THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM $1.00 75¢
Setting them up for success
PACT CONTINUING TO TEACH KIDS EARLY AND MENTOR FAMILIES ALONG THE WAY
Putting them
in a learning
environment
at 3, it teaches
them what
is expected
of you in the
classrooms.
MARBELLA ALFORD
PARENT COMMITTEE
CHAIRWOMAN
KAILUA-KONA — On a sunny
morning at Parents and Children
Together’s Head Start Preschool,
it’s not just the playful exclamations
of children that carry.
Though, carry over the colorful
campus they do.
Conversations between mothers
and fathers at the Parent
Committee meeting also bounce
back and forth, an audible reminder
that personal connections mark
the foundation of healthy living.
“They run the meeting because
they know the value of getting our
families together, talking story,’”
Sherry Crandall, PACT’s West
Hawaii area manager, said of the
gathering of parents in a place that’s
geared toward child development.
“There’s a lot of ‘a-ha’ moments.”
The monthly meetings are not
only an opportunity for the parents
to learn, but a chance to lead in their
child’s learning environment. The
committee is simply one of several
ways PACT Head Start families are
involved in their children’s education.
“(Parents) need to be part of and
helpful and in charge of their kids’
education as well. So this is a good way
for us to start,” said Marbella Alford,
Parent Committee chairwoman.
PACT is a wrap-around, family
focused nonprofit that provides
low-income families with access to
early childhood education. Statistics
show kids exposed to early education
are more likely to graduate high
school. But more than that, PACT
guides parents in how to develop and
foster their families.
Via family advocates, PACT Head
Start offers parents help with finding
a job, housing, formatting a resume,
and putting a budget together.
“Anything like that can help (parents)
have a good sense of, ‘I’m worth
it,’ because we deal with some families
where their past has not been as
fruitful as what we would like to be,
so we’re there to encourage them, to
empower them — so that when our
families are successful, the children
are successful,” Crandall said.
True to its name, PACT encourages
parents and children to actually
be together in the classroom with
parent-volunteer opportunities.
In her son Matteo’s class, Alford
volunteers regularly by reading stories
aloud.
“The kids get excited when the
parents come in because it’s not
just their teachers, it’s their mom,”
Alford said.
This particular morning, his
mother reads to a few of his classmates
while Matteo flips through
a book with his teacher, Chotika
Gaspar.
Mid-story, teacher Gaspar asked
BY GITA HOWARD
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ghoward@westhawaiitoday.com
SEE PACT PAGE 8
Above,
Matteo
Alford
reads
with his
teacher,
Chotika
Gaspar.
GITA
HOWARD/
WEST
HAWAII
TODAY