By April M. Havens, The Mississippi Press
MOSS POINT, Miss. — After more than two years of hard work, Moss Point’s residents will receive their certificates, flags and banners proclaiming the city an Excel By 5 community.
The organization’s annual town hall meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at the Moss Point School District Family Education Center, the former Charlotte Hyatt Elementary building.
“We’re going to discuss the things we’ve done for the community thus far,” said Patrice McCullum, the Moss Point School District’s family education coordinator and Excel By 5 Coalition certification manager. “We’ll talk about the health fair we had in October and a new program for teen mothers in high school.”
Excel by 5, launched in 2004 with the help of a $650,000 Chevron grant, is designed to improve children’s overall well being by age 5, so they are better prepared for schooling.
To celebrate the designation, Moss Point Excel By 5 will hold an Excelebration on March 26, McCullum said. The event will be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a venue has not yet been set.
“We could hold the Excelebration on Monday actually, but with the holidays coming up, we want time to plan the event and raise funds,” she said.
The road to certification has been lined with successes, McCullum said.
“When we first started, we had to do a community survey to find out the needs of the community,” she said. “From that, we started to work. We did parent education sessions, a health fair, and other community wide events because the survey revealed that residents thought there weren’t enough events for young children in Moss Point.”
Receiving certification, McCullum said, “says that Moss Point is a community that cares about the wellbeing of our youngest citizens.”
“We want to be proactive rather than reactive to school dropout rates,” she said.
One new program, she said, lets teen mothers earn “baby bucks” by making their doctor’s appointments, attending monthly meetings and going to school regularly.
Baby bucks can be redeemed for baby wipes, diapers, formula, and other necessities, she said.
“We meet with the teen mothers twice a month and provide them with education as it relates to what happens to their body when pregnant and what happens when they deliver, and we teach them parenting skills,” she said. “The goal is to encourage them to stay in school.”
That program kicked off at the high school in September, McCullum said, and about 20 girls participate.
Also at Monday’s event, one local childcare center will win a $500 gift card to purchase early education materials.
Centers in the running for the prize are: Bundle of Love, First Step, Head Start, Little People Learning Center, Mary’s Little Lambs and Merry-Go-Round.
News link: http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2010/11/moss_point_becomes_certified_e.html