Be it with our own families or the needs of others, the early-childhood world affects everyone at some point.
This was the message from Tishauna Douglas and Akeisha Peek early Tuesday morning, as the duo spoke to the Christian County Fiscal Court as representatives for First Steps of Christian County.
Douglas, service coordinator, laid out the organization’s mission and umbrella.
Peek, developmental interventionist and preschool coordinator with Christian County Public Schools, noted that according a 2018 assessment from the Kentucky Early Childhood Advisory Council, the youngest students of the Commonwealth “need more access to quality early-childhood education experiences,” “parents need more childhood education” and “there’s a need for more quality daycares and daycare workers.”
Especially in Christian County.
Peek noted that in Christian County specifically, and as of 2020, 41.6% of children younger than 5 years old were ready for kindergarten — 10% lower than the state average.
And of all kindergarteners in 2020, only 67.7% of them had spent previous time in preschool or Headstart.
As such, Peek said one of the best decisions Christian County parents and families can take is to complete the preschool application process.
Currently, Peek reported there are 35 total different daycare/home care facilities in Christian County.
Or in other words, not enough.
Douglas and Peek noted First Steps, Headstart and the like continue to work closely with the Hopkinsville-Christian County Public Library for programming, as well as the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
One evergreen annual goal for First Steps is to make even more books available from birth to age 5, and HCCPL Interim Executive Director Tiffany Luna reported more than 3,400 books are mailed out monthly to this group.
Douglas and Peek also serve as co-chairs of the Christian County Early Childhood Council, and the tandem both said there remains to be a “lot of work to do” in order to build back this group.
Located at 400A Hammond Plaza in Hopkinsville, First Steps can be reached by phone at (270) 886-5186 or by fax at (270) 886-0393.
