A Few Minutes With Early Education Pioneer Betsy Hiteshew
March 21, 2018 9:42 AM
by Julie Rusk
Meet Betsy Hiteshew, a nationally renowned early education pioneer who championed the Early Childhood Lab School (ECLS) that broke ground on the Civic Center Campus on March 13th. Recently, Betsy answered a few questions about her career championing early education and the impact the ECLS will have on the wellbeing of its students.
Question: Why do you care so passionately about early education?
Betsy Hiteshew: My interest in young children began as an aide in a kindergarten classroom over 60 years ago. I was drawn to their lively curiosity, the freshness of their thinking, their spontaneity and their potential to grow into caring, thoughtful human beings. Fortunately, I learned about the Bank Street College of Education in New York City, and the professors there inspired me to make the education of young children a lifelong passion.
Betsy Hiteshew (center) and her friend and fellow advocate Irene Zivi (left) at the ground breaking ceremony for the ECLS at the Civic Center.
Q: What was your role in creating the ECLS?
BH: After retiring from the Early Childhood Education Department at Santa Monica College, I started working with many local child care advocates on the dream of a Santa Monica City/Santa Monica College joint endeavor to create a world-class child care center on the grounds of the Santa Monica Civic Center. The center, which recently broke ground after 29 years of planning, will be designed to serve Santa Monica children of all backgrounds and income levels, and will also provide student teaching opportunities for Santa Monica College early education students. My role, along with my friend and fellow advocate Irene Zivi and many others, has been to show up at various Santa Monica City Planning Commission and Council meetings to lend our voices in support of this project to “keep on keeping on”, in the words of Langston Hughes, sometimes into the wee hours of the morning! It has been quite a journey!
Betsy (bottom right) poses with her friend Irene (bottom left), along with SMC Trustee Nancy Greenstein (top left), Judy Neveau (top center), and Katharine Muller (top right) at the ECLS ground breaking ceremony.
Q: What are your hopes for the students and teachers of the school ten years from now?
BH: My hope is that each child, each parent, each teacher, and each student teacher will be enriched by learning experiences that honor and respect them, and that inspire them to learn and grow to their fullest potential.
Betsy and Irene ceremoniously hold shovels at the ECLS ground breaking.
Q: What will the school bring to Santa Monica?
BH: First and foremost, it will bring quality early childhood education to the children it serves. Second, it will serve as a gathering place for parents seeking to learn and grow with other parents of young children about their vital role in their children’s lives. Third, it will provide opportunities for other early childhood programs in the community to come together on behalf of all young children in Santa Monica. Fourth, it will provide Santa Monica citizens and leaders an opportunity to become more involved in advocating for the importance of the early years. And fifth, it’s a partnership model for others in the country to explore.
Post author and Chief of Civic Wellbeing Julie Rusk sits down for a chat with Betsy's friend Irene Zivi at the ground breaking ceremony.
More information and photos of the ground breaking ceremony.
More information about the ECLS.
Authored By
Julie Rusk
Chief of Civic Wellbeing