Katie Champlin has a BA in Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) and Minor in Psychology from Saint Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa, and a Masters of Arts in Education - Field Specialization: Early Childhood Special Education from University of Northern Iowa. She has been at DMACC for nearly 10 years.
Prior to working at DMACC, she served as an assistant teacher at the Saint Ambrose University Lab School and as an ECSE Home Intervention Teacher for the Area Education Agency in Southeastern Iowa. Her work specialized in supporting early intervention for high risk infants and toddlers, integrating special education and regular education programming in preschools, and providing special education home services for migrant families from Central and South America.
Her vast experience in the field has taught her the necessity and value of quality early childhood education and the influential role caregivers play in children’s lives.
“It’s incredibility important for students to see that their jobs are impacting the most influential time in a child’s life (their first 5 years). That has enormous impact on later success in school, social-emotional well-being, and generally being a productive member of society” Champlin said. “It is equally important students learn how to advocate for themselves and the field to improve working conditions like pay, benefits, and training opportunities.”
A leader at the state and national level, she was appointed to the Early Childhood Iowa Steering Committee by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds in 2019 and is the Iowa Community College representative on the Iowa Early Childhood Workforce Advisory Committee. Among her initiatives are a national training certification program for Infant and Toddler Care and implementation of the first online Early Childhood Education (ECE) Certificate cohort for students working in childcare.
Champlin currently serves as treasurer for the Iowa Community College ECE Alliance after completing term as Alliance president and has been instrumental in creating and launching the first career pathway agreement between the Pella (Iowa) Community School District, DMACC ECE, and Central College for an accelerated completion program in 2020.
“Early experiences create the foundation for all that follow,” Champlin said. “The students in our program will do the work that makes the greatest impact on lifetime outcomes for children. Our department is setting the stage and advocating that all children should have access to high quality early education with highly qualified caregivers.”
The DMACC ECE program is one of the few community colleges in the state that still has a fully implemented laboratory school (The DMACC Child Development Center) on the Ankeny campus. It is a NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accredited lab school, making DMACC’s program in the highest quality programs in the nation.
Contact Katie Champlin at
kachamplin@dmacc.edu or (515) 964-6584.
» Early Childhood Education Program
