This year’s theme for Celebrate the Young Child events has been The Power of Kindness. Our goal was to promote the importance of social and emotional development and modeling kindness to our youngest community members. Our committee was excited to engage families on this topic throughout the year and hopefully, families discovered how to incorporate kindness into their family lives.
Over 200 children and their families attended the Family Festival event on April 25th to explore the power of kindness with hands-on activities, a meal, and informational booths for parents to seek information about the wonderful opportunities our community has to offer.
On behalf of the Celebrate the Young Child Collaborative we would like to thank the following:
- Marisa Macho Gagner from Ray of Light Coaching for teaching children Super Hero Yoga
- Annie Fitzgerald for promoting Random Acts of Kindness
- UMC Future Educators Club for exploring the fun of a parachute
- RiverView Health employees for creating a Sensory Obstacle Course
- Crookston High School for allowing us to use their facilities and provide fantastic accommodations
- KROX and Crookston Daily Times for their coverage of the event
- The Crookston Early Childhood Summit, along with the Otto Bremer Trust, for purchasing a puppet and kindness bracelet for each child
- Crookston High School’s Builders Club for volunteering
- Anna Brekken, Food Service Director at CHS for planning and helping with our meal
- Crookston Head Start for serving the meal
- Crookston Early Childhood Family Education teachers for providing hands-on learning activities
Gina Gunderson and the CYC Collaborative
Crookston Early Childhood Initiative (ECI), Crookston Head Start, Crookston Public Library, Crookston Public Schools, Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE), Polk County Public Health(PCPH), RiverView Health, Sunrise Center, University of Minnesota-Crookston
The Power of Kindness Can Change the World!
