601-707-7726 info@excelby5.com

Excel by 5 wants all of Corinth and Alcorn County’s children to be ready to learn to read by the time they are five years old.

To promote reading the work toward this mission, volunteers from the group will read Christmas stories to children during Saturday’s Winter Wonderland — an annual community event staged by Magnolia Regional Health Center at the Crossroads Arena.

The Excel by 5 Elves will read to children near the center of the arena floor throughout the event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

“Our mission is to promote literacy and reading to children at a very early age,” said Susan O’Connell, certification manager for the Corinth/Alcorn County Excel by 5 Coalition. “It will help them be better prepared for school and better prepared for life.”

The Excel by 5 Elves are members of the coalition and volunteers from community groups, including the Teacher Academy students from the Alcorn Career and Technology Center.

The Excel by 5 program is a community-based certification designed to improve a child’s overall well-being by age five. Founded by a grant from Chevron, the Excel by 5 is currently in 27 Mississippi communities.

The program sets forth a variety of standards involving parent training, community participation, child care and health to help communities focus on supporting young children and their families. The certification process helps to identify available resources and existing best practices to help Excel by 5 Early Childhood Communities reach the goal that our their children will be ready to learn when they start school at age five.

Corinth and Alcorn County’s Excel by 5 Coalition is always seeking volunteers for its four outreach areas — community, health, family and early education. To learn more about helping the group call Susan O’Connell at 731-610-4222.

(For more information about Excel by 5 visit www.excelby5.com.)