A mother-daughter achievement in early childhood
When Ivette Lopez and Sheila Vargas crossed the stage to receive their diplomas at SUNY Empire State University in December 2025, they were celebrating more than graduation. They were honoring perseverance, family — and the belief that it’s never too late to finish what you start.
Both women were longtime assistant teachers at Holy Cross Head Start in Buffalo, NY, when they decided to earn their associate degrees in early childhood education together. But Ivette and Sheila are more than just colleagues: Ivette is Sheila’s mother.
“I graduated high school when Sheila was in my belly,” Ivette says. “I said, now, we’re going to graduate together.”
For years, both women balanced their full-time professional responsibilities with robust home and family lives. Sheila has young children; Ivette cherishes her summer trips to Puerto Rico to visit her mother. They both held Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials and loved their work — and they both wanted to grow.
They decided to take the next step after consulting with a former Head Start colleague, Charla Smith, who’s now a career advisor at the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute’s Career Development Center. Charla helped them navigate enrollment, funding options, and the logistics of balancing work, family, and coursework.
“I was cheering them on along the way. I’m so proud for them, but I also want to tell them: You should be so proud of yourselves,” Charla says. “You’re able to provide more for families and students. Look what you’ve done for yourself and the community.”
Because their program participates in QUALITYstarsNY, the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System for early childhood programs, Ivette and Sheila were eligible for the QUALITYstarsNY Academic Scholarship, which awards funding for credit-bearing early childhood education courses.
“I always wanted to start my degree, and the financial part always kept me back,” says Sheila. “When Charla talked about the program, we thought it was the perfect opportunity.”
They had another motivation, too: each other.
“At first,” Sheila says, “I was the one encouraging her: ‘Mom, we’ll do it together, we’ll help each other out.’ That’s exactly what we did.”
They supported each other through long days, late nights, and even moments of doubt. Both agree that the courses helped them become stronger educators.
“I came back to school this year with brand-new ideas because of new information I learned,” says Ivette.
Having earned their associate degrees, both Ivette and Sheila have now become lead teachers with their own classrooms. They’ve brought fresh ideas, renewed confidence, and deeper understanding to their practice.
“I love being a teacher,” Ivette emphasizes. “If you could see my classroom this year, it’s amazing. It makes a difference for the kids to have a motivated teacher who wants to be there and see them shine — and they are shining!”
For Sheila, learning sharpened her sense of purpose.
“I always wanted to be someone’s first impression of what school is,” she says. “People say we’re day care, we only play all day. But we’re building the foundation of important skills for kids to be successful, and I love seeing how they develop.”
Now, Sheila, who notes that Charla was “always there to help us,” says she and her mother are playing a similar role with their own colleagues.
“We learned together, and now we’re helping others,” she says, like helping co-workers apply for Educational Incentive Program (EIP) funding to complete their own CDA credentials.
Their journey reminds us what’s possible when we support educators’ investment in themselves — and in future generations. Says Sheila: “I wanted my own daughter, who’s 12, to see that no matter how much time passes, you can always go back to your dreams.”
