Steve Nash: Quality Early Learning For Little MVPs

And we're back -- our fifth school year at Educare Arizona is underway!

Before the students -- ranging in age from months old to five years -- returned, Educare Arizona had the opportunity to host long-time friend of the Steve Nash Foundation (and great child welfare innovator and advocate) Kathy Pidgeon, along with First Lady of Arizona, Angela Ducey.  They joined Educare Arizona board members (including Balsz School Superintendent Dr. Jeff Smith) and staff for a site tour and an engaged discussion of the enormous potential for high-quality early education to impact our communities.  We are already looking forward to our next time together, and to supporting the strong policy advocacy that Kathy and Angela will bring to benefit children across the state.

Soon thereafter, Educare Arizona also welcomed Vicki Mayo of the Department of Economic Security.  The tie between job creation, workforce development, and strong starts to life and learning couldn't be more clear -- as articulated in study after study*, access to quality early childhood education is a game changer.  Children that enroll in Educare schools have language and school readiness scores far exceeding mean achievement levels for children living in low-income households; children who spend more time in Educare -- who enroll at a younger age -- see even stronger benefits and outcomes.  And those outcomes hold, representing new trajectories for populations of children too often marginalized and underserved by ineffective (or non-existant) interventions.  Educare provides not only hope, but real world change.

In two months, the Phoenix Suns will retire #13, and welcome Steve into their Ring of Honor.  When he steps onto the court, he'll walk on with a lot of basketball to be proud of -- the two NBA MVP awards he won as a Sun, all-time NBA records, and teams that resulted in friendships and many, many wins -- but also a place in the Phoenix community.  On 48th and McDowell, Steve's helped to build a legacy of success, of championing the real MVPs among us, of assists that put the starting five years of childhood into play.  At the Steve Nash Foundation, we are so proud to be part of Educare Arizona, and of the nation-wide Educare Learning Network, and hope you'll continue to support our early learning efforts with your own assists.

If you're in Arizona (or near any of the twenty-one operating Educare sites across the country) and want to see up close what we're talking about, please don't hesitate to reach out to schedule a tour or ask any questions -- visit educarearizona.org or stevenash.org , and follow us on twitter and Instagram at @stevenashfdn to learn more -- and please know that your support matters.

Thanks for reading,

Jenny

* A little of that research is here.