The pen scribble marks on a light blue folder could have been drawn by a 1-year-old, although the girl who made them was 3. And yet, to a group of women from her neighborhood who admiringly passed the folder around a room, the scribbles represented a victory. Until recently, the girl had never before held a writing utensil, and her mother did not understand the importance of early childhood education. Now, thanks to these women, the mother did.

Most middle class parents don't need to be told that they are their children's first teachers, and that the job starts at birth or even earlier. In poor communities, however, that knowledge is not necessarily a given. Latino immigrants particularly tend to trust the public school system to provide their children with the education they need, beginning in kindergarten, according to advocates and studies. Their role is to keep their babies safe, clean, well-fed and loved -- an attitude that can lead to children being nurtured but starting school irreparably behind. 
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Hillary Clinton trumpeted the importance of early-childhood education in a visit to East Harlem on Tuesday and urged parents to sing and read to their kids.

Mayor de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, also attended the event and touted their commitment to universal prekindergarten in New York City.

Clinton, speaking in a colorful Head Start classroom, reminisced about her own days as a mother of a toddler.

Henrico County Public Schools' "Henrico HEROES" program has received the Virginia Outstanding Mentoring Program Award for 2014 by Virginia Mentoring Partnership. The judges called the program "an outstanding model of success for school-based mentoring."

Henrico HEROES (Helpers Engaged in Reaching Our Evolving Students) administers 27 mentoring groups in the county's middle schools, high schools and nontraditional programs. In 2013, Henrico HEROES reached 680 students with the support of 579 trained mentors. Data showed that those students, who had been deemed at-risk, showed improvements in attendance, behavior and grades.

The judges' statement quoted a Douglas Freeman High School student, who said, "My mentor was there for me even when I tried to push her away. She understands I am fragile, and easily broken. I was given a sense of self-confidence, when I needed it the most. I was taught to love myself, even when others saw I was a waste of space. I was filled with shame of who I am. Now, I stopped hiding." >> READ MORE 

M. H. West & Co., Inc.'s Young Entrepreneur Program has won the Norfolk Education Foundation's Collaborative Award. The award was presented at their 7th Annual Together In Education Awards Gala & Silent Auction.

Accepting on behalf M. H. West & Co., Inc. was Brennan E. West.

See Brennan's remarks...

Mr. Clanton, distinguished guests and public officials, Dr. King, award finalists and other friends and supporters, M. H. West & Co., Inc. (WEST) is very appreciative of this recognition and award by the Norfolk Education Foundation. My name is Brennan West and I served as coordinator for WEST of the Young Entrepreneur Program at PB Young Elementary School.

I would like to emphasize first on behalf of WEST that the work of the Foundation and its supporters has been and continues to be an asset for the Norfolk Public School System and M. H. West & Co., Inc. applauds these efforts. Working in the education arenas throughout the country for more than two decades, providing technical assistance and strategies and solutions to improve graduation rates and equipping students with skills they need to succeed following graduation was instrumental in M. H. West & Co., Inc. 's creation of the Young Entrepreneur Program. The major goal of the program is to help students to stay on a pathway of academic success and a vision for future careers.

The program takes key business concepts and uses these to boost student academics. The program focuses on introducing and reinforcing skills for decision-making, critical thinking, communication, planning, math, reading, time management and teamwork.

Rolling out the program at PB Young and working with its very capable leader, Dr. Alana Balthazar has been nothing less than a WOW experience. The students' learning was boosted by their interaction with business leaders inside and outside the classroom through site visits and classroom presentations.

Dr. Balthazar indicates that she is especially pleased with the math, science and reading aspects of the entrepreneur program. Students learned successfully about business concepts over an 8 week period and then used these to roll out handily three businesses lemons and lemonade products, face painting and photography. The students also learned about the importance of businesses giving back to the community and are preparing to give a check to the American Cancer Society.

WEST's Chair & CEO, Marilyn West like Dr. Balthazar believes that bringing more innovation though non-traditional and enrichment programs such as the entrepreneur program to education strategies has a long-lasting return academically for youth.

Thank you again on behalf of the entire M. H. West & Co., Inc. team and the PB Young Family and advisors.

If you are interested in learning more about the Young Entrepreneurs Club for your school or organization, please contact Marilyn West at 804.782.1938 or [email protected].

Build your school's spirit with a large, custom display banner. Call M. H. West & Co., Inc. for pricing and size options. (804.782.1938)