Season 3, Episode 4: Carrie McCormack - Heart Changing Learning Through Communities of Practice

Tune in to Episode 4 in Season 3 of our BC's Path to Universal Child Care Podcast. Today we welcome you back to our podcast with our special guest: Carrie McCormack, a Program Coordinator with the Child Care Resource and Referral Program in Williams Lake.We are honoured and grateful to welcome Carrie McCormack to share insights on  exploring how to create and sustain meaningful, relevant, and what Carrie describes as “heart changing” professional development through communities of practice:My name is Carrie McCormack and I am the Program Coordinator at Women's Contact Society for Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR), in Williams Lake, BC.  I was born in Williams Lake, grew up in the 100 Mile House area and then jumped on a Greyhound bus headed for Vancouver, about an hour after graduation.  I worked with TELUS (formerly BC Tel) for 20 years, BC Parks and The Terry Fox Foundation before returning to Williams Lake to support a career opportunity my husband had.  Full circle moment!  I am a big hearted, passionate and silly Grandma to 2 grandchildren, a partner and friend to my funny guy, Ron, a Mom, a sister, a daughter to Metro (Ukrainian) and Shirley (Huron Nation and French Canadian) and a friend to most everyone and those creatures that don't scare me too much.  I love sharing food and having a table full of family, friends, or the many strays my children brought home over the years. I attended University in 2019 to begin my Human Services education.  I gained a certificate as a Community Support Worker/Education Assistant, after year 1, and completed my practicum at Women's Contact Society.  I was offered the position of Program Coordinator for CCRR and accepted it with excitement and little apprehension.Age and experience have taught me that if I want to continue to grow and enjoy life’s continuous surprises, I should always take the path that is a little uncomfortable, unknown or even a little awkward.  So right after I said yes to working with the ECE Bursary Team my first thoughts were, "What exactly does a Program Coordinator do? Who is ECE Pro D Bursary? and What's an ELF Communities of Practice?  ELF must be a game they teach us to play with children!"Here I am, over three years later wrapping up our fifth Communities of Practice on April 20th, 2024.  I can’t wait to spend time in person with this group and Katie Crosby, Occupational Therapist, who has been working with us for over two years now.  It feels more like I’ll be attending a high school reunion than a professional gathering as we have created such deep connections, support, trust in each other after sharing our stories, lots of laughs and some tears.    I am so grateful to the ECE Pro D Bursary team for their encouragement and support over the past three plus years.  The debriefs after each COP session were game changers for me and impacted the way I approach training and sharing information.  And to the participants who showed up for me, the children, their families, themselves.  Thank you for showing up, sharing, leading, questioning and impacting my heart, my work, my life.  What a gift you all have been.     I will close with this thought.  Prepare, plan, set the table and serve an appy (topic of discussion or something to ponder) and then let go and immerse yourself in the dinner conversation.  And maybe…just maybe, someone might ask about something that’s not on the table.  Wowzer! If you’re interested in starting your own community of practice with child care educators in your region reach out to us by visiting the ECE Professional Development Bursary website at eceprodbursary.org.