Beech Tree News Network

If you were traveling on Hwy. 231 South on March 27 you probably noticed the parking lot of the Morgantown Community Church (MCC) was busier than normal for a Saturday morning.  The local early childhood council hosted a drive through event designed specifically for children birth to age 5 (getting ready to start kindergarten in the fall) as a way to help families prepare their children for school. 

During the Early Childhood Cruise In, families entered the MCC parking lot and were greeted by volunteers including a tomato and a pineapple!  They were asked to complete an information sheet on their child which included information about their child’s age, projected date/school for kindergarten, and information on where our young children are during these young years (ex. Childcare program, Head Start, public school preschool, relative care, private sitter, etc.) Once that was completed, they were greeted by the BC Bear and given materials from cruise in volunteers and a chance to see the Easter Bunny as they exited the drive through event.  By the end of the three-hour cruise in, materials were distributed to 143 children, age birth through age 5! 

Funding for the event came from a partnership between the Butler County Schools School Readiness Team and Tri-SKY Collaborative Early Childhood Council, (Tri-SKY CECC) now serving Butler, Edmonson and Warren Counties.  In 2019, the BCS School Readiness team was awarded a grant to enhance family awareness of school readiness.  Plans for an Early Childhood Extravaganza (4th annual) were underway when the Covid-19 Pandemic hit last spring.  As all organizations scrambled to adjust to a historic pandemic, those plans (and many others) were put on hold.  With BCS moving into a green phase and reopening schools and the numbers of Covid cases lessening, the local council was able to organize this Early Childhood Cruise-In as a way to support Butler County’s youngest children. 

In addition to the materials sponsored by the Butler County school system and the local council, donations of materials, information and door prizes were supplied to Cruise-In organizers by the Head Start program, BC Family Resource Center and the OWL Academy, the United Way, the BC Public Library, Butler County Drug Free Coalition, KYNECT, Butler County Clerk Sherry Johnson, Butler County PVA Suzanne Brosnan, Sno Shack, Child Care Aware, Child Care Resource & Referral at WKU,  Lakeshore Learning, the Little Learners program (new to BC and looking to serve new families), and Cash Express.

Volunteers who helped organize and implement the Cruise-In included:

•Kim Cunningham, Elizabeth Grubb, Ali Johnson, Michelle Phelps Tutko, and Karah Arndel, Butler County Head Start; 

•Stacy Hayes, Owner/Director of Caterpillar Lane Child Care; 

•Donna Annis, BC Schools Preschool Director; 

•Brandie Smith, OWL Academy Teacher FRC; 

•Ginny Lockhart, North Butler Preschool;  

•Robert Tuck, BC Schools Superintendent  

•Pamela Staples, CASOKY KYNECTOR

•Kathy Lawrence, Butler County Public Library, AKA Easter Bunny;  

•Parker Smith, BCHS Volunteer, AKA BC Bear; 

•Taylor Servay, BCHS Volunteer AKA pineapple;  

•Tracy Cowles, BC Extension Office; AKA tomato

•Case Hooten, BCMS Volunteer;  

•Amy Hood Waddle, Director of CCR&R at WKU, 

•Kristie Clayton, Little Learners Program  

The local council is made up of representatives from the Butler Schools, Head Start program, child care programs, early childhood advocates, Extension Office, Child Care Aware, the public library, United Way, First Steps, and Family Resource Center. 

Anyone interested in participating in the local CECC please contact Amy Hood Waddle at 270-991-8017