Directors of the Excel By 5 initiative in McComb welcomed a full house Monday night for the second annual community conversation.
Parents, students, teachers, business owners, pastors and others joined Mayor Whitney Rawlings and McComb School District Superintendent Dr. Cederick Ellis to hear an update on the early childhood initiative and its growing success.
“It’s wonderful to see what Excel By 5 is doing for our community,” Mayor Rawlings said. “We’re lucky to live in such a generous community.”
Carol Rawlings, Excel By 5 coalition chairman, presented the first Golden Apple awards to four groups that have jumped in to help the program: the McComb Junior Auxiliary, J.J. White Memorial Presbyterian Church, Walmart and Eagle Scout candidate Jacob Johnson.
The JA has focused its efforts on the Excel By 5 resource house near Kennedy Early Childhood Center in east McComb by cleaning, painting, furnishing blinds, tables, chairs and supplies for the building. Walmart has provided financial support, as has J.J. White.
Boy Scout Johnson encouraged other Eagle Scout candidates to take on a project to form and pour a sidewalk in front of the house. For his effort, Johnson also received a key to the City of McComb from the mayor.
The two years of work for Excel By 5 — first as a candidate city, then as a certified city — have steamrolled into early success for children birth to 5 years old, bringing together not only the McComb School District but other preschool centers throughout the area.
“Dr. Ellis and I are committed to education ... to make our city stronger,” the mayor said.
The highlight of the night were Kennedy preschool performances, first by 3- and 4-year-olds and then by kindergarten students.
The youngest students cited the Pledge of Allegiance and the Tiger Club Pledge. Individual students then displayed their early reading and math skills.
Jamitchell Nobles identified color words and sight words; Terrance Bolton counted by 10s to 100; Evan Gayden counted by 5s to 100 and identified compound words; Haylla Sudduth read from a book; Marie Woodall showed letter recognition and phonetic sounds; Mallorie Jones identified shapes; LaRoy Wells counted from 1 to 100; Terrell Russ identified rhyming words and Jah’Siiah Isaac practiced number recognition.
Next up were kindergarteners, who showed the crowd part of what they do every morning at 8:05 — Move to Learn — by acting out the alphabet. After that, the audience joined in with their own movements to musical instructions.
Of the performances, Ellis said, “You’ve had the opportunity to see the future of McComb ... and the future is in good hands.
“This is just a snapshot of what we can do,” he said, noting that 97 percent of the preschoolers at Kennedy are ready for kindergarten on reading and math levels. “You can see the value of what it will do for students.”
Ellis was gratified to see the seats filled in the St. Andrew’s Senior Center. “That says something about you and it says something about this community.”
He also spoke about the state Early Learning Collaborative Act grant the district received to boost preschool education. The schools will receive $1.3 million over a three-year period for its project, Sprouting the Seeds of Early Success. The district will work with Excel By 5, numerous Head Start centers and participating preschool centers.
“We know the future rests on early education,” Ellis said. “This is a game-changer for McComb schools and a game-changer for this community.”
Adults then went into one of four breakout sessions to talk about the needs of youngsters in the community.
The mayor and Ellis led the community involvement session, Lisa Barnes led the parent and family discussion. Margaret Hart and Nancy Addison led health and safety conversations, and Carol Rawlins led the early care and education session.
