NEW ALBANY, Miss. (WTVA) - We recently caught up with some little ones at Hillcrest Day School in New Albany at the lunchroom table getting it ready.
On that day, their parents were to join them for a meal.
These are the very young children along with others in the city and county who can benefit from the Excel By 5 program.
We talked with local leaders about this effort, which started here in July 2011.
Lecia Stubblefield said, "More and more if you talk to teachers in New Albany, Union County, the State of Mississippi or anywhere they will say children are not ready when they come through the kindergarten door."
That's where having an Excel By 5 program comes in.
Resources on a number of topics, from health care to education, are made readily available and target children five and under.
The help is in places like the newly opened Family Resource Center.
Melanie Shannon said, "The Resource Center has educational materials. It has books that are very helpful for parents who have students with learning disabilities. There's good information for developmental processes a child goes through."
The Family Resource Center is housed on the Northeast campus in New Albany. It's open to anyone in the county.
Stubblefield said, "We'll also be offering family workshops throughout the year. We'll offer workshops for child care facility workers, Head Start workers, pre-K workers."
It's a way to help young children be all they can be all with the backing of an entire county.
Shannon said, "Through this process we've had people from the health care, educational communities and business leaders coming together for a common goal."
The learning and informational supplies are all bought with monetary donations and volunteers are the ones who make this program work.
Both are still needed, if you'd like to help with Excel By 5.
