UPDATE: Here’s a picture from the ceremony where I received my Parenting Educator award at the parent educators conference I’ve been attending the last four years and below the blog post I wrote about it back in January.

Late in the fall I had the privilege of reading this in an email:

  • Hello Michael,

  • Thank you for submitting an application to the OPEC Recognition System! We are pleased to announce that you have successfully achieved the requirements of education, training, and professional experience to receive recognition as a Parenting Educator 1 in the OPEC Recognition System.

I was very excited and honored!  I was lucky enough to be selected to help pilot the startup of this recognition system a couple of summers ago when it was first starting up.  At the time I was just beginning as a Parent Educator and wasn’t even sure I was qualified to help with the pilot.  I saw the hours requirement and what was needed to be recognized, and while I was inspired, thought of recognition as something I could strive for some time in the very distant future.

Well, apparently the future wasn’t so distant!  After completing train-the-trainers, learning multiple curriculums, and spending many hours studying, facilitating and working with parents I achieved Parenting Educator 1 status and am very proud!  I completed 80 hours of parent education facilitation and compiled a total of more than 200 training hours in multiple fields to qualify for this level. I will get honored as a recipient of this award at the Oregon Parenting Educators Conference later this spring.

If you’re interested, you can learn more about the recognition system here and more about the Parenting Conference here.  I highly recommend it to anyone in the field of parenting education, early education, childcare or anyone simply interested in child development.

Thank you to everyone who played any role in helping me earn this and to all who have supported and encouraged me on this journey!

This is fatherhood…