Local families enjoy afternoon of learning
By John Joyce
Published in News on June 7, 2015 1:50 AM
Full Size
News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Sarah Gurley, 7, works on a marble painting at Wayne Community College's Early Childhood Education booth at the Born Learning Young Children's Festival held on Saturday at Herman Park. Parents were given educational information, and there was plenty of fun for the children. The bottom line: To show families that learning can be fun.
Full Size
News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Octavious Robinson, 3, plays with a bubble maker at the Autism Society booth during the Born Learning Festival at Herman Park on Saturday.
More than 2,000 people were expected to pass through Herman Park Saturday for the Partnership for Children of Wayne County's 10th annual Born Learning Festival.
Forecasted rain showers held off as droves of families with young children poured into the park between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Executive director Charlie Ivey said the goal of the festival, while providing a fun and safe environment, is always to encourage learning.
"The most learning in a child's life occurs in their first two years of life," Ivey said.
With more than 50 vendors, agencies and organizations on hand, there was a whole lot of learning going on.
"We have only one requirement for vendors, that is they have at least one activity to show children learning, either cognitive, physical or emotional," Ivey said.
Volunteers made the whole event possible, with fundraising and planning dating back to early May.
"We had a major fundraiser the first week of May. Everything since then has been in preparation for today," Ivey said.
Vendors included county agencies, community businesses and non-profits as well as Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and the Goldsboro police and fire departments.
Retired Wayne County judge and current board chairman of the Partnership for Children Joe Setzer said educating children and young parents is the first step to keeping people on the right path and out of trouble.
"I used to tell people it was like that commercial on television, you can pay me now or pay me later," Setzer said.
He went on to explain that investing in early education significantly decreases the odds of a person becoming incarcerated later in life.
"The Partnership for Children provides education from prenatal care up to 5 years old, we educate families on what services are available in the community and we steer them toward learning," Setzer said.
A petting zoo and free horse rides stayed busy all afternoon as did tables for the Boys and Girls Club of Wayne County and many more local organizations geared toward helping children. A raffle was also held with winners receiving educational toys and prizes and the Wayne County Public Library hosted story time.
Ivey said he especially wanted to thank the United Way for its contributions to the event.
"Born Learning grew out of a United Way national program," he said.
A common misconception the Born Learning Festival is working to overcome is that children do not begin to learn until they start school. Nothing could be further from the truth, Ivey said.
"I hope the take-away from today is that families understand children are always learning. Do things at home, communicate with them. Read books, play games, be more descriptive in the supermarket," he said.