The C4K team has had an incredible start to the year, welcoming five new communities: Bridgeport, Dundy County, Crofton, Ravenna Area, and Pleasanton! We recently got a chance to catch up with them about the most memorable moments from the orientations.
Dundy County: January 9th – Shonna Werth and Laura Kemp
What food did you eat? We can now say we are huge fans of pickled okra! They also had meat, cheese, crackers, a tray of multiple other pickled items, veggies, and candy.
Who was there? Multiple public school educators, the superintendent, school board members, and the High Plains Early Learning Connection!
Funny moment? We had a good laugh figuring out a major puzzle—trying to put the tables back together at the end of the meeting.
Inspiring moment? Dundy County has really jumped in with both feet and has so much community buy-in. They have a variety of invested people who bring so many different things to the table, and it was great to see so many community members who truly see the big vision and impact early child care and education has in all aspects of a community.
What do you see for the future of this community? Dundy County has already raised about 70% of its capital campaign to build a facility that will house three Family Child Care Home II’s, public preschool classrooms, and a multipurpose room (which could also turn into a fourth Family Child Care Home II). With that kind of drive and commitment from its community, Dundy County will easily continue to showcase the importance of early child care and education for all.
Crofton: January 14th – Melissa Polinoski
What food did you eat? Homemade sliders and pinwheels, appetizers, and dessert in the FCCLA classroom. Everything was DELICIOUS!
Who was there? Early childhood caregivers, the mayor, the superintendent, the principal, multiple business owners, public school educators, and professionals. It was a great group of community stakeholders! The event also included external state Early Childhood state partners from First Five Nebraska, UNL Extension – Early Childhood, and Early Learning Connections.
Funny moment: The Core Team had some fun banter and mixed reviews about using AI to help develop their mission and vision statements.
Inspiring moment? Core Team members pledged in-kind contributions of rental costs for meetings and events and also $2500.00 toward architectural fees for child facility—WOW!
What do you see for the future of this community? Personally, I am excited to see the great and already established early childhood work group grow and develop in the community of Crofton. The community has shown amazing support and is ready to take on the C4K Pillars!
Bridgeport: January 22nd – Rachel Sissel and Laura Kemp
What food did you eat? We had homemade soup and croissant sandwiches – made by Susanna Batterman, one of the leads for the Core Team, who also had a catering business! How cool is that? And the cookie variety they provided polished things off nicely.
Who was there? Bridgeport had a GREAT turnout – a mix of early childhood professionals, elected officials (mayor & county commissioner), a Panhandle Public Health District rep, a member of a peer C4K community, and school representatives! Also, Faith (the Panhandle Partnership Executive Director) called minutes before the meeting to wish us a good meeting since she couldn’t make it. We thought it was really nice that she acknowledged the beginning of this community’s journey with a personal call even though she couldn’t be there.
Funny moment? We really feel like this team got to see Mike Feeken and Rachel’s natural banter! It was a really relaxed atmosphere. Rachel told everyone in the room that Mike does not like to eat with his hands and invited them to stare at him while he enjoyed the sandwich.
Inspiring moment? Susanna shared both feelings of being overwhelmed and all of the love that was present at the Thriving conference. Also, we ran out of time to show the Nebraska Story video at the end of the meeting–we said we would share the link so people could watch it later, but they all opted to stay and watch together.
What do you see for the future of this community? The Bridgeport orientation set up a solid foundation for support for early childhood professionals, and there was a clear focus on involving others who couldn't make it. It looks like a strong community system is starting to take shape!
Ravenna Area: January 27th – Shonna Werth
What food did you eat? Pizza and cookies, yum!
Who was there? Even though this meeting competed with a school basketball game, there was a fantastic turnout of people from all different backgrounds in the community. They identified themselves as preschool teachers, parents, grandparents, graphic designers, economic developers, principals, professors, health care providers, child care providers, occupational therapists, social workers, EMT, city council members, scout leaders, foster parents, and the city clerk. One person even self-identified as a Chiefs fan!
We also had Alexandra Dillon from the Central Region of the Early Learning Connection, Mike Feeken from First Five Nebraska, and Tana Miller from Buffalo County Community Partners.
Funny moment? They sort of created a Lion King moment for their JCPenney pose with a baby held high in the air, and many of them admiring the baby. It was a really fun moment that made people feel more comfortable, relaxed, and not so overwhelmed. I love a community with a sense of humor!
Inspiring moment? One of the participants stated they came to the orientation because they “wanted Ravenna to thrive and not just survive.” I think this just set the tone for the rest of the night!
What do you see for the future of this community? I have no doubt that this community will find ways to ensure every child has access to quality child care and educational experiences. They were already able to see the systemic change that could occur in Ravenna if early childhood is prioritized in their community.
Pleasanton Area: February 5th – Shonna Werth
What food did you eat? They had a fantastic fruit and veggie tray, and cookies, too!
Who was there? There was a great variety—folks identified themselves as parents, superintendent, child care provider, pre-K teacher, nutrition director, substitute teacher, grandparent, great-grandparent, retired, and of course, soil scientist!
We also had Alexandra Dillon from the Central Region’s Early Learning Connection and Tana Miller from Buffalo County Community Partners.
Funny moment? This group has such a good sense of humor—when it came time to take a photo, they posed together lifting their orientation binder into the air like it was The One True Document that “holds within it THE POWER TO MOVE COMMUNITIES FORWARD!”
Inspiring moment? I really felt like the participants all recognized that they already have great providers in their community, and they just want to continue to lift them up and support them with the needs they may have to continue to provide quality care as well as support them with any efforts for them to grow if that is what they would like to do. This team has worked together for several months prior to their orientation and the child care providers have been a part of this team from the beginning, which tells me they really value what they have.
What do you see for the future of this community? I know they really want to support their already established providers, so I see them supporting them as much as possible to be high-quality. They also had an early goal of using their efforts to educate the community on why access to quality child care is important for the future of Pleasanton. I do believe they will strategically find ways to get this done—what an inspiring group!
