Youth Services • Champions for Children JH • Teton County Wyoming

The Foundation of Excellent Early Childhood Education?

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TOMAR ENCUESTA

Strong Relationships, Safe Environments, Engaging Experiences

Across the nation and the planet, early education programs and systems were dramatically disrupted by the pandemic. Not only did this have profound impact on families and parents’ ability to remain in the workforce, but also caused delays in important developmental processes of young children.

While some of these delays and setbacks were of an academic nature, it is perhaps even more important to recognize the social and emotional impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Champions for Children directly bolstered the innovative collaboration among the Teton Literacy Center, Jackson Hole Children’s Museum, and Children’s Learning Center to actively provide for kids’ needs throughout the pandemic. Prioritizing safety as well as supporting the mental and emotional health of children, these organizations offered modified in-person opportunities as well as virtual programming — all providing critically-needed relationships, stimulating activities, and emotional connections.

Fact

From UNICEF — “Optimal brain development requires a stimulating and enriching environment, adequate nutrition, learning opportunities and social interaction with attentive caregivers. Under the current pandemic context, access to these opportunities will likely be severely restricted, compromising the healthy developmental trajectory of many children. Unsafe conditions, negative interactions and lack of educational opportunities during the early years can lead to irreversible outcomes, which can affect a child’s potential for the remainder of his or her life.”

Fact

“Covid-19 not only suspended normal childhood activities such as attending school, interacting with extended family and friends, playing outdoors, and exploring nature but also disrupted the consequent socio-emotional benefits that accrue from children’s engagement in these experiences.”
- Early Childhood Education Journal

Fact

“Nearly 90% of the world’s student population — over 1.5 billion learners in 165 countries — have had their learning experiences disrupted by precautions and policies implemented to quell the spread of the disease.”
- Early Childhood Education Journal

Have you ever thought about how much harder it must be right now for kids to make friends at a critical part of their lives?

Children need strong relationships – both with each other and adults who help guide them through unique experiences within the educational landscape.

Relationships

Through new collaborations, Teton County’s children were able to foster new friendships.

They were able to learn from and befriend caring adult teachers teaching them to read, passing on life skills, and helping them enjoy STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) at crucial developmental junctures.

Relationships

We’ve always worked to foster physically, emotionally, and socially safe environments through our collective programs, but that goal took on deeper meaning in 2020.

And while our programs looked different in 2020, your donation fostered safe environments both in-person and virtually. They were able to learn from and befriend caring adult teachers teaching them to read, passing on life skills, and helping them enjoy STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) at crucial developmental junctures.

Environments

Donations from 2020 helped fund

• 60 student scholarships at CLC

• Friday after-school program for 12 kids, and eight weeks of virtual programming at JCHM

• Free family literacy and preschool programs for 24 kids at TLC

Beyond that, literally hundreds of new virtual programs sprang to life from all three nonprofits to give children opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise had.

Environments

“Experience is precious,” a wise man once said, “And the only way to have it is to have it.”

Without the support of our community, children of Teton County would have missed out on so many experiences that help form who they are, as our programs have witnessed time and again.

Experiences

Experiences drive us from ignorance to success: Teton Literacy Center’s mission of creating lifelong readers is proof enough of that.

...from boredom to engagement: The Jackson Hole Children’s Museum used your donation to offer free and fun STEAM programs to over 30 preschools.

...from powerlessness to opportunity: CLC used your donation to help fund free programs for 91 children.

Experiences

Our nonprofits collectively fight for the children of Teton County to have the experiences that open them up to the endless possibilities the world has in store for them.

Experiences

Our Mission + Vision

Our mission is to give Teton County’s preschool and after-school children safe places to become a generation that will sustain Teton County’s economy, health, and emotional wellness. And to provide a meaningful place for thoughtful donors to have the most impact on the future of Teton County’s highest-risk children.

Our vision is to make children feel so loved and capable they never need to settle for a lesser way of life. We strive to offer them nurturing and enriching places to land during their school and after-school hours.

We are dedicated to providing at-risk children constructive places to congregate and grow that smooth out income

disparities, improve quality of life, and further decrease already-low crime rates in Teton County.

Despite a massive income disparity, Teton County’s violent crime rates remain more than 24 percent below the national average. Its property crime rate stands about 32 percent lower.

This is in part due to the early education ecosystem at Children’s Learning Center, Teton Literacy Center, and the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum — studies have shown these kinds of nurturing, safe, and educational programs minimize problems among even the most at-risk children.

Our Vision

Our vision is to make children feel so loved and capable they never need to settle for a lesser way of life. To offer them nurturing and enriching places to land in their school and after-school hours.

To give at-risk children constructive places to congregate and grow that smooth out income disparities, improve quality of life, and decrease already-good crime rates in Teton County.

Despite a massive income disparity, Teton County violent crime rates remain more than 24 percent below the national average. Its property crime rates stand about 32 percent lower.

This is in part due to the early education ecosystem at Children’s Learning Center, Teton Literacy Center, and the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum that studies have shown to marginalize problems among the most at-risk children.

Did You Know?

“In the first few years of life, more than 1 million new neural connections form every second.* After this period of rapid proliferation, connections are reduced through a process called pruning, which allows brain circuits to become more efficient.”

From Harvard Center of the Developing Child.

Thank You Champion!

Triple your impact on children's lives.

Donate to Champions for Children to improve access and opportunity for early childhood education programs that support the children and families of Teton County.