Marilyn K. Glick Women’s Enrichment Series: Life Long Learning

When we talk about the future, we need to first look at our early childhood education system and who is being served and how many are being left behind. That was the message delivered by Maureen Weber, President of Early Learning Indiana and Tami Silverman, President of Indiana Youth Institute, at the first installment of the 2022-23 Marilyn K. Glick Women's Enrichment Series on October 27th. The well attended program focused on why early childhood programs are important, the impact they have on all of our futures, and what we can do to better support them.

Early childhood education yields many long-term benefits for children. According to Harvard studies, early childhood education programs can prepare children to develop the social and emotional skills they need to succeed and graduate high school. Other benefits of early childhood education programs can include earning higher grades and having a lifelong enthusiasm for reading and learning. Studies have also shown that children who attend high-quality ECE programs as children can develop an improved attention span which can lead to more productivity in their adult careers. 

Both Maureen and Tami talked about not only the learning loss that young children experienced during the pandemic lockdown, but also the social and emotional learning they missed by being out of a classroom.

“We will be feeling the ripples of this shutdown for a long time, especially when young kids have been out of educational settings for a large chunk of their lives.” said Maureen.

They urged the attendees to do something about it– to call and write their legislators about the importance of early childhood education, to advocate and volunteer for programs that work with young children, and to keep reading to and working with the young people in their lives.

The second installment of the series, on February 23rd, will feature a panel of three university presidents who will explore the importance of female leadership in higher education and Indiana's emergence as a national model in this sphere.

Tickets for the remaining programs can be purchased at https://tinyurl.com/WESPREZ23