The Fayette County Family YMCA and Sugar Creek Packing will be celebrating 15 years of the YMCA Kid’s World of Learning (KWOL) with an open house on Thursday.
The open house will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Sugar Creek Packing in Washington C.H., and the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce will be commemorating the anniversary and the recent expansion of the center with a ribbon cutting at 6 p.m. Local and state government officials have also indicated that they will be attending the event.
“Thanks to Sugar Creek we now have a facility that is much better suited to caring for these children after the renovations they did for us,” Lisa Sollars, childcare director with the YMCA, said during an interview Tuesday. “We have a dedicated room for the second shift children, a gym area to allow the kids a place to play even in the winter time, a lunch room with an operational kitchen that serves full breakfasts, lunches and dinners, as well as provides the kids with snacks and a playground for children to get out and play. Sugar Creek is always so helpful and the kids in our program never want for anything thanks to them.”
The YMCA KWOL serves children age 6-weeks through 5-years-old, including second shift and weekend hours. The first years of a child’s life are the time of most rapid learning, when attitudes are developed, patterns formed, and when their self concept is being established. YMCA Early Learning programs help children grow physically and mentally, while emphasizing and modeling the character development values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.
“I have a staff of about 18 serving approximately 90 kids that are currently enrolled at Kid’s World of Learning,” Sollars said. “This staff goes above and beyond for the kids and we all consider them to be our own kids. To see them grow and become wonderful children is amazing, and some of the kids from my first class are now fully grown. It is just as wonderful to see them grow into productive and respectful adults.”
The Kid’s World of Learning is licensed through the State of Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. All YMCA child care staff are fingerprinted and screened through the State of Ohio and FBI. They are also required to complete 45 hours of certification training which includes: Infant/Child/Adult CPR, First Aid, Child Abuse Prevention and Recognition and Communicable Disease. Additionally, they are hired based on their experience with children.
The event is open to the public and will feature tours of the facility, information about the recently implemented Creative Curriculum for each classroom, car seat checks, food, a bounce house and face painting. Those who have helped KWOL provide a valuable service for so many families over the last 15 years will also be recognized during the open house.
“The Creative Curriculum meets kids at all levels of education and abilities,” Sollars said. “Once all of the staff gets comfortable with the curriculum, I know it will be a wonderful tool that will help promote growth in these kids. I really encourage the community to come and check out the facility and help recognize those people who have helped the program thrive for 15 years.”
For further information call the YMCA Kid’s World of Learning at (740) 333-3959.
