Did you catch our latest Substack post? As this season of celebration and thankfulness unfolds, our CEO Kali Thorne Ladd shares her thoughts our recent 20 Years of Impact event and what two decades of work advancing early childhood in Oregon means to Children`s Institute.

"It is with profound joy and gratitude that I reflect on our recent Champions for Children – 20 Years of Impact event, celebrating the past two decades of Children’s Institute’s work to make Oregon the best place to be a kid.

Among the 550 plus champions who filled the room, including our friends who joined virtually from Central and Eastern Oregon (and a few from out-of-state!), I was in awe of the power of our collective community and it truly took my breath away.

But building a society that honors and supports children from the moment they are born takes more than one event or any singular act. It requires a daily commitment and a choice to be better, to do better."

Read the rest + subscribe to our Substack at the link in our bio.

A reminder for this week 🫶
The latest in early childhood health research shows the vital importance of brain development from ages 0-5, including the multi-faceted context in which it takes place. The needs of children encompass not just educational opportunities but a community of support, strengthened through trust and relationships.

And yet, this model of early childhood development, promoted as it is by research today, has existed in practice through Indigenous communities since time immemorial‼

As our community partner from S.P.I.R.I.T.S, Suzie Kuerschner, describes - traditional knowledge is a gift from our Elders. By supportively holding and carrying traditions that inform early childhood exploration and development, we can strengthen the strands of multigenerational families and providers to build trust and create shared relationships.

While many of us gather with loved ones this week, may we honor not only the history, but the vibrant wisdom and leadership of Native American communities today.

We live on stolen land in cities marked by violence toward and removal of Indigenous peoples. Making reparations and forging a new path of equity for all asks us to not only right the wrongs of the past, but to learn and embrace Traditional Knowledge across every level of society — including early childhood development.

Thank you to our community partner, Suzie Kuerschner, for her invaluable expertise and collaboration on this post. We look forward to sharing more from Suzie as we continue to honor and learn from Indigenous ways of knowing in early childhood development.

Marina Merrill, Erin Lolich (Children’s Institute) and Dani Boylan, director of early learning at St. Helens School District, presented on the importance of district partnerships to support early learning at the Oregon School Board Association conference on Saturday, November 11.

Among those who attended the panel were school board members and administrators from districts across the state, who learned more about the benefits of aligning preschool with elementary grades and beyond. Also present were two members of St. Helens School Board as well as Scot Stockwell, superintendent of St. Helens School District.

[Image description: This is a series of three graphics. All are yellow, orange, teal and red graphics. The first includes an image of a presentation title slide and another image of three individuals seated at a table, in front of a television screen with a presentation titled, “The Power of a PK-12 School District: Why St. Helens Embraces Early Learning.”. The second graphic includes a high-level description of the Early School Success initiative. The third shows a quote from St. Helens Superintendent Scot Stockwell that says, “We’ve engrained this in our culture and it’s important to us. It’s a mindset and it starts with your school district culture.”]