CONTACT:

Joan Whitson, Early Literacy Coordinator

904-342-2267

jwhitson@elcpsj.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PHOTO CAPTION: ELC volunteer reader Peggy Hunter, dressed in a Mother Goose costume, reads a jungle story to children at Castle Brook Academy in St. Augustine.

Story-Time Programs Hit the Road

PALATKA, Fla., April 19, 2013 – During the months of February through June, child care providers in Putnam and St. Johns Counties are able to sign up to receive a free literacy program from the Early Learning Coalition (ELC).

Joan Whitson, Early Literacy Coordinator of ELC, and a team of volunteers have created four themed programs with activities including music, story time, puppets, crafts and games. Children receive a free book relating to the theme and teachers receive a bagful of books and resources in order to duplicate the programs themselves.

“Volunteers are the key to making these programs work,” said Whitson. “At least three or four volunteers are needed for each program. Twenty-three programs have been scheduled, which creates the need for a lot of volunteer time. Many of our volunteers are retired teachers, who love the change to still stay engaged with children.”

Along with these special programs, many of these same volunteers are weekly-reading pals in local child centers in Putnam and St. Johns Counties.

To volunteer, please contact Joan Whitson at jwhitson@elcpsj.org or 904-342-2267. To learn more about early literacy, visit www.elcpsj.org.

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CONTACT:

Joan Whitson, Early Literacy Coordinator

904-342-2267

jwhitson@elcpsj.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PHOTO CAPTION: The VPK class at Family Partners Child Care Center in St. Augustine, proudly display their hot rods built out of boxes as part of the theme for Florida Literacy Week.

To read the full article featured in St. Augustine Record, click here: http://staugustine.com/living/2013-02-02/literacy-week-celebrated#.URQIM4FK75o

Local Child Care Centers Revved Up Their Engines During Literacy Week

PALATKA, Fla., January 24, 2013 – In celebration of Florida Literacy Week, held January 14-18, child care centers and early learning programs like Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK), participated in a simultaneous, state-wide reading day.

On January 16 at 9:30 a.m., everyone was asked to read “The Hot Rod Hamster,” by Cynthia Lord and Derek Anderson.  The book is an interactive, rhythmic, rip-roaring, race to the finish-line story where a hamster creates a sizzling hot rod with a little help from his furry friends and the reader.  The Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns Counties (ELC) provided the book to each center, along with a packet of activity ideas to do along with the book.  Centers were then asked to send photos of their activities to the ELC to be posted on their Facebook page.  View the pictures at facebook.com/elcpsj.

Their reading minutes were also tracked as part of the state-wide Million Minute Marathon, whose goal was to reach a million minutes of reading time during literacy week.

“We are proud to see, on a local level, the high importance child centers are putting on reading,” says Joan Whitson, Early Literacy Coordinator for the ELC.  “Reading books to small children is one of the single most important things a parent or caregiver can do to help a child learn the skills they need to succeed in school.”

For more information, please contact Joan Whitson at 904-342-2267 or jwhitson@elcpsj.org.  Visit www.elcpsj.org to learn more about the Early Learning Coalition.

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Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns Counties

440 N. State Road 19, Suite 440, Palatka, FL 32177

CONTACT:

Teresa Matheny, VPK Program Coordinator

904-726-1500 x. 247

TMatheny@ecs4kids.org

Dawn Bell, Executive Director

386-328-8225

dbell@elcpsj.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VPK Registration This Month at Putnam & St. Johns Area Malls

     PUTNAM & ST. JOHNS COUNTIES, Fla., January 11, 2013 – Registration kicks off this month for parents who want to register their four-year-olds for the 2013-2014 Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) program in Putnam & St. Johns Counties. Children born of Florida-residing parents between September 2, 2008 and September 1, 2009 are eligible to attend a high quality, pre-k learning program at no expense.

Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns Counties (ELC) and Episcopal Children’s Services (ECS) representatives will be on hand to register and answer questions at the following 2013 VPK registration events.

St. Johns County

Ponce De Leon Mall (2121 US 1 South, St. Augustine, FL 32086; by main entrance fountain):

• January 26, 10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Putnam County

Palatka Mall (400 N State Road 19, Palatka, FL 32177; center court area):

• January 15, 4 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

To register, parents must bring an official birth certificate or physician-signed shot record to prove the child is four on or before Sept. 1, 2012 as well as proof of Florida residency (driver’s license or utility bill with current physical address – not a post office box address and must specify a service address).

The parent/guardian with whom the child resides must be the one to complete the necessary VPK paperwork. Early Learning Coalition of Putnam & St. Johns Counties will give parents a list of eligible pre-k providers.

For other registration opportunities, a list of other acceptable items for documentation, or for more information visit: http://www.ecs4kids.org/vpk.html or call (800) 238-3463 and ask for VPK.

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December 20, 2012

Filed Under early learning

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Thank you to the Palatka Daily News for featuring Cheryl Dollar as the volunteer spotlight. December 15, 2012

Click on the photo to read more. Article is also available online with subscription to the Palatka Daily News.

