Written by Anabel Monge, Communications Manager for the Illinois Red Cross
One class at a time, Amber Marchetta watches proudly as tweens and teens leave the classroom prepared with the right knowledge and skills to become a confident caregiver.
Amber has an extensive connection with the Red Cross certified trainers’ team that started years ago overseas and still to this day, one of her favorite courses to teach is the American Red Cross Babysitter’s Course. The class is a comprehensive program that equips learners ages 11 to 16 with the real-life readiness skills they need to handle any situation with confidence and competence, ensuring the safety and well-being of the children they care for.
For Amber, mentoring the next generation is a role she takes very seriously; her goal is to make sure her students walk out with a boost of confidence and at the same time provide the parents with peace of mind.
The course provides information and tools for basic care for infants and children, basic first aid, emergency response, child behavior management, age-appropriate activities, and skills like feeding, diapering and picking up children, “I feel when these participants leave that class they are ready to go start babysitting and they understand what it’s going to take,” said Amber.
As an instructor, she loves the fact that her class is in person because she believes being in the classroom setting allows her students to get valuable hands-on experience, “It’s not just sitting in a classroom and leaving with nothing, in my last class we talked about making a binder of the most important things you learned so you can always go back and use it as a reference,” added Amber.
As the nation’s leader in health and safety training, our instructor-led Babysitter’s Training course is built by science experts and trusted by parents. “I love that American Red Cross is consistent across the board. Every instructor is teaching the exact same topic, and every instructor uses the same verbiage,” said Amber.
The course includes modern instructional elements, hands-on activities, videos and discussions, tools that trainers like Amber are happy to share with everyone that wants to learn.
Are you inspired to learn more? Download the Red Cross Child Care App and find detailed information and a Babysitting course near you.
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