYC understands and upholds the bonds between children and their families, and, as advocates, calls for individuals to speak up and out to defend those bonds.
Recognize the power of your voice and actions, and stay engaged as NAEYC members move forward on this and many other issues facing our children, families, and educators.
*Information provided by NAEYC*
