FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAGUNA BEACH UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
CONTACT: SHELLEY SPESSARD ED.D.
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER
(949) 497-7750 EXT. 5232

March 16,  2022

Laguna Beach Early Learning Community Task Force’s Passport to Learning Event Brought in Record Numbers

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. - On Saturday, March 12, 2022, the Laguna Beach Early Learning Community Task Force hosted 56 parents and caregivers and 48 young children at the 4th Annual Passport to the Learning event, a free, in-person early learning, family fun adventure at the Laguna Beach Community and Susi Q Center Terrace designed to help families learn simple, yet effective ways to build school readiness skills for children 0-5 years old.

Participants received a travel guide and an adventure map to navigate through each learning station, receive parenting support from early learning professionals, and special prizes for the children. The weather was beautiful, the atmosphere was festive, early learning professionals were on hand, and it was an optimal day to spring into early learning at the Susi Q Center.

“The Passport to Learning event was just what our community needed to reset and restart at a very critical time, shared Sandee Bandettini, Early Learning Program Specialist.  “Families are now starting to think about TK and kindergarten and this event was a wonderful way to educate, inspire, and share important early learning/school readiness resources with families.”

"Through serving as co-president of the Laguna Beach Parents Club, it has been wonderful to partner with the Early Learning Community Task Force,” shared Katie Bond, M.A.,

Founder, The Peace Exchange.  “Sandee Bandettini has so many wonderful resources to assist families in helping prepare their children for school. The Passport to Learning event we attended on March 12 is just one example of the variety of programs being offered.  I saw a lot of LBPC families at the event having a great time with hands-on stations and learning tables for kids to engage and have fun. We are excited to continue to attend more events like this in the future and share resources to support Laguna parents of young children.” 

“The Passport to Learning event was such a fun outreach to participate in.  We had a blast talking with the kids and families that came up to our booth. We partnered with the OC Public Libraries Kindergarten Readiness committee and they provided each kid with tote bags filled with contained books, pencils, and bookmarks,” shared Kasey Covarrubias, Librarian at Laguna Beach Library. “ We also had a sample of the kindergarten readiness backpacks and I was able to check them out to families with their library cards.  We set out the activity mats from our Physical Wellness backpack and the kids loved doing the movements - jumping jacks, arm circles, running in place, and hopping! Many of the families that came were Laguna Beach storytime families and were excited to learn that our in-person storytimes were back! Those that weren't Laguna Beach library patrons were excited to come to the library after attending the Passport to Learning event.  Watching all the other booths and the joy that the kids experienced at the event was inspiring. We are all working together for the goal of early literacy and that is exciting. Thank you for inviting us and we look forward to attending again!”

This event was sponsored by the Laguna Beach Early Learning Community Task Force. The task force is dedicated to promoting young children's academic, social-emotional, and physical readiness. To ensure that children are healthy and ready to learn when they enter school, the task force uses the Early Development Index (EDI) as a reference point, which helps measure five key domain areas and is used to produce a holistic, community-level measurement of childhood development during the kindergarten year. 

Additional information about the Laguna Beach, Early Community Task Force can also be found at www.lbusd.org/preschool.

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