Dear Groundwork Team:
Another week has passed and we have certainly not let the grass grow under our feet! Groundwork and our partners have been sharing the quality early childhood story and the critical work we do across both the state and the nation. At the Statehouse, I was grateful to be invited to give testimony before the Speaker's Taskforce on Poverty and Education, a very engaged panel of education experts and legislators chaired by Representative Bob Cupp (R-Lima). Meanwhile, our local partners from Cleveland (Rebekah Dorman, Director of Cuyahoga County Office of Early Childhood, Invest in Children and Michelle Bledsoe, Coordinator for PRE4CLE) and Dayton (Robyn Lightcap, Executive Director of Learn to Earn Dayton and Charmaine Webster, Preschool Promise Manager at Learn to Earn Dayton) presented at the National League of Cities on their local work and investments to advance early childhood education. Then last night we celebrated with Groundwork Executive Committee Member Eric Karolak, CEO of Action for Children, during Action for Children's annual celebration of early learning in Central Ohio, "Small Steps Big Benefits, Celebrity Spelling Bee". Today, we closed out the week by participating in and learning from a powerful agenda at the Summit Education Initiative's Second Annual School Readiness Summit, "The Early Childhood Effect" sponsored by PNC.
As we reflect on this week, we could not be more proud of our friends in this work and the opportunities we are creating together to advance early learning and prioritize quality early childhood education in Ohio. Thank you for all you do for kids and enjoy our pictures below.
Shannon Jones
Executive Director
