Memorable Quotes

"Working intently with children and families was almost like earning a doctorate, because every year there was a specific challenge that I had to meet for [myself]...my staff....and from the families I worked with.....I had a child and his father died, and he had lymphoma. We knew he was going to die the year the child was in my program. So I knew it was important to go out and meet him and to make the effort....I had no idea how to support a family that was going through this-but I knew I needed to learn. I learned a lot from that case, and I learned it's not all about you. You have to take your ego out of it, and think about what's best for this child...that you care about them enough to help them transition to what comes next, and what is best...and I think that's really important and I would not have known that if I hadn't lived it."

~Renatta Cooper, Program Specialist, Office of Child Care LA County Chief Administrative Office

"I had a build in passion that it was important to make a real contribution in the world and to fix all the injustices that existed in the world and I wanted to do that through teaching."

~ Louise Derman-Sparks, Professor Emeritus, Pacific Oak College, CA