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December 2, 2009

Forum emphasizes importance of reaching children at an early age

KIMBERLY BELLAMY

ROCKY MOUNT — A portion of the state tackled the question, “What do North Carolinians Want for Their Children and the State,” Tuesday during a forum on early childhood education with participation from Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton.

Representatives from Edgecombe, Nash, Wilson, Wayne, Johnston, Wake, Chatham, Franklin, Durham, Orange, Person, Granville and Vance counties engaged in dialogue from morning until mid afternoon on the issue. There was a diverse group of people including parents, business leaders, health care providers, educational professionals and policy makers.

“It’s a mixture of existing and emerging leaders. We wanted new voices heard for the new and next phase of this early childhood system,” said Henrietta Zalkind, executive director of Down East Partnership for Children (DEPC).

“They can contribute their own perspectives and take information from their peer groups.”

The forum, which was at DEPC in Rocky Mount, is one of 11 local forums or regional summits funded by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, and hosted by Dalton and Smart Start. Forums in Wilkesboro and Waynesville have already occurred, but the forum at DEPC was the first Dalton attended.

Dalton, who served 12 years on the state Senate and four years as co-chairman of the education committee, addressed the importance of reaching children at an early age.

“Kids will be healthier and more focused on learning because of the foundation laid here in early childhood,” he said.

Smart Start is a nationally recognized early childhood program that provides funding to 77 local partnerships through assistance from the State Partnership for Children. The president of the North Carolina Partnership for Children, Stephanie Fanjul, was present at the forum.

Once information is gathered at all of the locations, Smart Start would like to put a plan in motion to improve the things discussed by community partners across the state.

“I will work with Stephanie (Fanjul), and hope to develop programs to address issues and needs expressed at these meetings,” Dalton said.

Topics ranged from poverty to teen pregnancy and all points in between. Eric Evans, who is Edgecombe County’s Housing and Economic Development Director, represented DEPC and the county, and asked, “Should the community fill in where the family lacks?”

“There are weaknesses in that family support system,” he said.

Evans elaborated and said that forums such as that are a step in the right direction of helping the families out.

Zalkind said the focus is to prepare students as learners by third grade. In Edgecombe, 6.8 percent or 3,610 of the 52,802 population is less than 5 years old according to a three year estimate from 2006-08 by the Census.

The adults who are taking care of that young population are facing serious financial circumstances.

As of 2007, 12-15 percent of the people in Edgecombe was uninsured; the county’s annual income was $4,000-6,000 below the state average at $32,682 this year; the county is a leader in unemployment in the state, and 18.6-23.9 percent of the county’s population is at the household poverty level as of 2000. The information was provided by the U.S Census and state Employment Security Commission.

Dalton is hoping to gain more support from businesses who are willing to contribute to helping educationally launch children at early.

“It’s an investment that makes total sense, and it’s important to bring the community together to support these types of programs.

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