Center earns Shape NC designation
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on May 31, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/ALAN CAMPBELL
Wayne Community College Child Care Center student Gracie Merritt, 5, talks to Wayne Community College trustee Veda McNair about various plants growing in the raised bed gardens at the center.
The child care center at Wayne Community College has been designated a Shape NC "demonstration site," one of seven in the state and the only one on a college campus.
Ceremonies were held Thursday afternoon, with the center recognized for developing a healthy learning environment.
The demonstration sites are child care centers that have achieved excellence in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, outdoor learning and reducing screen time.
Shape NC: Healthy Starts for Young Children is a six-year, $6 million initiative of Blue Cross and Blue Shield North Carolina Foundation and the N.C. Partnership for Children, created to increase the number of children entering kindergarten at a healthy weight.
Its goal is not only to reduce the growing numbers of obesity but to instill healthy habits that will follow children into adulthood.
The WCC child care center started in a trailer provided by Wayne Memorial Hospital in 1989. Bond money led to the current location on the college campus, which opened in 2004.
It has risen to a 5-star ranking, the state's highest rating for child care centers.
The center has become so popular, it boasts a waiting list.
"As soon as they get a positive pregnancy test (parents) put their name on the waiting list," said Jodi Baker, early childhood education instructor. "We have 20 people on the infant waiting list right now."
In addition to the exemplary care provided -- for WCC staff, students and parents from the community -- the child care center has created a health-promoting environment.
Teachable moments abound on the site, which encourages outdoor play and nutrition. Students participate in garden activities and enjoy healthy snacks. Parents are given recipes and fruit and vegetables samples to take home.
Even the trees planted along the perimeter were selectively positioned to produce shade for the children while they are enjoying the playground.
Alissa Merritt enthused about daughter Gracie's experience at the center, since she was first enrolled at eight weeks old.
This week she turned 5, Ms. Merritt said.
She shared memories of her daughter digging in the dirt, picking herbs and smelling them, and admitted she and another parent raced to the center at the end of the day, not just to pick up their children but to discover the "bounty of the day."
"It's just been great to us," she said. "How that translates to home is that Gracie will come up and say, 'Mommy, is this a healthy snack?'"
Not that her child doesn't enjoy the occasional cupcake and ice cream like the next kid, Ms. Merritt said.
"The fact that she's making a conscious effort to make healthy choices most of the time, I attribute that to the fact it's not just something that they do in their daily life -- they live it every day."
There are seven demonstration sites -- others are in Alexander, Buncombe, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Orange and Randolph counties -- with WCC having the only one in the eastern part of the state.
State and local officials turned out for the recognition event Thursday afternoon.
Cindy Watkins, N.C. Partnership for Children president, said it was rewarding to see the effort "take root" across the state, pun intended.
The self-professed farm girl sprinkled agriculture references throughout her remarks, inviting the audience to raise their hands every time she made one.
"This is groundbreaking work," she said. "People across the country are interested in learning what you're doing here in Wayne County and across the state."
So far, she said, more than 190 child care centers in the state, serving more than 7,000 children, are embracing the concept. Now in its fourth year, Shape NC is expanding to engage 240 additional child care centers.
"We want child care centers to be a place of healthy starts, where every child in North Carolina could have a new understanding of a new norm -- where fresh healthy food was something they saw every day, not just on TV," said Jennifer Zuckerman, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation director of strategic partnerships.
Just as exciting, she added, is that WCC is in a position to localize its efforts.
"What you do here in Wayne County, here in Goldsboro is you make it your own because you know this community, you know your children and parents," she said. ""This is creating an opportunity for this next generation to grow up knowing what healthy is."
Charlie Ivey, executive director for Partnership for Children of Wayne County, presented a plaque to Phyllis Chesson, WCC child care director, recognizing the center as a demonstration site.