CDA stands for Child Development Associate, a nationally-recognized credential for early childhood educators. United Way’s CDA program is a component of our Growing Readers program, which is part of our Ready.Set.READ! initiative. The program supports child care teachers as they take classes at RACC and prepare to take the CDA exam. Their newly-developed skills improve the quality of education in their classrooms, and their newly-earned credential gives them a guaranteed pay increase.
One notable graduate of this program is Araika Correas, who though the CDA Program has furthered her education and is now the Lead Teacher at Second Street Learning Center in Reading PA. For many of the teachers who have gone through the program, this is their first time taking classes after graduating from high school. Some, like Araika, have never considered higher education as an option, until the CDA program gave them confidence to continue their education. Despite having two kids of her own and one on the way, Araika took the leap at just 18 years old to take her career as a preschool teacher to the next level.
What did it mean to have United Way’s support throughout the process?
“United Way made me feel comfortable… they made sure my classes were on point and that things were given to me on time… which made it less stressful than what I thought it would be with going back to school with children.”
Were there any obstacles you had to overcome?
The only big obstacle I had to overcome was my learning disability… It was one of the reasons I was scared to go back to school, because I felt like I wasn’t good enough to finish. When I joined the CDA program through United Way, they made me feel like nothing was impossible.”
Araika, who has since gone on to earn an associate’s degree, plans to further her education, and attributes the growth in her career and education to United Way’s CDA Program.