Excel By 5 Program highlights safety
By ROBERT LEE LONG Community Editor
Published: Thursday, October 23, 2014 1:05 AM CDT
HERNANDO — Sgt. Steve Tow directed traffic as he usually does and helmet-riding preschoolers on tricycles followed his commands as they pedaled through a small make-believe community in the parking lot of Kaco’s Kids child care center.
Tow said that safety programs like the Children’s Bicycle Safety Village sponsored by the Excel By 5 program help children not only learn to obey traffic signals but gain a better sense of direction in life.
“We have a mobile program that we can take just about anywhere,” Tow said as he made sure helmets were fitted snugly.
The Excel by 5 program is designed to improve the health, education and safety of children by teaching life skills to parents and daycare owners alike.
Launched in the fall of 2004, Excel By 5 is an innovative program designed to encourage and assist communities to become actively involved in supporting their young children.
The first program of its kind, this certification emphasizes the important roles parents and primary caregivers play in educating children during their most formative years, birth to five, according to Gia Matheny, community development director for the City of Hernando.
The project identifies gaps in community resources, promotes community collaboration, volunteerism and economic development. “On the whole, we expect children in Excel By 5 communities will be healthier and better prepared for kindergarten and first grade,” said Bob Clay, executive director of the Excel by 5 program. The success of Excel By 5 is driven by the community and their efforts to meet certification.
The Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi is one of several local agencies supporting the efforts of any Northwest Mississippi community to become an Excel by 5 candidate and certified community.
“We are here to work with the parents and caregivers age birth to 5 in the areas of health, education, safety and childcare,” Matheny said. “We have seven childcare centers and three have quality stars.”
So far, Kaco’s Kids, Learn and Grow and the Hernando Baptist Preschool program are on board in the Hernando area.
Linda Acred, director of Kaco’s Kids, said the program has already paid dividends.
“It will help us focus on early childhood training for our staff,” Acred said.
Robert Lee Long: rlong@desototimestribune.com or at 662-429-6397, Ext. 252