Courtesy of Taylor Watson
Hundreds of youth filled the state Capitol Jan. 24-29 to celebrate Children’s Week. This event honors thousands of child advocates across the world.
Over the past eighteen years, this has been the only true broad-based promotion for children and family issues in Florida. According to the Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend, local coordinators planned and implemented various events in their communities, like Children’s Week, to symbolize the unity of Florida’s statewide child advocacy efforts.
The growing success of Children’s Week in recent years is largely due to its collaborative nature. Tallahassee Democrat, Clearchannel, Child Care Research and Referral and many other partnerships make Children’s Week the largest event in Florida.
Storybook village, hanging of the hands and guided tours of the Capitol were a few of the several activities held at the event.
Morgan Evers, coordinator of Storybook Village, expounded on the importance of literacy.
“We had 28 books that were brought to life this week. Literacy is the building block for the rest of everything that these kids will go on and do,” Evers said.
Children’s week continues to provide a platform to bring together advocates delivering the message that every child in Florida must be healthy, ready to learn and able to achieve their full potential.
Jimbo Jackson, a representative of Fort Braden Schools expressed how excited he is about everyone gathering together in the city of Tallahassee.
“I think it’s exhilarating that we can come out and support our children and students that have resources available to them in the state of Florida. It’s important to make our lawmakers aware of how their decisions impact our children’s future," Jackson said.
Matt Guse, CEO of Early Coalition of the Big Bend, explained why this event has a great impact on improving the lives of children.
“We’re here to reinforce the significance in education and provide a gateway in improving their literacy skills," Guse said.
Organizers plan to keep the event going for many years while continuing to promote the health, safety, and well-being of Florida’s children and families.