Children's Center

 Augusta, Maine - Sixteen incoming Colby students and four student leaders visited the Children’s Center in Augusta on Thursday, September 1^st, 2011, as a part of Colby’s C2IT community service program.  After getting to know a little bit about the programs and supports offered by the Children’s Center at its locations in Augusta and Skowhegan, the students divided into teams to do some heavy-duty yard work. By the time the students were done, three hours later, they had constructed a new nature walk/ outdoor classroom and seriously spruced up the Center’s playground.     

 For the past 45 years, the Children’s Center has been a valued resource for families in Central Maine, creating nurturing environments for young children with diverse abilities, some of whom receive specially-designed instruction and therapy services right at the Center, while being in classroom settings with their peers.  The Center also offers childcare at its Augusta location, and Targeted Case Management at both locations.

 The Children’s Center’s playground represents a deep commitment to inclusion, wellness, and healthy outdoor play for young children of all abilities. Built with a focus on the Maine Outdoors, features of the playground include a stone waterfall, swings, a separate toddler area, and a lobster boat. Also popular are the moose slide, a lighthouse play structure, a mountaintop climbing structure, a bike path, and a play barn.  The older children enjoy playing in the “Enchanted Forest” area featuring a cedar play structure nestled in a stand of white birch, elm, and sugar maple. The new nature walk/ outdoor classroom adds even more elements of health, wellness and discovery to the children’s learning experiences.

 Colby College students have consistently been strong supporters and advocates for the Children’s Center, and have been a part of other construction projects on the playground, as well.

 Student Leaders were Zak Jaques, Jean Jaques Nduyisenga, Nicholas Kodiles, and Jennifer Gemmell.

Incoming students were Griffin Metto, Alex Mintz, Alicia Fawcett, Monica Li, Julie Toich, Gus Jingyan, Peter Cronkite, Justin Lutian, Monica Valentin, Kyle Regacion, Drew Kelly, Julie MacLean, Shannon Kenny, Jessica Rosenberg, Ryan Grunsach, and Nick Kondiles.

 AUGUSTA, Maine – Twenty children graduated from the Children’s Center on Monday, August 22^nd to the cheers, applause, and beaming smiles of their families, friends, and teachers.  Children of all abilities receive preschool, child care, and specialized therapy at the Children’s Center to prepare them for success throughout their school-age years, and throughout their lifetimes.   

 For the past 45 years, the Children’s Center has been creating nurturing environments for young children, some of whom have special needs.  This year’s graduating class included children who are typically-developing and received child care, and children with diverse abilities and challenges who received specially designed instruction and therapy services.  Children of all abilities learned kindergarten readiness skills in an inclusive setting, and developed friendships along the way.  The children worked diligently, with the guidance of a team of teachers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists, to achieve developmental milestones.  For each of them, an individualized plan for success in kindergarten will be implemented in September.

 With families gathered to celebrate this milestone in their children’s lives, a slide show played, chronicling moments in time of the graduating children’s experiences while at the Center. Families and Children’s Center staff alike were clearly moved.

 Of the 2011 Graduating Class, three children will be attending the Wayne Regional Autism Program and seventeen will be attending their local public kindergarten or pre-k schools, with six of those seventeen entering into living skills or behavior programs.

 The Children’s Center is honored to have provided a foundation for success for these twenty children.  The children and their families were clearly delighted with their achievements, glowing in pride as the children received their diplomas.