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GET INVOLVED
Each of us has been helped
by a neighbor, coach, pastor or other
selfless person, so each of us has a
responsibility to give back
Monroe Smart Start Members include parents,
grandparents, child care providers, health
providers, resource and referral agency,
county health department, state and local
social services, family service
organizations, faith community, university
and colleges, museums, businesses, schools,
neighbors and other community members who
understand how important it is to support
the healthy development of our youngest
citizens. Membership is open to any
organization or individual with a commitment
to the vision that all children, ages birth
to five, are healthy, well-cared for, and
ready to succeed.
More Info...
Why should you be involved?
When we
work on this together, as concerned citizens
of Monroe County, we can make life better
for all of us! When people stand together to
demand change, things happen.
How can you
be involved:
As a Parent:
Parents are a childs first teacher. They
and extended family and loved
ones make
all the difference in the life of a young
child. Beginning at birth, reading
to a
child, talking, cuddling, providing proper
sleep and nutrition all come together to
provide a child better opportunities for
happiness and success.
As a
Community Member: The entire community is
responsible for enhancing the
physical,
social, and cognitive development of
children from prenatal care through the
age
of five in order to make sure all young
children enter school physically and
emotionally healthy and ready to succeed. It
also means making sure that early care
and
education providers, such as preschools,
child care centers and family child care
providers have the support they need to help
children succeed as they enter
elementary school. There is a childrens
book, Stone Soup. In this story, a community
works together to create a delicious soup,
everyone making a small contribution to
create something wonderful together. Thats
what we can do in Monroe County work
together to be sure young children have the
health care, quality child care, and other
learning opportunities they need to become
healthy, contributing members of our
communities.
As a School
Professional: There is no perfect formula
that determines when children
are truly
ready for kindergarten, because children
grow and develop at different rates.
Therefore, schools must be ready to meet the
needs of each child at their particular
stage of development. Schools are an
important part of our community. We need
their
support to provide a positive transition
from early care and education into public
school.
As a Business
Professional: Early childhood development is
extremely important to our
areas
economic vitality. Research has proven time
and again that the single most
important
factor in the economic prosperity of a
region is the educational achievement
level of its workforce. Ensuring healthy
child development is an investment in our
future workforce which enables a strong and
vibrant local community. One issue
Monroe
Smart Start will be addressing is increasing
the availability of quality child care.
Did
you know that access to affordable, quality
child care provides businesses with
considerable benefits:
o
Lower employee turnover
o
Reduced tardiness and absenteeism
o Higher employee morale and
commitment
o Lower training
and recruitment costs;
o And,
increased employee productivity and
performance
Volunteer
Opportunities
Working Groups
Monroe Smart
Start is always seeking representatives from
our communities, both public and private, to
get involved in carrying out the components
of our strategic plan through our Working
Groups.
More Info...
As a member of a working
group, you will:
Advise to
ensure high quality implementation of each
strategy;
Advise the development
of strong evaluation and accountability
measures for each
strategy;
Act as a spokesperson for
Monroe Smart Start; and
Advocate for the
resources and policies needed to achieve
success.
Working groups meet on a
monthly basis (or as needed).
Representatives from Monroe County, both
public and private, are invited to get
involved at any time (click
to contact)
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