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Bright Beginnings named a Child Care Community Champion
Award recognizes GBED’s Advancing Barton County Childcare
bright beginnings award march 2026
The Bright Beginnings Daycare in Great Bend was recognized on Wednesday by Child Care Aware of Kansas as a “Child Care Community Champion.” Director Debbie Stephens, center, shown holding the award, accepts it from Jan Kuckelman Donovan with Child Care Aware of Kansas. From left to right: Roger Hallenback, Barbara Watson holding Silas Steinike, and Dan Watson (back row), all volunteers; future site director Sierra Vansteenburgh holding Phoenix Steinike; Debbie Stephens holding Miles Ralston; lead teacher Ashkenazi Ibrahim holding Martha Gaunt; Jan Kuckelman, Child Care Aware of Kansas, Community Outreach & Engagement; and Phil Metro, board member. - photo by photos by Susan Thacker/Great Bend Tribune

Advancing Barton County Childcare (ABCC) received statewide recognition this week as a Child Care Community Champion. The award from Child Care Aware was presented at Great Bend’s Bright Beginnings Day Care, but it was noted that ABCC day-care centers in Claflin and Ellinwood are also in the works.

Child Care Aware is focused on improving access to childcare statewide. This award highlights ABCC’s work to strengthen the local child-care system, said Jan Kuckelman, program director for Child Care Aware of Kansas’s community outreach and engagement team.

“We work with communities all over the state that do the work that Advancing Barton County Child Care does,” Kuckelman said. Some of them are working to establish licensed facilities, while others are looking for ways to support programs or recruit in-home providers. “(This award is) a little way to say thank you to Kansas communities and folks like you who are putting in an awful lot of effort behind the scenes.”

She specifically mentioned the work of Sara Arnberger, the former director of Great Bend Economic Development. ABCC is an arm of GBED.

The award was accepted by Bright Beginnings Site Director Debbie Stephens, who was joined by board members, volunteers, and some babies who had just finished nap time. Stephens said she oversees the Bright Beginnings site for now, but once the Claflin site opens she will move there, overseeing all of the ABCC Inc. projects as executive director, and Sierra Vansteenburgh will become the Bright Beginnings site director.

ABCC plans to open a waitlist for the future Claflin site in April and then they will begin hiring and training staff, Stephens said. “Our tentative goal is to hit the ground running (in August).”

Bright Beginnings opened in 2024 and is licensed for 80 infants and toddlers. Stephens said they are seeing about 60 children a day but there will be more once school is out for the summer. There is a playground where parents can see their children via a secure camera system, and meals are prepared on-site.


About the award

The Child Care Community Champion designation celebrates progress across four key areas: building strong community partnerships, removing policy barriers, expanding child-care capacity and supporting the workforce behind early childhood programs.

Advancing Barton County Child Care was recognized for its collaborative approach, bringing together community partners to address local needs. The coalition has worked to expand available child-care slots and develop public-private partnerships aimed at sustaining long-term progress.

Kami Cohorst, interim executive director of Child Care Aware of Kansas, said the group’s efforts stand out as a model for other communities.

“The coalition is a brilliant example of how collaboration and commitment can achieve better outcomes for children and families when they treat child care as essential infrastructure,” Cohorst stated in a news release. “We are proud to recognize their accomplishments and encourage other communities to look to them for inspiration.”