Page 76 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2017

GIVING BACK excelling PASCAGOULA
E xcel by 5 is an early childhood community initiative focusing on the community’s young children. The initiative will better prepare children for school, emphasizing the important
roles parents and early childhood educators play during the most formative years — birth to age five. Pascagoula Excel By 5 is a certified program that was formed in 2004 by a team of educators, community leaders, and parents to work together to make Pascagoula child friendly.
Among its programs, the group operates an Early Beginnings Resource Library located on Market
Street between Tucker and Skip Avenues across from Pascagoula High School. It is available to all residents of Jackson County. This library is full of developmentally appropriate materials for children, birth to five years
of age. There are books, games, toys, manipulative materials, videos, puzzles and much more, along with resources for parents, teachers and child care providers available for check out. The check-out policy is two items
for a two week loan period.
It’s fitting that Pascagoula had the third certified Excel
by 5 as the movement began in Jackson County when kindergarten teacher Debby Renfroe told her husband, Steve, about the problems many kindergarteners
face when they start school — they just aren’t developmentally ready to grasp the material. She asked Steve what could be done to better educate parents on children’s developmental stages from birth to five years old. Steve, then a Chevron Public and Governmental Affairs Manager for Mississippi, suggested Chevron
put an ad in the local newspaper listing these critical stages. To get the information for the ad, Steve contacted Dr. Cathy Grace at Mississippi State University and
the program was on its way to formation with the cooperation of a group of early childhood experts.
Pascagoula Excel By 5
228.938.6418 • www.excelby5.com
story by Lynn Lofton
76 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • December 2017
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