Recently two major events took place here in our corner of Colorado, thanks to the concerted efforts of the Montelores Early Childhood Council’s coordinator, Vangi McCoy, and her staff in organizing, publicizing, and hosting them. The first of these was the Kids Count presentation by the Colorado Children’s Campaign, held at the First National Bank of Cortez on Sept. 25, with many community leaders, representatives from school districts, and early childhood professionals in attendance. Because of the strong professional relationship developed by McCoy with the Children’s Campaign staff, Bill Jaeger, vice president for early childhood initiatives, left Denver in the wee hours of the morning to drive to Cortez to make it on time for the presentation after his flight was cancelled.
The presentation was a resounding (if somewhat sobering) success, with a lively discussion afterwards that relied not only the expertise of Jaeger, but also that of McCoy, her staff, and others present.
The second of these was the day-long literacy tour by Lieut. Gov. Joe Garcia on Sept. 28, again organized and hosted by MECC in coordination with Garcia’s office, which reached out to McCoy requesting the visit. The tour began at the MECC offices with Garcia’s presentation of a literacy week proclamation to McCoy, and continued at venues all over Montezuma and Dolores counties. Children and their early childhood teachers all benefited from and enjoyed the day’s activities. Kudos and many thanks to McCoy and the MECC staff for their efforts on behalf of young children and families in our communities.
David N. Rainey
Cortez