Cheryl Dollar - Volunteer Spotlight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:         Joan Whitson, Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns Counties, 904-819-3544

Target Media Hotline, (612) 696-3400

Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns Counties Receives Grants for Book Bag Project

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., November 3, 2012 –  The Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns Counties (ELC) announces that its book bag project program has been awarded grants from Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) and TD Bank, among others. In recognition of the efforts of ELC in promoting early literacy, the grant helps fund book bags for three-year-olds.

“Last year, we were able to donate 600 book bags filled with books appropriately aged for three-year-olds. Due to the help of our sponsorships, we plan to increase the amount of book bags to a total of 800,” said ELC Coordinator Joan Whitson.

This years grants were also a community effort with donations from St. Augustine Sunrise Rotary Club, Palatka Sunrise Rotary Club, St. Augustine Kiwanis Club, RSVP of St. Johns County and Dr. Bert Tavery, DDS.

The grant is part of Target’s ongoing efforts to build strong, safe and healthy communities across the country. These efforts include Target’s long history of giving 5 percent of its income to communities, which today equals more than $3 million every week. As part of this commitment, Target is on track to give $1 billion for education by the end of 2015 to help kids learn, schools teach and parents and caring adults engage.

“At Target, we are committed to serving local communities where we do business,” said Laysha Ward, President, Community Relations, Target. “That’s why we are proud to partner with ELC as we work to strengthen communities and enrich the lives of our guests and team members.”

In addition to the grant received by ELC, Target also gives through signature programs such as:

• Take Charge of Education, a school fundraising initiative that provides undesignated funds to local schools for whatever they need most, from books and school supplies to classroom technology.
• Arts Accessibility, free or reduced-price admission to arts and cultural events nationwide.
• Target School Library Makeovers, a program that leverages Target’s world-class design expertise to transform school libraries across the country with new construction, furniture, and technology, as well as 2,000 new books.
• Education Grants and Awards, including Books for Schools Awards, Target Field Trip Grants and Early Childhood Reading Grants, that provide schools, libraries, teachers and nonprofit organizations the resources they need to bring learning to life and put more kids on the path to graduation.

About Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns Counties

We at the Early Learning Coalition coordinate services that allow children to enter kindergarten healthy and ready to learn.

Our mission is to serve parents, caregivers and educators of children ages birth to pre-kindergarten by managing and evaluating early child care and early childhood education programs through a quality school readiness delivery system in Putnam & St. Johns Counties.  To learn more about the ELC, visit www.elcpsj.org.

About Target

Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at more than 1,763 stores across the United States and at Target.com. The company plans to open its first stores in Canada in 2013. In addition, the company operates a credit card segment that offers branded proprietary credit card products. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs; today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week. For more information about Target’s commitment to corporate responsibility, visit Target.com/hereforgood.

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Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns Counties

440 N. State Road 19, Suite 440, Palatka, FL 32177

CONTACT:

Dawn Bell, Executive Director

386-328-8225, ext. 204

dbell@elcpsj.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OP-ED: Stop Shifting Our Children’s Futures Around – More Money
Needs to Be Put Into Early Learning

Issue: New funding formula means $200,000 less dollars for Putnam
and St. Johns Subsidized School Readiness program

PALATKA, Fla., August 25, 2012 — School readiness helps children benefit from early learning and prepares them for future academic success. A December report by the state Auditor General concluded Florida has not been funding school readiness programs in a way which accounted for the state’s shifting demographics. As a result, the state Office of Early Learning is phasing in a new formula over the next six years. State funding will gradually shift from areas with slower population growth, including Alachua, Big Bend Regions of Gadsden, Taylor, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Wakulla; Brevard, Putnam and St. Johns counties, to areas that have experienced rapid growth in recent years.

Joan Whitson, Early Literacy Coordinator with the Early Learning Coalition and Leslie Goode, St. Johns County Book Mobile librarian proudly display “Pete the Cat” and his books, July 19, 2012, in front of the Book Mobile at Family Partners child care center in St. Augustine.

To read the full article featured in St. Augustine Record, click here: http://staugustine.com/living/2012-08-04/pete-cat-goes-road

PALATKA, Fla., July 28, 2012 – This summer, The Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns County (ELC) has partnered with the St. Johns County Book Mobile.  Throughout their stops to local child care centers, the ELC staff and volunteers are meeting the bus and putting on a special story-time program featuring the children’s book series “Pete the Cat” by James Dean and Eric Litwin.

At each stop, several of the books are read aloud and the children make their own Pete the Cat puppet. As a gift, every visited center receives a copy of the three Pete the Cat books along with a Pete the Cat doll and audio book on CD.

In each educational Pete series, Pete encounters different mishaps. Instead of getting upset, he just keeps on moving, grooving and singing his song.

“I am so happy about the partnership we have with the St. Johns County library,” said Joan Whitson, early literacy coordinator with the ELC.   “Reaching out to children at a young age is crucial to developing the early literacy skills they need to learn to read.”

For more information about volunteering for the ELC reading programs, contact Joan Whitson at jwhitson@elcpsj.org or call 904-819-3544.  Like the ELC on Facebook at facebook.com/elcpsj.

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