Helping Hands, February 20, 2012

A feature
about people
whose work
touches our lives
MADELEINE
RITCHIE
Education Consultant helping with Early Learning Initiative
Bio:
Native of Columbia, S.C.
Resident of Litchfield Beach Graduate of University of S.C.
Former teacher and principal
in Knoxville, Tenn.

How did you get involved with the Early Learning Initiative?
I worked as one of the education consultants for the Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation here in Georgetown County.
I was asked to help support the YMCA and First Steps programs and I became very interested in early education.
When First Steps lost a matching grant from the state, the Bunnelle Foundation convened an Education Summit in November 2009.
We brought in interested people, including our state legislators, trying to find funds for First Steps.
The legislators told us we needed to collaborate, so the Early Learning Initiative was born.

Why is this initiative important?
Research shows that if children are in a quality education-based childcare program from age 0 to 5, they are more ready for school.
If children are ready for school, there are fewer retentions and less chance of being placed in special education programs, which saves the school district and taxpayers money.

What is being done now?
We are planning a forum for business leaders in Georgetown County to learn about the effect of early education on the future workforce.
It is set for April 16 at the J.B. Beck Administration Building in Georgetown.

How did you become an education consultant?
I was a teacher and then became principal at Shannondale Elementary School in Knoxville, Tenn.
At that school, we used strategies developed by Dr. Ethna Reid at the Reid Foundation and we had the highest standardized test scores in the city.
I started training teachers in that school district.
We were so successful with it that Dr. Reid asked me to start training teachers in Salt Lake City and other places across the U.S.
So I did that for 20 years.

What kinds of strategies were you using to train teachers?
I used something called the Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI). I taught teachers ECRI master reading strategies to develop reading in all content areas. Everything was tied to writing.

With what other groups are you involved?
I am on the board for Miss Ruby’s Kids and I’m on the advisory board for the Nurse Family Partnership Program. I am also active in my church, Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal Church.

Can you tell me about your family?
I have a son, David, who works as a Registered Nurse in Rogersville, Tenn.
My daughter, Jenny, is a pastoral care coordinator at a retirement community in Waynesboro, Va.
I also have five grandchildren and one great-grandson.

As told to Clayton Stairs