Locals attend Excel by 5 State Summit

Angie Kothmann, from left, of Hancock County, Gidge Clayton of McComb and Linda Perkes of Biloxi joined more than 200 attendees at the 2015 Excel by 5 State Summit networking and sharing learnings to support local efforts to improve early learning. To date, 39 communities have embraced this family-focused process to improving early learning. Hancock County, McComb and Biloxi are all Excel by 5 certified communities. Funded originally in 2004 with a grant from Chevron, Excel by 5 provides a model for parents, caregivers, educators, healthcare providers, business and community leaders to support families and child care providers to improve access to early learning resources and services to provide the best possible health, development and education environment for children up to age 5.

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 5:34 AM with the headline "Locals attend Excel by 5 State Summit ."