As the first day of school was approaching, a group of local mothers learned it was unlikely that families in Brown County would receive any state On My Way Pre-K vouchers.
As a requirement to accept those vouchers, all three Brown County elementary schools had earned their Paths to Quality Level 3 accreditations this past spring.
The state’s voucher program serves only 1 percent of Indiana’s 4-year-olds who would qualify, based on strict income eligibility and work requirements for their parents. To fill the gap, the Brown County Community Foundation has made scholarships available to more than 100 kids in the past four years, but that was under the assumption that the state would have fully funded preschool by 2020 — an assumption that has yet to come to fruition.
Facing this reality, a group of local mothers came together to plan a Color Walk to raise money for preschool scholarships.
“With timed math tests, assessed reading comprehension and computer literacy training, kindergarten is much different than the program I experienced as a child,” said Brown County Community Foundation CEO Maddison Miller. “Imagine a 4-year-old walking into that without the important transitional time that preschool offers. I suspect many of our kids feel anxious and underprepared if they’ve gone without it.”
“I have preschool-aged children, and have seen the impact that Helmsburg Elementary teachers have had on both of them,” said Kirstie Tiernan, head of the planning committee. “Preschool is so important for so many reasons, and all kids in Brown County deserve the right to attend and for it to be affordable.
“It’s exciting to be part of helping initiate change in the community and to drive it with such an amazing group of women,” Tiernan said. “If they can whip up a Color Walk in four weeks, imagine what else they can do for this community.”
Sarah Laros, another mother on the committee, said preschool was a critical when she was the first woman in her friend group to have a child.
“We can be kind of isolated out here in the woods, and I was looking for a way to help socialized my son with peers. When I found out the schools had preschool, it seemed like the perfect fit. I was a stay-at-home mom, and his dad was starting a new business, so we did not have much extra money to pay someone else to care for him.”
Laros was only able to enroll her son in preschool for two to three half-days per week. “It turned out to be the best thing we could have done for him,” she said.
“The first year, he was constantly sick. This sounds terrible, but it turns out it takes about a year for your child to build up their immune system. Imagine your child dealing with that in kindergarten, with state standards and attendance requirements. He also built up a great group of friends that he carried into kindergarten and learned to take direction from authority figures other than his parents.”
Laros has no doubt that the kindergarten curriculum is more rigorous than it has ever been. Her son is one of the youngest children in his class and could have been enrolled in preschool for a second year. Now in first grade, he successfully passed his state standardized tests, which she feels is directly correlated to her son’s preschool experience.
“He even tested out of first grade spelling and is working on second grade words as well as second grade sight words. I don’t think any of this would have been possible without preschool. My son is the kind of child that isn’t interested in learning from me. It was amazing to watch him seamlessly start kindergarten in a place he already knew, with friends he had already made, and great relationships with the staff in a building he was already familiar with.
“Preschool in elementary school is a genius idea that every child should be able to participate in. I know my child is better because of it.”
Brandi Lunsford, a Helmburg teacher and member of the planning committee, agrees. “So often we think about preschool as a place to learn ABCs and 123s, but it’s so much more. We are teaching kids how to play with others, how to talk to adults, and how to be a good person. These are all things that are a crucial part of learning and growing.”
The group hopes the Color Walk will become a popular annual event, ensuring continued funding for the program into the future, or until pre-K is fully funded for all eligible kids in Indiana.
A small portion of the funds raised this year also will benefit participating parent-teacher organizations, with the aim of aiding teachers with the cost of classroom supplies.
Event organizers are accepting sponsorships and donations from local businesses, nonprofits and community members.
“We started this program because kindergarten has changed, and we wanted to make sure children have acquired the necessary basic skills that prepare them for school,” said Miller at the Community Foundation.
“Now, we need the community to step up and affirm that they believe in the importance of early childhood education. That means finding the money, locally, when the government sector fails.
“If every Brown County resident committed just $2.50 to this cause, we would be able to fully fund this program for the next year. Every dollar counts.”
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What: Color Walk and Fun Run for local preschool scholarships
When: Saturday, Sept. 21, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Begins at Brown County Music Center, 200 Maple Leaf Blvd., ends at Hard Truth Hills, 418 Old State Road 46
What happens: Runners or walkers are blasted by vibrant colored, cornstarch-based powder at various stations throughout the 2-mile route. Strollers are welcome. An after-party will take place at Hard Truth Hills with music by Clayton Anderson. Shuttle transportation will be available from Hard Truth Hills back to the music center.
Cost: $15 per person or $30 for a family of four. Children younger than 4 can participate for free. Participants also may form or join a team to solicit donations, and if $1,800 is raised (the cost to sponsor a child’s preschool tuition for a year), the BCCF will refund the team’s registration fee. Event shirts cost $10.
Why: The BCCF has provided $160,792 in grants for 101 children to attend preschool in Brown County Schools, but cannot continue that level of support. The group seeks to fund this program for the spring 2020 semester with what is raised by the event.
Registration: runsignup.com/Race/IN/Nashville/TheBCCFColorWalk
Information: facebook.com/bccfin
Can’t be there? If you can’t participate but want to donate, text “COLORWALK” to 44321 or mail a check to BCCF, P.O. Box 191, Nashville, IN 47448.
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