City of Clarkston proclaims April to August as Countdown to Kindergarten and Beyond Campaign Period

The city of Clarkston, Ga. has proclaimed the month of April as the start of the Countdown to Kindergarten and Beyond: Learn Begins at Birth Public Awareness and Community Engagement Campaign.

The campaign, which will run from April to August, was developed by CDF Action, a Clarkston-based non-profit, and the Clarkston Early Learning Network as a way to promote early reading and nurture family involvement in children’s education from birth to age eight.

Speaking during the April 7 Clarkston city council meeting, Diana Robinson, a volunteer with the Clarkston Early Learning Network, said, “What happens in a child’s early years is important in child’s development and their later success. By investing now, we invest in future that pays a higher dividend.”

Keith Barker, Clarkston city manager, read the proclamation to those in attendance at the meeting, and Mayor Ted Terry signed the document before joining several of the families involved in the program for group photos. He also congratulated CDF Action volunteers on receiving a W.K. Kellogg Foundation early learning and family engagement award and the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students Summer Reading Club Replication Award.

“It really speaks volumes to the work that CDF Actionprepared to get the grant and also to what’s being done to facilitate and allow us to participate in spreading the importance of reading,” said Mayor Terry.

A kickoff event will be held on April 18 at the Clarkston Library and will be followed by the Third Annual Tell Me a Story! Culture and Language Festival at the Clarkston Community Center on May 9. The campaign will continue to bring families and community partners together to plan activities and workshops and to distribute books and literacy and language materials through the summer.