As summer rapidly comes to a close, more than 500 of the state’s early childhood educators are in Columbia this week preparing for the coming school year.
Educators and administrators from 197 faith- and community-based child development centers from across the state are taking part in South Carolina First Steps’ Annual 4K Early Reading & Development Academy.
This weeklong event is part of the ongoing professional development and quality training that SC First Steps provides for the state’s private-public four-year-old kindergarten partners that are serving some of the neediest children and families in South Carolina.
“This year we have seen a 65% increase in the number of educators at our training,” says Martha Strickland, SC First Steps 4K Director. “This August, with the most recent 4K expansion by the General Assembly, we’re anticipating our partners will serve more than 2,500 children in 215 classrooms across our state.”
SC First Steps Chairman Ken Wingate, in speaking to the educators on Thursday, said, “First Steps 4K builds on the strength of both public and private preschools in order to extend a rich early learning experience to our four-year- olds. That is what makes your work so important.”
At this year’s Academy, two of SC First Steps 4K preschools were recognized for outstanding service to children and families. Wright Way Child Development Center in Eutawville and Little Treasures Christian Learning Center in Dillon were honored with the Tamala Toney Excellence in Early Childhood Education award.
The award is named in memory of long-time First Steps 4K leader Tamala Toney who was instrumental in creating and administering SC’s public-private 4K program, which began in 2006 in response to the longstanding school equity lawsuit. The award is given annually to partner preschools that are committed to lifelong learning, enhancing classroom quality, and exceptional service to at-risk children.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Tamala’s mother Dorothy Toney encouraged the educators with a vision for early childhood education, “A hundred years from now, you will not be able to tell what kind of car I drove, or where I lived, but you will be able to tell the contribution that you made in the lives of children. Love and caring for children is one of the greatest gifts you can ever make or do. And remember, it is these children that will write the legacy of this First Steps program for South Carolina.”
First Steps’ 4K program, created in 2006, was initially a pilot program established by the General Assembly to build a private-public partnership across the state that work through existing child care facilities across the state to expand services to the state’s earliest learners. In 2014, in Read to Succeed/4K legislation, the General Assembly permanently established the program and expanded this free four year-old kindergarten to eligible children residing in 64 of the state’s 81 school districts.
For more information please visit www.SCFirstSteps.org/4k.