News & Events Archive

We are pleased to report the successful completion of the second round of the Happy Teacher Wellness Program, which has once again garnered overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants. This initiative is a cornerstone of our commitment to a holistic approach to supporting the well-being of teachers and leaders, recognizing them as whole individuals beyond their professional roles.

This year, both personally and professionally challenging, has underscored the value and comfort derived from our exceptional team and program participants. Despite the additional time and effort required by the program, the feedback indicates that participants found the experience profoundly worthwhile. A select group of participants was introduced to Tier 4 of the program, receiving comprehensive support, including Fitbit devices, wellness modules, coaching, access to a wellness room, extra staffing for breaks, and weekly deliveries of healthy snacks. The outcomes have been enlightening, showing significant benefits from these additional resources.

Participant Feedback Highlight: One participant shared, "I loved being able to take actual breaks each day, thanks to the additional staff provided by the Happy Teacher Wellness Program. It was very relaxing, and I felt rejuvenated returning to the classroom. The wellness room offered a tranquil environment, and the healthy snacks introduced me to new options I’ve since added to my home. The additional support was beneficial for me and the children enjoyed the new interactions."

Following the intervention, many participating centers have added similar resources, indicating a ripple effect toward a broader adoption of wellness practices in educational settings.

We thank our incredible team, participants, and advocates for their dedication and support. Your contributions have been instrumental in the success of the Happy Teacher Wellness Program. As we look forward to another year, we remain committed to enhancing the support and resources available to educators, fostering a positive and healthy work environment for all.

Book Club Alert! Morning Gets Bettter with Dr. Sorrels.

A Book Club with Trauma Sensitive Care for Infants, Toddlers, and Two-Year-Olds

We all love Barbara Sorrels who is also on our Happy Teacher Project team. Her book just came out and we cannot help having a book club with her! Please join us.

1st Session (Chapter 1-7) 2/25/2023 9-10:30 AM CT

2nd Session (Chapter 8-13) 4/01/2023 9-10:30 AM CT

It is not complete yet, but we worked hard to turn a closet into our first wellness room for the Happy Teacher Project today within 2 hours!! Don't all teachers deserve a space like this? Thanks, our amazing crew, Mia, Hanna Lee, Emma, and partners!!

I wish you all were there to feel it firsthand! A quiet space you can rest and decompress with soothing music, aroma, images of nature, soft lighting, a comfy chair, water, and healthy snacks, etc. We will have fresh snacks delivered to them every week. Mia (interior design faculty on our team) said this should be a standard for any educational setting. I can't agree with her more. -Kyong-Ah, Kwon-

We are very pleased to announce that our Happy OU Project team received a grant of nearly 3 million dollars ($2,998,016 for 4 years) from the U.S. Department of Education to support our project entitled “OU Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program for Students’ Success”. This is an exciting opportunity for OU low-income student parents! We are not creating average on campus child care services--we dream big pursuing the best early childhood program that one can possibly imagine as a model university laboratory school. It includes well-trained, well-paid, and respected teachers, care for well-being of children, teachers, and families, beautiful and ergonomic work and learning environments, nature-based outdoor environments, Reggio-Inspired curriculum and culturally responsive practice, a place for building a sense of community, and well-equipped site for research, innovative practice, and cross-disciplinary collaboration! 

This proposal was developed by a team from the Jeanine Rainbolt College of Education at OU in partnership with the Institute of Child Development (ICD) at OU, other OU organizations, and community partners. As a part of the Happy OU Project Team led by Kyong-Ah Kwon (PI), the Cable Endowed Chair and Associate Professor; and including Dr. Courtney Dewhirst, Assistant Professor (Co-PI); Dr. Brittany Hott, Associate Professor and Associate Director of ICAST (Co-PI); Dr. Erin Casey, Associate Professor (Co-I), Dr. Diane Horm, GKFF Endowed Chair, Director of the Early Childhood Education Institute (ECEI), and Associate Director of ICAST (Co-I); and Ms. Becca Waggoner, Director of the ICD at OU. 

This project will provide OU low-income students with access to high quality, campus-based child care and wrap-around services (e.g., additional financial aid to cover educational costs, transportation costs, mental health services, tutoring and academic support, peer support groups, parenting workshops and support, free food and baby supplies).

Our Happy Teacher Project team's proposal entitled “Unpacking the Complex Story of Head Start Teacher Turnover: Patterns, Factors, Mechanisms, and Outcomes” has been selected for funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (A total of $100,000 for the 18-month project). To address urgent concerns about the stability of the HS workforce, the purpose of the proposed project is to investigate patterns, factors, mechanisms, and outcomes of HS teacher turnover using advanced analytical techniques.

This proposal was developed by a cross-campus OU Happy Teacher Project Team, led by Kyong-Ah Kwon (PI). The team includes a new Childhood Well-being cluster hire Dr. Wonkyung Jang, Assistant Professor in ILAC, Dr. Tim Ford, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and Director of the Leadership and Policy Center for Thriving Schools and Communities (THRIVE), and Dr. Diane Horm, GKFF Endowed Chair in ILAC and Director of the Early Childhood Education Institute (ECEI), in collaboration with Dr. Noreen Yazejian and researchers at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina and her team as well as collaborators at Educare Learning Network. 

We would like to acknowledge several OU internal investments that supported the development of this team and proposal including: ECEI Seed Grant (funded by previous VPR funds), Faculty Investment Program (funded by the OVPR), and the Associate Vice President and Academic Affairs at OU-Tulsa, the recent OU cluster hire initiative, additional research support for Endowed Chairs, and support from the Departments, College, the ECEI, ORS, and Research Financial Services. We want to extend our gratitude for all support we are fortunate to have to make this happen!

Our team also wants to extend a sincere gratitude to the Educare Learning Network and the FPG Educare National Evaluation Team for graciously granting access to unique and high-quality data collected over the past 16 years on the Educare teacher workforce, program characteristics, and child outcomes. We appreciate the tireless work and resources the Educare staff, leaders, evaluators, and funders invested to create this remarkable dataset that documents Educare practices that build on Head Start’s performance standards and contemporary research. We hope this collaborative study informs and makes a significant impact on practices and policies to support the early childhood teacher workforce, not only across Educare and Head Start but across the ECE field.