By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
A new program, “Partners in Play” was launched recently amid the smiles and giggles of young children and their parents and guardians at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Community Engagement Center. Joining in the excitement were UW-W students majoring in early childhood education, as well as representatives of the university, Whitewater Unified School District and Premier Bank.
The series of enrichment sessions targets children ranging in age from birth through 5 from Whitewater and the surrounding areas. To avoid financial or language barriers for families wishing to participate, all sessions are free of charge and bilingual.
The fall sessions began in late September and run Tuesdays and Thursdays through Nov. 16. They offer 30-minute sessions for kids up to the age of 2 from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m., and 45-minute sessions for kids who are 2 1/2 to 5 from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Parents/guardians are required to stay with their child during the sessions.
The themes for the fall sessions include: exploring healthy foods by color and by texture, exploring emotions, big body movements, exploring things that roll, light and shadow explorations, relaxing our bodies and body awareness.
Molly Fuller, who was hired in the summer as the WUSD Family/Community Engagement Coordinator, was the driving force in creating the program. During her prior experience as a paraprofessional in elementary schools working with students who had educational and emotional needs – including experiences with trauma – Fuller said she learned that for many students, school is their safe place.
“I always worried about the children before they were of school age and wondered where their safe space would be. With this new position in our district, I was able to develop a program that would create a fun and developmentally sound program that would support children and their parents,” she said.
Fuller said she wanted to make sure the program would be open to any child in any town because she knows it isn’t being offered anywhere else.
“Half the families who have signed up are from other towns. That shows how much a program like this is needed. And the fact that it is in collaboration with UWW makes it one of a kind,” she said.
WUSD Superintendent Carolyn Pate-Hefty said the program serves as a way to partner with families.
“Every second, the children of our community are learning, exploring and growing. We don’t want to miss a single opportunity to partner with their families to watch and support that process,” she said.
Note that plans are underway for the spring 2022 Partners in Play. Information will be posted in January at wwusd.org.
Read the rest of the story and see more photos the Oct. 28 Whitewater Register.
