Early Childhood Group Improves Children’s Lives

Early childhood is a pivotal time in a child's life that can shape his or her future. The San Juan County Early Childhood Coalition is here to help families improve their children's chances to grow into successful adults. You're watching the Farmington Local News, brought to you by the San Juan Regional Medical Center, ACE Hardware, Farmington, and the Local News Network. I'm Ryan Simonovich.

Our mission is to connect families with resources and agencies with other agencies. Our true mission is to make sure that every child here in San Juan County is thriving, and the only way we can make sure that they're thriving is to help meet their basic needs. So we supporting that effort.

The group is focused on connection and action. At its monthly meetings, parents, teachers, and others identify and address topics that affect early childhood development. The group also organizes resource events for parents and families On May 31st, for example, the Babel to Brilliance event will feature sessions focused on childhood language development with assistance from speech pathologists and American Sign Language Specialists. Among others, registration is free and the event takes place from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the San Juan College Henderson Fine Arts Center. In 2024, the group was involved in 25 events and initiatives that gatherings estimated reach thousands of families. That year gathering said the most meaningful projects the coalition has organized were the two 10 week workshops that taught families how to develop math and reading skills in their children, teach them healthy eating habits and other topics. Last year, the coalition identified the need for neighborhood parks, which resulted in additional park access at Animus Elementary School.

One of the discussions we had last year around this plan was, are there parks and neighborhoods that are open all the times in some of the lower income areas? And if so, why not? And it actually turned out we ended up doing a project with Farmington Schools out of this project, this conversation where Animus Elementary has opened up their park because right across the street there's lots of apartments. And so now those families can come to their park. Although it's not a public park, it's a school park. The school has opened that up, and that started with the conversation we started having at the coalition.

The federal budget now under consideration in Congress, may cut funding for childcare, but Gathering said she hopes the coalition will continue to make a difference at the local level by expanding its partnerships with other childhood development groups. New Mexico is the leading state in the nation for early C childcare support in 2019, it established the early childhood education and care department, one of just a few states. To have such an agency in her role as the coordinator of the S-J-C-E-C-C gatherings has a direct line to the department.

I am very proud of the state for the efforts that they're doing to early childhood, and I feel very supported and heard. A part of our mission with the coalition is we often act as a liaison between this county and the state. So that's kind of my role. So if childcare agencies families, if they have concerns, they typically get voiced to me and I have a direct line to that E-C-E-C-D department to say, Hey, like this is happening with early childhood in my county. How can you help? And they have been tremendous in stepping up to the cause and supporting our county. They've done a beautiful job

To learn more about early childcare resources available to San Juan County families, and to see a calendar of events, this is sj ccc.org. Thanks for watching this edition of The Local News Network. I'm Ryan Simonovich.