Wilsona Save The Children 2023 Transition Wraps

Lake Los Angeles – The picture says it all. These are the girls who get things done. L to R: Dulce Morga, Amelia Escobar, Bianca Gasca, Jaqueline Guillen, Sylvia Sandoval, Blanca Quintana and Amelia Miranda are pictured before the photo op booth/backdrop for Save The Children Transition 2023 event on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

The bi-lingual program started with welcoming the children and their families followed by book reading and song which the graduating children are accustomed to hearing and singing in their classes.

Seventeen children transitioned from Home Visitation status to Kinder Ready while twenty-four Kinder Ready children transitioned seamlessly to being ready for Kindergarten. Forty-one precious little humans were celebrated for their accomplishments and being prepared to move forward in their educational lives.

Each child proudly wore their graduation cap and were dressed up in their prettiest dress clothes ready to be celebrated with their Early Steps to School Success (ESSS) coordinators.

The program reminded parents “You are your child’s first teacher.”, taught the students “Just because you are small today doesn’t mean you cannot achieve greatness.”, and “The beauty of education is that no one can take what you have learned.”.

The process is twofold. Home visitation is a component of Early Steps to School Success (ESSS). Early education, starting with moms during pregnancy and following children from their first days to their first day of school, is a critical window to academic achievement, but that window closes fast. Wilsona Save the Children makes every moment of that window count.

Children are born ready to learn, but for the nearly fifteen million children living in poverty in America, the risks of entering kindergarten ill-prepared to succeed are high. Save the Children ESSS destroys those statistics and prepares children to succeed.

The traditional tossing of the caps was followed with gifts from their coordinators and family photos.

The graduates were presented with certificates of promotion and backpacks. The youngest little ones received a tricycle while the Kinder Ready children received an art table. It was one delightful surprise after another.

It was a day of grins, singing, amazement and all-around joy for these forty-one little humans and their families. They left the ceremony confident in the knowledge they can read a book and they can do this and much more.

Mission accomplished!

By Shirley Harriman