HIPPY prepares youngsters for school

     Over the past two years you may have seen several articles about a wonderful program here in the Eufaula City School System that serves parents of children 3-5 years old. You may have seen a flyer that came home with one of your children from school or seen flyers around town at doctor's offices, daycares, the Health Department, and various other businesses. You may even know of someone that is or has participated in this program over the past 6 years and yet I bet many are asking themselves right now what is this program. Let me give you a little more background before I give you the name or affirm the answer you may be thinking. We are a kindergarten readiness program which means we give parents the tools they may not have or thought they possessed to get their children ready for their life of education. We empower the parents with the reminder that they are ultimately their child's first teacher and should always remain an active participant in the educating of their child.

 

         Deltonya Warren, our director and also the Director of Instruction with the Eufaula City School System exclaims often to us that "every good and perfect gift comes from above and our children are good and perfect gifts." They are for us to treasure and it is ours to model the things that are good that we want for our children.

 

        Our program takes one hour for one of our staff to deliver the materials and lesson and then one hour a week for you, the parent, to do it with your own child for a total of two hours a week. That is not too much to ask of any parent to spend with their "good and perfect gift."

 

       We have awesome group meetings once a month where we bring in the families for a light meal and do crafts, have visits from special guests, and learn valuable information to help us in our homes. In November we met, had Thanksgiving dinner together and while the children played, the parents heard from Traci Murph, Wallace Instructor, about making literacy come to life. In December we participated in the local parade and then met for a group meeting at which we ate a light meal, some of which was provided by Willy T's, had a visit from HIPPY P, our state mascot, and the children visited with Santa and did various crafts. At both of these meetings we gave away a door prize of a Nabi Jr. tablet that could be used as awesome presents for Christmas to their child. As an extra incentive for our parents to keep their appointments we have a Pizza Patrol where we take a pizza dinner to the family whose name was drawn from all of the families that have kept all of their appointments for 4 or more weeks. Children are getting a great jumpstart on their education and they are seeing how important learning is to their parents by their participation and we are giving bonus reasons to keep our families focused.  

 

     Are you ready to check your answer? If you were thinking that we are the HIPPY program you would be correct. HIPPY is the acronym for Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters. Yes, we are a working program. Nothing of great value comes without a price. We provide this program to our families free of charge but they work for the enjoyment they see on their child's face. As their children excel in school they will know they truly had an active part in that success. Don't we all want our children to have every great opportunity to succeed? Isn't our goal to see our children go far beyond what we ever dreamed? If you have a child from the age of 3-5 and you want to make sure that your child has the edge in education and success then our program is for you. We will begin in February taking applications for next school year and if you're interested feel free to call 687-1100 ext. 152 or come by our office on State Docks Rd, Monday - Friday from 8:00AM-2:00PM. We look forward to working with you.

Eufaula City Schools-HIPPY program is back in the groove of things with pre-testing, home visits and group meetings. HIPPY which is the acronym for Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters is a free educational program that we bring to the parent at their convenience. It is a program designed for parents that have children ages 3-5 years old in the home. If you are a grandparent, Aunt or Uncle that is responsible for the care of a child within this age range, you qualify too. Studies show that children who have participated in the HIPPY program are better students, with better study habits, better grades, better test scores and higher graduation rate. This means better jobs for those participants and a better community.

On Thursday night, October 17^th we had our first group meeting of the year where our participating families came to central office, and, while the children were busy playing and earning prizes with the wonderful ladies from Christ Child Circle the parents were enjoying a comical skit of a mock role play, starring Jeanette Anglin, Shantell Jackson and Alma Bludsworth and can be found on our HIPPY Facebook page. At the end of the meeting we announced our lucky door prize winner which was Jennifer Darby who had won a TAG reader along with a 6 book pack for her child. Our door prizes come from grant monies provided by Wal-Mart and MEAD Westvaco and will only get better.

Group meetings are meant to enrich our families and upon filling out the enrollment application, our parents are surveyed to see what kind of enrichment activities they would like to have. Our first one is always an orientation to the program and we served light refreshments. We have several grand activities in the planning and it is our family participation that makes each one successful.

Each of our participating families receives about 34 home visits a year from trained Home Visitors or Parent Educators. They bring a structured curriculum, along with all of the materials needed to carry out the activities, and they work with the parents for one hour. These visits empower the parent, and remind them that they are their child’s first teacher. Together, we all become one great big family. We all share a common bond and that is the fact that their child’s education is the utmost important task and by working together we secure their futures and ours.

