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Cooper announces new early childhood education apprenticeship program

North Carolina has taken steps to expand opportunities for those entering the early childhood education workforce. 

Governor Roy Cooper announced the Building Bright Futures (BBF) program, which is designed to support new pathways to a career in early childhood education and care.

The apprenticeship program is a result of a collaboration between the North Carolina Business Committee for Education and the state Division of Child Development and Early Education.

BBF allows high school and postsecondary students to earn credentials while getting hands-on experience in the early childhood education field.

One official praised the initiative for encouraging students to enter the early care field, giving parents the freedom to go back to work, and securing a productive future workforce.

The announcement was made on Friday to coincide with Child Care Provider Appreciation Day.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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