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“I had kind of a hard time in school when I was younger,” recalls �պ����� senior Charlie Meecham. “It was really challenging socially.”

But in third grade, her teacher made a lasting impression. 

“Mary Stockard, she was amazing teacher,” Charlie remembers. “I definitely think about her when I think about teaching. She was an adult outside of my family that really listened to me. I could tell she believed in me and the other students in the class. She is still a huge inspiration for me and my teaching aspirations.”

On her journey to become an early childhood educator, Charlie navigates the challenges associated with her physical disability – a genetic connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. 

“I’ve had to work super hard,” she explains. “It affects my whole body, my mobility, and my energy.”

Despite the challenges, she is well on the way to her goal. In the culminating experience of the program, Charlie is a full-time student teaching intern with a classroom of first graders at Allen Brook School in Williston. Before that, she completed practicums at Pine Forest Children's Center and Burlington Children's Space, and civic learning at the Greater Burlington YMCA.

“She takes the time to listen and understand what the students are saying and thinking,” says Maria McCormack, Charlie's mentor teacher at Allen Brook.  “As she takes on more curriculum-planning and lesson-building responsibilities, she always considers the students' unique needs and preferences.”

Inquisitive young minds give Charlie an opportunity to educate the students about her disability: “They are so curious and ask the best questions. It's a magical thing.”

When she was 6 years old, Charlie’s family moved from England to Rhode Island, and then to Washington, D.C. when she was 12. Though still a U.K. citizen, she just passed the U.S. citizenship exam. 

During her senior year of high school, she started working at a preschool where her mom worked. 

“It was during COVID, so things were kind of crazy,” she remembers. “It was also during the Brood X cicadas emergence that occurs every 17 years. Watching the kids and the teachers explore and learn about the cicadas was incredible, because I had never seen anything like that.”

Entering college, Charlie planned to study biology. But as a first-year student she took Kaitie Northey's Child Development class.

“And I thought, this is so cool, so I transferred into Early Childhood Education," she says. "I have not had a moment of regret since. You can really see the learning and the wheels turning in their young minds minute to minute. And the family connection is so strong. Relationships with the families – that's been so rewarding for me.”

Educator preparation programs at �պ����� pride themselves on "early and often" field placements beginning in the first year and continuing throughout program. Students engage in service-learning, practicums and teaching internships in a variety of inclusive learning settings – fully supported by dedicated faculty and experienced mentor teachers.

The cohort of Early Childhood Education majors is very tight-knit, Charlie says. “We have many of the same classes together, so we get really close and know that there are people who share a love and a passion for working with children. It makes you feel like it’s really worth it and you’re here doing this for a reason.”

Passion for the profession fueled interest in undergraduate research opportunities. 

"Charlie assisted me with a few research projects, but most significantly on writing related to a study I conducted about the Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS)," says Assistant Professor Kaitlin Northey. "Last year, we co-authored a paper that examines teachers’ implementation of VELS. Her knowledge, curiosity, and experiences teaching children in a variety of settings made her a great thought partner for me as a researcher."

Though she plans to teach in an elementary school after graduation, Charlie also wants to explore options in prison education providing child development education for incarcerated parents. 

She is particularly interested in the communication science of attachment theory for parents and teachers and caregivers.  “I took a Human Development and Family Science class with Camelia Măianu that was related to this,” she says. “It’s an incredible way to view attachment and the relationships we have with people. I learned so much from that class.”

A strong desire to serve the community extends beyond the required practicum experiences of her academic major. She volunteered to teach classes such as yoga and dance in a women's prison, sparking interest to do more of this type of work in the future. For the university community, she served as a peer mentor for Student Accessibility Services, helping fellow students navigate accommodations and facilitating communication with professors.

Charlie received the �պ����� Presidential Scholarship for each of her four years. As a senior, she received the Joan Greening Student Teaching Award and the M P McDaniels Scholarship Award. For her junior year, she earned the APEX Scholarship and the Burack Family Scholarship. 

"She is the type of student you always want to have in your class because she gets others excited about learning," Northey says. "Having her as a teaching assistant in my Child Development course has been an absolute joy."

Throughout her journey in early childhood education, Charlie’s sense of purpose has been clear and unwavering. “It just always feels like the right thing to do," she says.