In the News...

Excel By 5 gives kids needed boost

The city of Canton and northern Madison County are revisiting the proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child."

Preparing children for kindergarten has school and community leaders and the joint education committees of the Madison County Business League and the Madison County Economic Development Authority working together through Excel By 5, a program advocating early childhood education.

Excel By 5 emphasizes the roles parents and early childhood educators play in the lives of children during their most formative years: birth to age 5.

"One of our deficiencies in Mississippi is that our children are not going to school prepared," said Jan Collins, Madison County Business League executive director.

Main components of an Excel By 5 Early Childhood Community are community involvement, family and parent support, early care and education and health.

It is an initiative of Mississippi State University's Early Childhood Institute. There are 26 candidate and certified communities.

Certified communities include Petal, Pascagoula, West Point, Mid-Jackson, Monroe County, Moss Point, Cleveland and Biloxi.

An informational meeting this month introduced 34 educators, community officials, business leaders and volunteers to Excel By 5 and what it can do for Canton, Camden, Flora and Sharon.

Kristi Hendrix, executive director of North Midtown Community Development Corp., shared insight on the program's impact on Mid-Jackson, certified in 2009.

"This brings day care, Head Start and school systems together," Hendrix said. "Many day cares don't have the resources to provide early childhood education."

MCBL and MCEDA are partnering with United Way of the Capital Area to serve as co-lead agencies of the initiative.

Bob Clay, Excel By 5 state sites coordinator, shared statistics of how many children in North Madison County can benefit.

According to 2009 Census estimates, children younger than 5 made up 7.6 percent of the county population.

"Ninety percent of brain development occurs before the age of 6," Clay said. "There are a lot of children in Madison County that need help."

Retiring Madison County Schools Superintendent Mike Kent said preparing kids for school is vital.

"In communities with extreme poverty, you have kids raising kids in many cases," he said. "Parents don't read to their children, so kids come to school not ready to learn so they're not far along."

Canton Public Schools Superintendent Dwight Luckett said young children will fall behind if they aren't prepared for higher standards expected in the future.

"It would behoove us to embrace a program and put initiatives (in place) to attack the problem," he said.

Canton Mayor William Truly said he and the Board of Aldermen will adopt a resolution in support of Excel By 5.

"This is just what the doctor ordered," he said. "It's so needed here in the northern part of the county."

By Terricha Bradleyr • tbradley@mcherald.com • July 5, 2011