Our HIPPY program is brought to the Barbour County community through the Eufaula City School System. We are able to serve all of Eufaula and a portion of Clayton at this time. This program is in its 6^th year and continues to grow and make its mark in the school system. We are also proud to be serving our Hispanic community in their own Spanish language. The teachers will tell us that within a couple of weeks they can tell which of their children are or have been in the HIPPY program. That is wonderful news to us.

As always we are very grateful for the great support that we get from our Participants, surrounding businesses, partnerships and the community as a whole. Together we can make a difference. Together we can change the world by helping one family at a time.

HIPPY Alabama

Luau Graduation 2013

Thanks to great support from the community, outstanding parents, wonderful children and a hard working staff we had 70 children complete the 2012-2013 HIPPY program with Eufaula City Schools. On May 18^th we had a Luau Graduation where our participating families came to see their children receive their books of completion that included their certificates and afterwards were able to enjoy outdoor fun and a good meal of hamburgers and hotdogs. It was a cloudy day and had even rained a little but it was not enough to put a damper on the mood or the activities. Everything went on as planned and everyone enjoyed themselves.

We are grateful for the volunteers that helped this activity to be such a success. We had volunteers from Christ Child Circle that helped supply paper goods and served the meal. We had a few volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that helped with set up and take down. Jaxon and Jordan Chapman cooked 168 hotdogs and 128 hamburgers. We are also very grateful for the businesses in the community that donated items or gift certificates to be placed into our special prize pack to be given to a parent that kept all of her appointments without cancellation for the last 10 weeks. Donations were a rotate and balance from Hendon Tire, a cake from Tisa’s, a $25 gift certificate from Piggly Wiggly, $20 in gift cards from Winn Dixie, a $10 gift certificate to Cajun Corner, a windchime from Tractor Supply, and a 5 pack of flash lights from Marvins. The parent that won this great prize pack was Helen Comer.

As we were cleaning up we had family members that were asking if they could donate their time next year as they had no more children to put through the program. There were also family members that wanted to know if they could make monetary donations. We are always glad to accept help in building up our community. HIPPY gives our children the tools they need to succeed in school and it gives families a stronger bond and a bigger investment in their children’s educations.

We are currently taking applications for our 2013-2014 program year to begin in September. These applications can be filled out at Central Office located on 333 State Docks Rd., Monday –Thursday.  If you have a child that will be 3, 4, or 5 years old by September 1, 2013 and are interested in joining our HIPPY family we ask that you do not procrastinate enrolling you child as spots are limited. This will be a first come first serve enrollment. Each year our program gets better and better. We are here to serve you and your family.

2013 Alabama State HIPPY Conference

On March 13^th we began our State HIPPY Conference in Montgomery, Alabama with a stop at the Statehouse. Many of the HIPPY sites across the State had made baskets loaded with goodies and letters from families within our programs for their Senators and State Representatives. We made baskets for Senator Beasley and Representative Forte. We were unable to see Senator Beasley but enjoyed our visit with Forte as you can see in the picture. HIPPY sites make this visit every year to show our appreciation for those that support our programs and to try and rustle up new supporters.

Once we left the Statehouse we went to our conference location to stay until Friday afternoon. Much planning went into this conference as it was most enjoyable; refreshing and renewed in us the sense of dedication we need in order to make our programs and our families so much more successful. We had workshops on Bullying, Building Vocabulary, Early Math Experiences, Why Early Education Matters, The Development of Oral Language, and Reading: Building the Foundation and we received updates on the current Legislative Issues from Rep. Joe Hubbard. There were a couple of sessions where we were all able to share the great things we have done within our own programs so that we may receive new ideas from each other that may help us in improving our successes.

On Thursday we had a luncheon to honor HIPPY Heroes. To our great delight we were privileged to hear Kindergarten students from Wetumpka Elementary sing to us “I like School” and “We Appreciate You.” After that we listened a little girl (current HIPPY child) spoke to us about what she has learned and then we heard from her mother and how the HIPPY program has made a difference in her life. She let us know that HIPPY means Hope. Our Keynote speaker was the Honorable Sue Bell Cobb, first female Chief Justice in Alabama. She praised HIPPY for the great work the program is doing in giving hope to the families we serve. After Mrs. Cobb spoke to us it was then time to honor our HIPPY Heroes. This year two of our very own were nominated for the award, Mrs. Deltonya Warren, Director of instruction/HIPPY for the Eufaula City School System and Catherine Chapman, Assistant Coordinator for the HIPPY Program.

Friday ended with our Site awards. Proudly our program received many awards. We were given awards for Creativity, Outreach, Public Relations, VIP Home Visits, Community Collaboration, Going the Extra Mile, Big Ideas, ETO Extraordinary Efforts, Johnny on the Spot, Good Neighbor, and Most Creative Group Meeting just to name a few. Our program received 15 in all.

