Petal Featured in National Report on City Leadership for Children and Families – May 8, 2013
Contact
Greg Minchak
202-626-3003
minchak@nlc.org
Petal, Mississippi – Petal is featured in a new report highlighting promising city efforts to improve the lives of children, youth and families in communities with populations below 75,000.
Published by the National League of Cities (NLC), “Municipal Leadership for Children and Families in Small and Mid-Sized Cities” describes innovative strategies from more than 40 cities and towns across the country.The report contains examples of city leadership in areas such as early childhood development, education, health and safety, family economic success, neighborhood revitalization, and youth civic engagement. Visit www.nlc.org/smallcities to view the report.
Petal was selected for inclusion in the report for its Excel By 5 initiative. Excel By 5 is a broad-based community partnership working to ensure all children in the community enter school healthy, happy and ready to succeed. Supported by the school district and the city as a whole, the coalition led Petal’s efforts to become certified as Mississippi’s first Excel By 5 community.
Petal’s mayor, Hal Marx stated, “the City of Petal understands the importance of early childhood education. We support the Petal Excel By Five initiative, because our kids need to be ready to start their formal education if we want them to be successful learners. City leaders look at this work as an investment in our community’s future.”
NLC’s new report is designed to provide municipal leaders with new ideas and inspiration to guide local action on behalf of young people and families in their communities.The report draws upon information gathered from surveys, interviews, and a scan of promising practices identified by NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families and state municipal leagues.It explores the unique challenges and opportunities facing small and mid-sized cities that seek to improve outcomes for children and youth.
The National League of Cities (NLC) is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans.