Bolivar Commercial – November 5, 2014
Brooks Elementary School program awarded Grant
by Anne Hart Preus
The Bolivar Commercial – Brooks Elementary School program awarded Grant
Tom Pittman, President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, presented a check for $5,000 to Save the Children’s Early Steps to Success Program at Brooks Elementary in Duncan. Shown with Pittman and the K-4 class are from left to right: Yolanda Minor, Program Specialist with Early Steps to School Success; Michelle Wallace; Shenika King, Early Childhood Coordinator; Lukesha Hicks, Assistant Teacher; Lashemill Blocker, K-4 teacher; Doris Hall, Principal; and Johnnie Vick, North Bolivar Consolidated School District Superintendent.
Save the Children’s Early Steps to Success Program received a $5,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi to provide early learning and development opportunities for children at Brooks Elementary School in Duncan. Tom Pittman, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, was at Brooks Elementary to make the presentation Monday afternoon.The site currently includes 20 children birth-3 years and 30 children 3-5 years of age.The children are participating in activities that are designed to enable them to start school ready to succeed.Without Early Steps, the children participating are statistically at a much higher risk of starting school behind their peers. The Early Steps Program at Brooks Elementary School, and in all program sites, focuses on delivering professional development and support systems to build the capacity not only of families, but also of schools, early childhood staff and communities.The program equips paraprofessionals to teach, mentor and support parents and other primary caregivers in creating a language and literacy rich environment to produce positive, long-term outcomes for children. Early Steps has a four-goal objective: to enable children to enter school with the pre-literacy needed for scholastic success; to provide parents with the skills and knowledge they need to support their children; to build strong home-school connections, which will ensure a smooth transition to school; and to increase early childhood knowledge and skills in the community. Funding from the Community Foundation was granted through Early Childhood Education Endowment.”The Community Foundation has education as a top priority, and early childhood is the most effective way to improve education,” said Pittman. “This particular program has documented success, and we are proud to support it.”The Foundation manages 133 donor-established funds and has distributed the $11.2 million to support 420 charitable organizations and activities recommended by its donors, as well as charitable programs established by the foundation.Established in 2002 with a generous grant from the Maddox Foundation, the Community Foundation is an independent 501.c.3 charitable organization. The Foundation serves Bolivar, Coahoma, Desoto, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, and Tunica counties. A board of 20 volunteer civic leaders governs the Community Foundation. Scott Coopwood and Lucy Janoush. represent Bolivar County on the board. To learn more about the Community Foundation, see the web site at www.cfnm.org or call 662-449-5002.
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