Smart Start partners continue collaboration to bring Sesame Street to WNC

For the past 25 years local Smart Start partnerships across the western North Carolina region have been working together to support preschool-aged children and the families and educators that care for them, according to a news release. North Carolina’s Smart Start Network collaborates within local communities to design and strengthen evidence-based services in early childhood.

In 2021 Dogwood Health Trust supported a multi-year effort to strengthen the resilience and social-emotional health of young learners and the caregivers, families and educators who care for them, the release said. Services of the initiative have focused on building resilience in children 0-5 and their caregivers, families and early educators. Strengthening social-emotional well-being and building resilience helps children not only deal with current difficulties that are a part of everyday life, but also to develop the basic skills and habits that will help them deal with challenges later in life, during adolescence and into adulthood.

This initiative effort is led by a collaborative group of the western regional Smart Start partners called Raising Resilience WNC, a pre-existing network of the regional Smart Start leaders working together to leverage regional support and knowledge to work unilaterally and support one another. This project is designed to strengthen resilience skills throughout both the individual and organizational levels.

One of the approaches of this project includes a regional expansion of partnership with Sesame Street In Communities through GetSet WNC. To date more than 150 early educators and caregivers attended resilience training workshops and nearly 6,000 families have engaged in community outreach events in partnership with Sesame Street in Communities.

SSIC is Sesame Workshop’s program to support community providers who serve families and help children face challenges big and small. SSIC’s free research-based resources and professional development were created to help lay the foundation for children’s well-being, today and into the future. In 2023, 18 SSIC ambassadors were trained by Sesame Workshop U.S. Social Impact staff to deliver on-the-ground influence and outreach by delivering training sessions and providing resources to the communities they live and work in. These presentations define and explain SSIC topic areas and help participants best use free Sesame Street resources to promote skill-building and social-emotional well-being with young kids. These individuals known as “Abby’s Ambassadors” (named after one of Sesame’s beloved muppets) were recruited from cross-sector organizations such as public health, early education, family support and social services. Surveys report that 96% of attendees of ambassador-led training plan to continue to utilize SSIC resources in their daily work and lives. Cohort one of this ambassador program is set to end in the fall of 2023 with recruitment and training for a second cohort in January 2024.

Additionally in 2024 an approximate 11,000 social-emotional, early learning focused toolkits will be distributed in all 18 counties of western North Carolina. These toolkits will cover the topics of resilience, early literacy & school readiness, healthy eating, and exploring emotions and feature SSIC books and resources, engagement activities, games, and information on local topic-specific resources and organizations.

Prior to choosing topics Smart Start partners administered needs assessments across the region to understand what educational and wellness inequities were most prevalent. Many counties scored high on the “social vulnerability scale,” and many families were identified as experiencing three or more risk factors. Additionally, lack of access to health care, diminished capacity in early child care settings region wide and a high percentage of young children reading below grade level are all factors that drove selection of the chosen topics. The toolkits are meant to not only be a route to engage with families and guide them towards SSIC resources and community specific organizations, resources and supports, but to foster one-on-one engagement at home between caregivers and the children in their care.

“As one of our most committed partners, we thoroughly support the WNC Smart Start organizations to build upon their successes in early childhood outcomes within the entire western region,” said Jeanette Betancourt, senior VP, U.S. Social Impact at Sesame Workshop.

“We are confident that with the guidance of the GetSet WNC collaborative, this expansion will continue to expertly embed SSIC materials and resources in an effort to build more resilient kids, families, and communities.”

With this broad community-based approach, these trusted local partnerships are proving their potential to create a regional system capable of supporting positive early childhood experiences and nurturing relationships for children and those within their circles of care.

Written by: Eileen Mouyard and Published by The Transylvania Times