It takes a lot of work to pull off a large-scale event like the 40th annual Early Childhood Winter Conference, and sometimes you must call in reinforcements. More than a dozen Incarnate Word Academy high school students recently visited HCDE’s Irvington location to help assemble welcome bags for the more than 700 early childhood educators expected to attend the conference on Jan. 31.

Dr. Chandel Hancock, the Center for Educator Success’ officer of professional learning and student recognition, provided background information about the professional development event before she and the students spent the remainder of the day packing nearly 1,000 bags with promotional materials, snacks, activities and conference swag. Students at the college preparatory school are required to complete 75 service hours to graduate, and each received 8 hours of service credit for their work. An additional 3-8 hours are available for those who volunteer at the ECWC event. This unique opportunity allowed students to learn about HCDE’s services, assist early childhood educators and serve their community all in one day.