Residents of Oktibbeha County came together to celebrate reaching the Certified Child Friendly Status on Saturday, September 29th. Families enjoyed playing together, dancing together, and Celebration Cupcakes!
Bob Clay and Gabrielle Phillips from the Excel By 5 State Office were on hand to present the new Certified Community Banners and framed certificates to the Oktibbeha County Excel By 5 Coalition and various agencies that have been a part of the certification process.
Also joining in the excitement were the Starkville High School Cheerleaders who lead the crowd in some EXCELebration Cheers for Oktibbeha County. Entertainment was provided by Kayla Gilmore, KMG Creations “Dream Team”, and JC Long.
Community members have had the opportunity in recent weeks to complete questionnaires to assist the coalition in planning events for 2013. Those responses will be used to plan for 2013 events and activities.
On October 10th the Excel By 5 office met with the local coalition to do the Strategic Planning for Oktibbeha County. This assisted the coalition in seeing what gains have been met since the formation of the coalition in 2010 and what goals need to be formulated for the future.
Now the coalition is meeting in the four focus groups to plan events and activities for 2013. We are certain that 2013 will be a positive one for all families in Oktibbeha County as we seek to have all of our young children Excel By 5!