Take a step back from the compelling financial return on investment of evidence-based home visiting (EBHV) policy to study the true impact of this vital program through the lives of Tennessee children. While home visiting boasts a remarkable $5.70 positive return for every $1 investment, it’s most powerful performance measure is best viewed via the…
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Great Pre-k Teachers Turn Play Into Powerful Early Learning
About two minutes into a conversation with Lenoir City Schools teacher and Preschool Program Director Melody Hobbs, you start to realize how much she has invested in learning how preschoolers work. “I love the four-year-old mind. I mean, it’s not three and it’s not five. Right?” Hobbs says with a laugh. “I mean, it’s just…
» Read MoreI did it!
Sometimes a picture says a lot. Hunter is building a tower out of colored blocks with his mom and his friend Tevri at home. It’s a photo that was years in the making, in part because of his involvement in one of Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee’s most successful development programs. The “I did it” badge…
» Read MoreWitness the transformation of a child
Explaining what the Voluntary Pre-K program in Kingsport City Schools means to my son Samuel and I is a “where do I begin” task. My son Samuel has many health issues that have the potential to interfere with his education. He requires extra attention to the health issues, yet needs to be encouraged to be more independent.
» Read MoreA Young Mother Learns to Help Her Baby Girl Thrive
Itzel is protective of her mother today, forgiving her with words even though she didn’t have the easiest childhood. “My mom didn’t know any better and she definitely didn’t have anyone to turn to,” she says. Itzel’s mother called her names and made her daughter feel unwanted and unloved. It’s tough to grow up strong…
» Read MoreA single dad and his sons’ success
Charles Lampkin, a father of five, suddenly found himself as the sole parent of his five sons, with four of the them under the age of five. “I moved to Memphis from New York for a job and I did not anticipate being a single father, but those things happen and wound up with a 3 year old, a 2 year old, a 1 year old and one infant,” Lampkin recalls. “I was in trouble and looking for a daycare but a friend of mine suggested Porter-Leath instead because they are a school.”
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