Week of the young child in Winston-Salem

Passing along this press release just fyi if you live around here:

Smart Start Celebrates Week of the Young Child

WINSTON-SALEM, NC—Smart Start of Forsyth County celebrates Week of the Young Child (April 22nd-28th) to thank educators and others involved in building better futures for all young children.

The Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to focus public attention on the needs of young children. Smart Start of Forsyth County will be celebrating the Week of the Young Child with a variety of activities:

On Tuesday, April 24th Smart Start staff will serve lunch to two child care centers, Clemmons Moravian and the Creative Learning Center, for their winning essays in a contest sponsored by Smart Start.

On Thursday, April 26th Smart Start and A Child’s World Learning Center will host the 2nd annual Kids March for Quality Care in downtown Winston-Salem. Parents, childcare providers, and advocates for children are invited to participate in the march which will begin and end at Corpening Plaza. The event will begin at 11:00 a.m. All participants are invited to stay after the march and enjoy a brown bag lunch in the plaza; beverages will be provided.

On Sunday, April 29th Smart Start will officially end its 2007 book drive. The purpose of the drive is to collect 1000 new or gently used children’s books to encourage reading before kindergarten. Barnes & Noble in Winston-Salem will hold a benefit week from April 21st through April 29th. Customers who present a voucher with their purchase items will have up to 20% of their purchase total donated to Smart Start’s book drive. Vouchers can be found online at www.smartstart-fc.org , at the Smart Start office, or at Barnes & Noble. Books are needed in both English and Spanish.

For more information about Week of the Young Child, contact Natasha Gore at Smart Start of Forsyth County at 714-4344, or natashag@smartstart-fc.org.