Who do YOU think should be this year’s Meriden Children Champion?
Each fall, Meriden Children First recognizes two or three people who go ‘above and beyond’ for Meriden’s children. The Champion need not be a local celebrity or someone in the newspaper every day. S/he can be a neighbor, a police officer, a teacher – anyone who cares deeply about kids and shows that concern by volunteering, raising awareness on children’s issues, motivating others to act on behalf of children or taking on an innovative activity or unique project that impacts and/or improves children’s lives. CFI selects people to recognize from nominations that come from people like you. Nominate someone today (deadline is August 13).
2010 Graduates of the Meriden Parent Leadership Training Institute
Back Row L-R: Nikole Mayo, Elizabeth Davis, Christina Ross, Yvonne Jimenez, Dorothy Johnson, Rashah Hussien, Colette Gardner, John Brooks, Deborah Lawrence. Front Row L-R: Mary Myers, City Councilor Hilda Satiago (former PLTI graduate), Salina Sayeed, Daniel Roman, Jessica Muniz, Debbie Sears-Dontfrad, Antonina Cheshkova, Marinerva Diaz
Meriden's Rep. Abercrombie & Speaker of the House Donovan Recognized 
Jessica Stewart and Cathy Abercrombie: Meriden School Readiness Facilitator Jessica Stewart poses with Rep. Cathy Abercrombie (D-Meriden), one of four legislators to receive a Special Recognition from the
CT Early Childhood Alliance on May 26 during its annual "Children's Champions" event. House Speaker Christopher Donovan was named the Alliance's "Legislator of the Year" for 2010.
Meriden School Budget Battle
Recently, three sessions of the "How Schools Work" Road Show have been held. More than 100 parents and others concerned about Meriden schools heard first-hand from local and state elected officials and key administrators on how to be more effective advocates for their children. As you can imagine, there were many questions about the school budget and possible cuts to teaching positions and other programs.
The full City Council approved a budget on May 3. The next day, the Meriden Board of Education discussed next steps with the budget - including potential impact on teachers and other programs for the next school year. The Board of Ed met on May 18 and made some preliminary suggestions on teacher cuts. At this time, the teacher union is considering possible concessions that could help reduce the number of cuts. By the end of May, there should be clarity of what this budget season will mean for our schools this Fall. Here's a May 25 article with the latest.
The goal of this effort is to design and implement a plan of action for Meriden that will support young children to be ready and able to succeed.
One Blueprint project is called the Meriden Family Zone. Read a recent Record-Journal article about the project.
In June 2009, Jim Ieronimo of the Meriden-Wallingford United Way presented Meriden's Blueprint work to the Governor's Early Childhood Cabinet (view broadcast).
US Department of Education Leader Visits Meriden
On November 14 the Senior Advisor for Early Childhood at the US Dept of Education Dr. Jacqueline Jones (bio here) joined more than 250 parents, early care leaders and elected officials at a statewide public meeting in Meriden. Co-sponsored by The Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance, CT Parent Power and Meriden Children First.
Pictured here: Dr. Jones with David of Graustein Memorial Fund and Theo Freeman, Chair of CT Parent Power
The purpose of the event was to:
- Maximize Access to Federal Funds for Early Childhood and Public Schools
- Strengthen Parent-Community-School Partnerships
- Highlight 'Best Practices' and Plans for Improving Educational Excellence
Key leaders included:
Dr. Mark McQuillan, CT Commissioner of Education, Chancellor Dr. David Carter, State University System, David Nee, President, Graustein Memorial Fund, US Congressman Chris Murphy, 1st-District, CT, State Senator Tom Gaffey (Co-chair, Education Committee) and many more!
RECENT PUBLICATIONS:
Read about the plan to fix Connecticut's broken health care system. Join the campaign today. More than 1000 of your Meriden friends and neighbors already have!
Looking for affordable, quality childcare in Meriden? Call 211 today or visit www.211childcare.org/
Message from the Children First Director
