Exciting July and August Updates from the Early Childhood Council Team!

As we enter the final stretch of summer, the Early Childhood Council (ECC) team has been busy with various activities and events with our councils. Our dedicated team members—Jessica, Cheryl, and Bailey—have been working hard to advance our mission of creating equitable outcomes for all children in Mississippi and strengthening our connections with communities across the region through our ECCs. Here’s a snapshot of what we were up to in July and August:

Welcoming New Early Childhood Council Planning Grant Awardees

The CFM is thrilled to announce that we’ve awarded 8 new Early Childhood Councils (ECCs) for 2024! We have spent the last few weeks meeting with our awardees through introductory Zoom calls, and we’re eager to hit the ground running with site visits soon. We’re so grateful to have two new team members, Jessica Senter, the ECC Sustainability Coordinator, and Cheryl Dexter, the ECC Parent Engagement Coordinator, at the CFM to provide support, parent trainings, resources, and more to our ECCs. These roles were designed to enhance our ECCs’ efforts in their communities, providing additional support where needed most. Their work is supported by Mississippi LIFT.

Community Engagement and Events

  • Vicksburg/Warren Country Excel by 5 “Let’s Get Ready For Your Adventure” Health and Education fair: Our team set up a table at the Vicksburg public library’ for the Vicksburg/Warren Country Excel by 5 “Let’s Get Ready For Your Adventure” Health and Education fair. It was a fantastic opportunity to promote the Kids to College program and network with other organizations at the event who share similar goals for families in our state!
  • New Vineyard Restoration Center’s Back to School Fun Day: The New Vineyard Restoration Center had its Back to School Fun Day at the church, with giveaways, games, food, and fellowship with the community. The children were eager to learn more about Kids to College, and the enthusiasm from both kids and parents was inspiring. The kids were particularly excited to share about the studies they are interested in pursuing after high school! 

Educational Workshops and Training

  • Parent Engagement with Single Mom University: On July 18, Cheryl led her first parent engagement class at New Vineyard. The session was attended by a dynamic group of young mothers, grandmothers, and mothers-to-be. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with attendees gaining valuable information and resources for supporting their children.
  • Teacher Engagement Training: Cheryl also conducted her first Teacher Engagement training at Midtown Partners, Inc. in Jackson. This session focused on effective methods for teaching and the importance of building strong relationships between teachers and parents to foster better learning outcomes.

Collaborative Efforts and New Initiatives

  • Durant Back to School Bash: Bailey, Jessica, and Cheryl represented our team at the Durant back-to-school bash, where they connected with families and shared information about VROOM® and Kids to College. 
  • Hattiesburg Excel by 5 Cohort Meeting: Bailey attended this meeting to discuss their screen-free mealtime initiative and how it aligns with the themes of our 2025 Summit. She shared an activity sheet she designed to encourage screen-free interactions during mealtimes that integrates VROOM® tips. We plan to continue creating and distributing materials like this to support families through our ECCs.
  • Early Intervention Collaboration: Our team met with representatives from the Mississippi Department of Health to explore opportunities for sharing information about early intervention in Mississippi. Cheryl will partner with them for future training and informational sessions for parents!
  • Training in Mind in the Making: We recently completed training in the “Mind in the Making” program with Heather Martin. This valuable training will help us enhance our work with ECCs on parent engagement and promoting executive function based skills. We also plan to extend this training to others in the near future.
  • Partnering with MECIC: We are excited to collaborate with the Mississippi Early Childhood Inclusion Center (MECIC) to provide developmental screenings through our ECCs, further supporting early childhood development in our communities.

As always, we are deeply grateful for the support and engagement of our community. The work we do would not be possible without the collective efforts of our team and partners. Stay tuned for more updates, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions or want to get involved!

Warm regards,

The Early Childhood Council Team