( which focuses on 100 years of NAEYC’ s impact in its Spring issue), and in this membership magazine, Educating Young Children. Explore our books and professional development opportunities, engage with your peers in our online community, HELLO, and tune in to our new podcast, Small Talk: Big Ideas About Little Learners.
I also invite you to join our“ Year of Reflections” storytelling initiative to share your memories, challenges, successes, hopes, and advice. As we continue to build a strong community of practice, we are showcasing some of these reflections in this edition of EYC and on NAEYC’ s website and social media channels.
I hope you will connect with peers close to home through your local Affiliate and continue to build the strong bonds that have been forged over decades in communities across the country, which bring enormous value to our organization as a whole. Ask your Affiliate how you can help as they host centennial coffee chats and virtual community conversations this year. Show up with your ideas and your energy to support each other and build your community.
This year, more than ever, I hope you will get involved as an advocate for the profession. Subscribe to our Advocacy in Action newsletter, and follow NAEYC on social media to keep up with the latest issues. Take action to inform policymakers on the needs of children and families and your needs as educators.
This is also a year of fun, so I invite you to dance to our centennial playlists, celebrate Week of the Young Child ®, and join us for NAEYC’ s Annual Conference in Washington, DC, in December.
And as always, I ask you to continue centering children. It’ s what you do every day, for every child, that has mattered most over the past 100 years and that will make all the difference in the next 100.
In gratitude,
Michelle Kang Chief Executive Officer of NAEYC
Photograph: © NAEYC Copyright © 2026 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See permissions and reprints online at NAEYC. org / resources / permissions.
Spring 2026 Educating Young Children 5