SC Endeavors gift supports development of early care educators

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SC Endeavors awarded Spartanburg Community College’s early care and education program $22,500 to support the program’s mission of educating students entering the in-demand field of early childhood education and fund professional development for the program’s faculty and staff.

A presentation took place Thursday at an event recognizing SC Endeavors and the Mary Black Foundation for their contributions to SCC’s early care and education initiative and unveiling the program’s new home on the College’s Giles Campus.

“With early care and education being such a vital component of our community, I am very proud of the work that Spartanburg Community College’s Early Care and Education Department is doing to provide high quality early childhood education teachers to Spartanburg, Cherokee and Union counties,” Connie Spink, department chair, said in a news release. “We could not do this work without the support of SCC administration and key partners, such as SC Endeavors and the Mary Black Foundation. With their support, we can meet the high demand of our local childcare community to provide highly trained educators to support the families and young children in our area.”

“At Spartanburg Community College, we believe in the transformative power of an education, so it goes without saying we place a premium on the work the College does to educate the future educators of the communities we serve,” Michael Mikota, president of SCC, said in the release. “We are immensely thankful to the Mary Black Foundation, SC Endeavors, and the multitude of other partners who support our Early Care and Education program.”

In November of 2021, the Mary Black Foundation awarded the program a grant of $15,989. Those funds were used to furnish a mock 4-K classroom that provides ECE students with real-world, hands-on experience in a high-quality early childhood learning environment, the release said.

SCC’s early care and education program trains students to work in child care centers, preschools, public schools, Head Start programs and private kindergartens.