Airmen's Little Angels, FCC Provider of the Year Published July 22, 2015 By Rebecca Amber Staff writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Christina Huff, owner of Airmen's Little Angels Family Child Care Home, was named the 2015 Edwards AFB Family Child Care Provider of the Year. Huff was already hard at work Wednesday morning when Lt. Col. Michael Rakoczy, 412th Mission Support Group deputy commander, and Latausha Bushrod, Family Child Care coordinator, arrived to present her with a plaque. "I could not be more proud of Christina, she is dedicated to providing the best possible child care for the families of Edwards AFB," said her husband, Staff Sgt. Thomas Huff, 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron. "Working with children is not a job to her, but a passion, and it shows every day through her interaction with not only the children, but the entire family. Winning the Provider of the Year Award is a direct reflection of that passion, and is very well deserved." The Provider of the Year Award goes to an individual who has gone above and beyond to provide excellent child care to Edwards' families. The FCC program offers families child care in a small group setting. The care is offered in the homes of licensed, trained professional child care providers, like Huff. "It's a great choice for families who prefer a family style setting over a child care center for their child care needs," said Bushrod. Huff and her husband were stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, when she decided to open Airmen's Little Angels. Her daughter Katelynn, now 11, was only a baby at the time. "I was going back to school because I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher," said Huff. She discovered a program that offered a limited number of free child care hours through the FCC and decided to take advantage of it. Katelynn "loved it" and Huff was inspired to open up her own home to the program. "I just fell in love with it. I changed my major to early childhood education and I've been with this ever since," she recalled. Huff has taken some breaks from FCC home care to work at base child development centers, but always comes back to her passion - the FCC program. Airmen's Little Angels is open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. their days are run on a schedule that includes meal times, teacher-directed activities, play time and naps. Huff will make observations of each child's behavior and then create lesson plans that engage their interests. For instance, if a child continuously plays with Legos, Huff may create a lesson plan about building the next week. She also creates lesson plans that correlate with life events, like a camping lesson following a camping trip. There are "learning centers" set up the in the house for music, writing, math, dramatic play and more. The centers are important, Huff said, because the children learn through play. Unlike the Edwards Child Development Center, Huff's services are flexible allowing parents to plan some evening care. Each provider can set their own rates and hours; some provide full time care, some only offer half days. FCC providers are the only on-base option for professional child care during the evening and weekend hours. This is particularly helpful for parents who do shift work on base. Each childcare group has six children ranging in age from two weeks to 12 years. Families with older children who have special needs can also be accommodated. When she's not running Airmen's Little Angels, Huff works for Child Care Aware. The Kern County-based organization offers respite care to families with special needs children. "Huff went above and beyond her requirements to work with this agency to receive the additional training she needed to become affiliated and meet the needs of our families here at Edwards," said Bushrod. According to Huff, Child Care Aware associates can have a wide array of duties, some as simple as going to the grocery store with the parents to help them with the child while they shop. Each family gets 12 hours of care per month. Huff works with the support of her husband and three children. "It's a real honor to know that you're appreciated for what you do and you're recognized for it," said Huff. "We work by ourselves all day so a lot of times people don't see how hard we work. It's always nice for someone to tell you you're doing a good job." To learn more about Airmen's Little Angels Family Child Care Home, visit: www.facebook.com/AngelsFCC.