Change the world. Change our schools.

The Dalai Lama is in Seattle for a 5-day gathering to cultivate compassion.  The focus throughout the event has been on nurturing kindness and compassion throughout the world starting with children and those who touch their lives.

This special focus on young children and early learning was what drew me to attend the Compassion Forum on Sunday afternoon.  The forum brought together a diverse group of more than 500 citizens, policy makers, teachers, parents, youth, community leaders, philanthropists and children’s advocates to discuss action steps to sustain the goals of Seeds of Compassion.

I spent the day engaged in conversations with a special-needs pre-school teacher, a care-center owner, an employee of the Department of Early Learning and a conflict-resolution counselor.  It was really incredible having so many people gathered and focused on one thing - improving the lives of young children!

There were lots of bold ideas being discussed on how we can all contribute to promoting successful and healthy young people.  The keystone to all of the ideas, discussion and brainstorming was that we, as children advocates, need to build an awareness campaign that increases public understanding of the importance of the healthy social, emotional, and cognitive development of children.  Unfortunately, many policymakers, community leaders, parents and the general public are just unaware how critical this time is in a child’s life.  Increasing awareness and understanding is necessary so decision-makers can take better-informed, more effective action!

The forum yesterday was meant to collect the thoughts and ideas from those who are deeply engaged in the early learning and education fields.  The recommendations that were gathered will be used to create a set of priorities by the forum leadership which will be translated into action in the coming year.

“Compassion is not just being sentimental and feeling with someone, but seeking to change the situation.  If you are going to be compassionate, be prepared for action.”         

                                                ~ Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Last week, Gov. Gregoire signed the 2008 supplemental operating and capital budgets.  One of the major highlights of the capital budget was the significant investment to support one of Washington’s early leaning initiatives - the Thrive by Five communities.  White Center and Yakima County are the two communities that were selected more than a year ago to design comprehensive early learning networks for children ages birth to 5.

The White Center Early Learning Initiative is the first private-public model for early learning in Washington.  It has brought local stakeholder groups and businesses together to develop plans to make positive early learning opportunities-whether at home or in child care centers-available to families in the White Center community.

One of the most exciting parts of the capital budget was the $2 million allocated to the construction of the Greenbridge Early Learning Center in White Center in addition to the $7 million provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  The center will serve as a headquarters for education and outreach services in the community.

In addition, funding, both private and public, will be used to support a range of programs targeted at children from birth to 5, their parents, and caregivers, including:

• Outreach services to pregnant women and recent mothers through the Community Doula program, which pairs new mothers with trained women who provide emotional support and guidance;
• Nurse home visitation for expectant families through their children’s first years;
• Play and learn groups for toddlers; and
• Literacy resources for parents.

Existing Head Start centers in the community will receive grants to improve teacher qualifications and program quality. In addition, grant funds will enhance the learning environments of licensed child care centers, preschools, and family child care homes through professional development for staff and a quality rating and improvement system that will make better information available to parents.

Plans to get the Yakima program started are underway and should be unveiled soon - just watch the blog for the latest news.

These two projects, once fully implemented, will not only greatly improve these communities, but they will most importantly improve the overall early learning infrastructure in Washington.  The lessons learned and the insights gained by these projects will be leveraged to improve the programs and interventions available for families and children throughout our state so they will be successful in school and life.