This year, 23 people received nominations for First Steps’ 4th annual Early Childhood Champion Awards.
Created in 2021, these awards recognize the early education and childcare providers, preschool teachers, child development specialists, human service providers, healthcare professionals, librarians, policymakers, and advocates who have positively impacted the lives of the NRV’s youngest citizens.
The nominations submitted by parents, colleagues, supervisors, neighbors, and other community members were incredibly compelling. During the award ceremony Aug. 23, we recognized all the nominees and announced this year’s winners. Each winner received a cash award provided by the Community Foundation of the New River Valley.
2024 Early Childhood Champions of the Year:
Seth Zaki and Connor Farrell both work at a local restaurant and they approached the YMCA at Virginia Tech about using their parking lot in Blacksburg to cook and serve food to people in need on their days off. They just needed the space, and they would take care of everything else. The Y’s staff immediately thought of their Meals on Main program, which provides meals and enrichment activities to children in need in Christiansburg and Blacksburg. Seth and Connor were a perfect fit. They began cooking meals for both children and families on the Meals on Main food truck, waking up early to do food prep, to cook and serve, and to stay late afterward to clean up – all as volunteers. They spend up to 16 hours, every Tuesday, serving more than 100 children and their families, and they are constantly looking for ways to expand that impact. One of their nominators wrote, “Seth and Connor are two of the most kind, hardworking, and determined young men I have ever met.”
2024 Runner-Up
Amanda Cargill Hobin: Amanda received 6 nominations from parents and colleagues at Head Start who describe her as caring, loving, supportive, dedicated, innovative, adaptable, and much more. Parents talked about the care she takes in meeting each student’s specific needs, while colleagues describe her as “a burst of positive energy and enthusiasm [that] radiates off her onto her peers.”
2024 Honorees
Dr. Rosanna Breaux: Rosanna is the director of the Child Study Center at Virginia Tech and an assistant professor in the Dept. of Psychology. She was nominated by her supervisor who talked about her extraordinary work with children and parents conducting psychological assessments and connecting families to early intervention and community resources. Her nominator wrote: “Rosanna’s innovative and empathetic approach to care and education has significantly enriched the lives of young children and their families in the NRV.”
Emily Perkins: Emily was nominated by a colleague who wrote at length about her fierce advocacy for the families and staff at Giles Head Start. For more than 25 years, Emily has helped families overcome barriers so their children have what they need to be successful. Her nominator wrote “She is the person you want in your corner when times get tough.”
Cheryl Vaughan: Cheryl is a therapist and clinic manager at CORA Physical Therapy in Blacksburg. She was nominated by a parent who talked about Cheryl’s work to build her son’s confidence and to build a loving and authentic relationship with him. She also spoke of Cheryl’s willingness to pivot to support both parent and child. She wrote, “it makes such a difference to have providers that take the time to understand your child–to show love to your child. When I think of Cheryl, that’s what I think of–love.”
Full List of the 2024 Nominees
Learn more about each of these nominees on the 2024 Early Childhood Champions page.
Susan Bailey: A teacher at the Blacksburg United Methodist Church Preschool Program
Jason Ballard: A delegate representing District 12 here in the NRV in the Virginia House of Delegates
Rosanna Breaux: Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech and Director of the Child Study Center
Melanie Brusseau: A teacher at the Radford Early Learning Center
Kayla Crowder: Former director of North Blacksburg KinderCare and now an early childhood education consultant for the Calfee Community & Cultural Center in Pulaski
Michelle Crowder: A teacher at the Radford Early Learning Center
Amanda Cargill Hobin: A Head Start teacher with New River Community Action
Audrey Kirk: An early education workforce recruiter for EO
Linda Naughton: Owner and teacher at Heart ‘N Hand Early Learning Center
Sidney Nelson: Director of the Radford Early Learning Center
Phillip Norman: Western Regional Manager for ChildCare Aware of Virginia
Taylor Okes: A Head Start teacher with New River Community Action
Emily Perkins: Director of the Giles Head Start Site for New River Community Action
Hayden Polseno-Hensley and Rose McCutchan: Owners of Red Rooster Coffee and Yellow Hen Childcare
Patrica Dianne Sheppard: A family day home provider
Taylor Wyatt Step: A teacher with Rainbow Riders Childcare Center
Kara Thurman: A preschool teacher at Auburn Elementary
Cheryl Vaughan: A therapist and pediatric clinic manager for CORA in Blacksburg
Community Foundation of the NRV
