Greetings CAPP, PREP, and SRAE Family,
Since March of 2020, we have worked with you all more intimately than ever. You have shared your success and heartbreaks with us, allowed us into your homes, introduced us to your family (those with fur and those without), and treated us with kindness and understanding when we struggled. It all has been a very humbling and an incredibly human experience.
Thank you.
And now, two and a half years after what we thought would be a “two-week break,” we begin to ease into a version of “before.” For the Training and TA team, this means a return to some in-person trainings and observations, to start with. Like you, we have learned a lot about programming and participants during this time. Moving forward, you may see changes in the way we offer trainings and webinars, as we look for the best methods to bring you the high-quality trainings you are used to, both practically and efficiently.
Specifically, we will be:
- Piloting different structures of some trainings,
- Returning to a 4-6-month training calendar,
- Reducing the number of monthly Learning Communities, and
- Scheduling observations of programming on-site.
We know the return to in-person training may cause a little anxiety for some of you (us too!), but please be assured safety is a priority.
Over the next couple of weeks, as we roll out the longer training calendar, please keep in mind the following:
- We try to offer one downstate and one upstate option for each training. Generally, upstate will take place in Ithaca and downstate in Manhattan.
- We can also offer on-site training with enough participants, space, and planning. Supervisors, please reach out to me if you’d like to discuss this further.
- We cannot offer both virtual and in-person options for every training.
- For in-person trainings, we will be prioritizing registration to new staff/those who have not gone through the training/workshop before. If there is a large response to any training, we will look to offer a second option soon after.
Finally, we thank you in advance for your patience and invite you to a larger discussion we will be having around what to expect with our return to in-person trainings during an office hours session with the Training Team on Thursday, September 8, at 10:00. Register here.
Thank you and hope all is well,

~ Heather Wynkoop Beach, Director of Training and Technical Assistance