Clarke County is seeking to become a certified Excel by 5 community. An Excel by 5 community focuses on early childhood development beginning at birth and readying children to begin school. With Quitman School District as the lead agency, this partnership will lead the community to outreach to parents of young children bringing opportunity to educate parents. With the Imagination Library already in place in Clarke County, this will only continue the efforts of the community to reach out to the children who often begin kindergarten ill-prepared.
The Excel by 5 Summit was held in Jackson, MS on Wednesday, October 12th. A group from Clarke County was able to attend and begin the certification process. The group included Excel by 5 Certification Manager Lisa Fleming, Marsha Odom, Yolanda Smith, and Elisa Mayo. The group will expand to include a steering committee of fifteen to twenty members.
Excel by 5 started when kindergarten teacher Debby Renfroe discussed her frustration over her students not being prepared for the educational process with her husband, Steve. They decided to start a list of the developmental stages of children to help parents prepare their children for school. Steve, who worked for Chevron, was able to convince his employer to become involved. Mississippi State University Early Childhood Institute also jumped on board to work with communities throughout Mississippi to meet the needs of its youngest citizens.
Some of the strategies of an Excel by 5 community are to discover vision, hearing, emotional, and physical disabilities early in a child’s life. The Excel by 5 community also seeks to educate children and parents in the areas of physical activity, arts, and music education, as well as, brain development.
Clarke County becomes the 29th community in Mississippi to seek Excel by 5 certification.
For more information about Excel by 5 visit www.excelby5.com.
News link: http://clarkecountynews.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/clarke-county-rises-to-new-heights/
