By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
As families struggle to find adequate childcare services in Sitka, some older kids have learned how to become better babysitters in a multi-day class offered by the Sitka 4-H Club.
Fourteen students ages 11 to 18 enrolled in the course that looked at a wide range of childcare topics, from kitchen safety and first aid to trauma informed care, and business.
Last year, the Sitka Health Summit prioritized childcare as a community goal.
“It’s the third time I’ve held the course here in Sitka through the 4-H program,” teacher Jasmine Shaw said. “And each time that I’ve decided to do the course, there’s been some catalyst in the community and this time it was the Sitka Health Summit’s childcare goal that was chosen.”
It’s been years since the course was offered here, said Shaw, who works in the Sitka office of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. But when she announced the program last month, registrations poured in.
“As soon as I put the word out there, it was an immediate response,” Shaw told the Sentinel. “The community was like, ‘Yes, this is needed.’ It filled right away.”
The class began Jan. 9 with the first of six lessons in the course. The students graduated Feb. 27 at the Blatchley Middle School Library in a public ceremony.
Shaw stressed the importance of learning by doing.
“4-H is hands-on, experiential learning. And so I didn’t want to just have this class lecturing the kids, for instance, with learning about entertaining and discipline,” she said. “We went to Ventures, which is an after-school childcare program here in Sitka. The youth got to shadow the staff and see how a childcare facility is run, and what that looks like as a career, and practice some of the techniques.”
In the 4-H babysitting course, Shaw wanted students to learn a broad range of skills and has enlisted a number of groups in town for their expertise. One day, students learned CPR and first aid at the Fire Hall. Previously they discussed early childhood development with the Center for Community and learned about trauma informed care from SAFV shelter staff.
If there is sufficient interest in the community, Shaw said, she’s available to teach another class.
“Usually it will be a couple years in between each class but if there’s a need in the community, that’s what the (UAF) extension office is all about,” she said. “If I get those kinds of requests, that’s when I’ll put together a course, so I’m very happy to offer it again.”
Shaw said these certified babysitters will likely put their training to work in their free time.
“Most of them will be looking at after school, weekends and then of course summer is open, spring break. You know, any time the school is not in session and (they’re) eager to work,” she said.
Kari Sagel, who works in community and family engagement at Baranof Elementary School, agreed that school holidays present an unfilled need in the community.
“Those are all gap times when Sitka doesn’t have professional childcare provided,” she said.
Sagel said babysitting courses won’t solve the shortage of childcare in Sitka, but they’re a step in the right direction.
“In some ways, it’s a little symbolic,” she said. “The problem is so big, we want to create a future in a career that’s worthy of young people’s futures if they want to continue with this as a career. There has to be a career waiting for them and there isn’t right now, because economically childcare is a broken system.”
