ESTEVAN — Southeast College's Estevan campus was abuzz on Oct. 19 as it was the site of the first-ever Early Childhood Summit, organized by the Estevan Early Years Family Resource Centre (EEYFRC).
The event aimed to bring together educators, day-home operators, daycare educators, caregivers and parents to learn and share insights and resources for early childhood development.
Misty Pennington, director of programs and community engagement at the EEYFRC, said the first summit was a success.
"We hosted our Early Childhood Summit, and we had it open to caregivers, home operators, as well as educators from our daycares. I would think probably 60 per cent of our attendees were educators from local daycares," said Pennington. "We had attendees not just from Estevan, but also from surrounding areas like Bienfait, Midale, Oxbow and Arcola."
The event featured three speakers: Melanie Young with South East Cornerstone Public School Division and the EEYFRC, Brooke Zulak from Sara East Speech and Language Services, and Trina Battersby from Prairie Pathway Services. Each provided a 35-minute talk on topics relevant to early childhood care and education, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Pennington noted they had about 45 attendees, which was higher than initially anticipated.
"We were really happy with the turnout. Initially, we thought it would be like 20 people hosted at our own space, so the fact that it was 45 was phenomenal."
The summit provided a unique opportunity for local daycares to access professional development without the need for long-distance travel.
"We had great feedback from all the local daycares because for this kind of PD [professional development], they have to travel quite far," said Pennington. "They were able to send more than one employee to it, to enjoy and spark that passion again in their careers."
As a follow-up to the event, Pennington expressed interest in organizing similar gatherings in the future.
"Any gaps that we identify, or any help that people need, we want to try and fill those gaps," she said. "We would love to bring in other speakers on various topics to try to educate our community members, especially being able to do it for free.
"One of our pillars in the family centre is specifically day home support, so we've been trying to figure out different ways to offer support to our day homes within Estevan. We tried doing a support group and then we tried doing a busy pack with some different activity ideas and some different supplies in there," Pennington added. "But we really [wanted to] get all these people in one room to share all this information and connect, so we're so happy that it was well received."
Pennington invited those interested in future events or for potential speakers to reach out to the EEYFRC.
She also reminded the community of the centre's ongoing initiatives, including the availability of free formula and diapers on-site for those who need it.
