Early care and education are our future's most important investments

It's written all over her face: Louise Stoney believes that exemplary care and education of our youngest children are the biggest investments we can make in our country's future. She presented at the Mary McEvoy Lecture Series, Monday, Oct. 15 at Fergus Falls to a group of 120 area educators, early childhood professionals, care providers, government officials and more. Stoney is a nationally known child care and early childhood education policy specialist who co-runs the Alliance on Early Childhood Finance.

Check back for Stoney's PowerPoint presentation. She suggests you read the notes section for more in-depth information.

More photos from School Success event

MSCTC president honored for professional achievement

Dr. Ann Valentine, president of Minnesota State Community and Technical College, received the Professional Achievement Award as an alumna of Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The award is presented to alumni who have made significant contributions or achievements in their field. Dr. Valentine has been MSCTC president since July, 2005. She serves on the Commission on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity for the American Association of Community Colleges.

Children thrive when communities make early care and education a priority, report says

It really does take a village to raise a child. A new report released by the Minnesota Initiative Foundations (MIFs)—including West Central Initiative—shows that when communities come together around early childhood issues, it can have a tremendous impact on making sure all children thrive.

“Building Nurturing Communities of Thriving Children” was produced by Wilder Research on behalf of the MIFs to determine the success of The Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative (ECI). The ECI is made up of individuals and organizations from around the state that have formed 64 early childhood coalitions. These groups work with 165 greater Minnesota communities and have implemented more than 400 projects, programs and activities to improve the well-being of young children.

“This report shows how these diverse coalition projects are contributing in measurable ways to the healthy development and school readiness of young children, and it connects these efforts to research and evidence-based practices,” said Nancy Jost, West Central Initiative’s Early Childhood Initiative coordinator. “Often, school readiness is simply measured by whether or not a child knows the ABCs and 123s, but it’s so much more than that.”

The report highlights some of ECI’s success stories, including west central Minnesota’s Early Childhood Dental Network, which is improving oral health awareness, education and dental access throughout the region.

To learn more about the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative or to receive a copy of the report, “Building Nurturing Communities of Thriving Children,” please call West Central Initiative at (800) 735-2239; or view the report online.

Breakfast in Breckenridge

In Breakfast at Tiffany's, whenever heroine Holly Golightly wanted to feel good, she would head over to the famous jewelers. In Breckenridge, breakfast at the Northern Grille was the feel-good thing to do on Oct. 10, when about 20 residents gathered with WCI staff to share their thoughts, ideas and concerns about the community.

It was clear fairly quickly that this assembly of city officials, businesspeople, civic leaders and concerned citizens loved their town, and expressed pride in what is being accomplished.

They talked about how the town draws people from miles around to take advantage of facilities like the Family Aquatic Center, the 4-H horse arena and the Bois De Sioux Golf Course. They raised up initiatives that have brought folks together to work hard to better their community, like the new Family Community Center, Project Breckenridge--whose work includes installing new playgrounds and park benches, planting flowers, and other beautification projects--and the current school referendum. They praised their healthcare, their early childhood and family education, their civic organizations and their schools.

They also identifed needs. Like more volunteers for Kinship, the area's youth mentoring program, more housing--especially for people over 55--and help for families struggling with mental illness, chemical dependency and other issues that are affecting their young children's abilities to learn and thrive.

All this and more was discussed--and the breakfast buffet was pretty darn good, too.

WCI holds several of these community meetings throughout west central Minnesota each year. Want to know when we'll be in your area? Contact Kim Embretson to find out.

How a town spends: New York Mills gets a retail analysis

Quick, how much do you think the average person in your town annually spends on footwear? How about cable television? Prescription drugs? Vehicle insurance?

You may not know the answers, but the residents of New York Mills do. They recently heard a report of its spending habits from Ryan Pesch, regional extension educator in community economics for the U of M Extension Service. The presentation was part of the Horizons community leadership program aimed at reducing poverty in rural and reservation communities with populations of 5,000 or fewer and with histories of economic decline and significant population change.

The community learned not only how much the town spends on goods and services, but how much "leakage" or "surplus" there is of buying and selling in and out of the area. For example, when people go out of town to shop, that’s a leakage of spending to another community. And when a town draws people from other communities to shop, that’s a surplus.

New York Mills can now use this data to inform and enhance the economic development in the area.

Curious about New York Mills' spending habits? Take a look at the numbers here.

Ryan Pesch is available to present a similar retail analysis to your community. Contact him at 888-241-0843 or pesch@umn.edu.

Library system web site "provides local access to the world"

The Viking Library System just launched its new Web site. It's colorful and easy to navigate. Here are a couple of highlights:

• Click on "Services" and you'll see that the library system provides outreach services to 65 daycares and Head Start groups on a monthly basis.


• The "Online Reference Resources" page is a great place to start on just about any research topic.


• If you're looking for something to read, try the "Bestsellers and Reading Lists" for suggestions on every type of book genre.

The Viking Library System extends through a large part of west central Minnesota, from New York Mills all the way to Browns Valley.