HIPPY is truly an amazing program and Eufaula is blessed to have such a program. Our team is dedicated and wants to be able to serve all of the families in the area with children aged 3-5. Don’t let this program be Eufaula’s best kept secret. We are here and ready to serve. Spread the word to your neighbors and friends. We are now taking applications for next fall. If your child will be 3-5 years old by September 1, 2013 and you are interested in helping your child be all he or she can be then we are here to help. If you would like more information please feel free to call 687-1100 ext. 152 or come by the office on 333 State Docks Rd. We are here to serve you and your family.

 

 

Some stats for 2012/2013:

No. of HIPPY Site in Alabama      30

No. of Coordinators                        32

No. of Parent Educators                                151

No. of Children Served in 30 Counties     1778

No. of Home Visits                          56,896

No. of Total Miles Driven              922,984

Percentage of Parents Who Gave HIPPY an ‘A’   96%

Percentage of Parents Who Said HIPPY Was Useful          96%

 

Alabama Power Visits HIPPY from the Eufaula Tribune

     Two representitives from Alabama Power presented an electrical safety demonstration for HIPPY families on January 31. They showd parents the dangers of electrical boxes and downed power lines, and gave out a coloring book to the children.
     The parents enjoyed this demonstration and were able to get many questions answered. Alabama Power also gave parents handouts on how to avoid scams claiming to be from the power company.
     While the parents were watching the demonstration, the children enjoyed craft making with several of the students from Wallace Community College's Early Childhood Development classes in Eufaula. The students read a story and helped the kids make snowmen and penguins.
      "The students from Wallace Community College did a great job and our children realy enjoyed tem,"said Catherine Chapman of HIPPY.

      "This was a great night for volunteers because we also had a few ladies from Christ Child Circle here to help us in serving a meal to our families. Christ Child Cirlce has been a great organization to help with our HIPPY activities. We are grateful for our partnership with them and all of the help they give from month to month.





        The group's next meeting will be combined with a workshop that the Eufaula City Schools system planned for February 26 at 6:00 p. m. in the central office boardroom.

December 2012's Group Meeting

December has been a very busy month for the Eufaula CitySchool System’s HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters)program. Amidst the weekly staff meetings to train the Parent Educators and weekly delivery of curriculum to their 80 families, HIPPY staff along with their state mascot, HIPPY “P” Potamus, waved, danced, and cheered to the crowds of people lining the streets of downtown Eufaula in their local Christmas parade on December 4^th. They also continued their preparations forthe monthly group meeting. To get prepared for this group meeting there wasmuch cut out and donations were needed to help in the success of the meeting.We were able to receive a food donation from Subway (Joy Enterprise) to help with the dinner.

This month’s group meeting was special because it was the first big one of this school year, that was long awaited for, and along with the seven crafts to take part in the staff was preparing for two special visitors. As parents and their children walked into the cafeteria they were greeted by HIPPY “P” and were given the opportunity to have their child’s picture taken with stout but friendly hippo. Just before the meal was to be served we had to say good bye to HIPPY “P” as he had to make his way back to Montgomery. Near the end of dinner a most special guest came through the door.Everyone turned as the heard the blustery “Ho, ho, ho’s.” Santa and come all the way from the North Pole. We watched as the children’s excitement level grew with the anticipation of getting their chance to sit with this jolly friend. We split the families into four groups and they made their way from craft to craft, each group making its way back to our Northern visitor where each child was given personal time to let Santa know their Christmas desires and to have their picture taken.

I had the opportunity to go from room to room to take pictures of the families participating in the various crafts. I saw parentsexcited as their children were making Christmas mice, snowflakes, bells,Christmas trees and a couple different Rudolph’s. Parents were enjoying being together with their children and taking part in their excitement. The overall feeling of the group was that we really were one big family. The love and the enjoyment of one another’s company could be felt by all that were present. I watched as many of the adults enjoyed the crafts so much that they had to maket heir own along with their children.

With a Pre-k workshop and an AMMS basketball game going on simultaneously we still managed to have a great turn out. We had 28 of our families to attend giving us an attendance of close to 80 adults and children.All of the preparation that went into this meeting was definitely worth everyminute just to see all of the smiles and to hear all of the laughter. We are so thankful to all that helped and made this wonderful activity such a success.One of our biggest goals of the program is to get parents working together withtheir children and enjoying each other as they expand their child’s education.With this group meeting it was greatly evident that our program is definitely on course.