Last week, Bruno's Pub and Grill hosted a Mentor Mixer for the Youth Development Program. Current and prospective mentors were invited to learn more about the mentoring programs we offer and to share their own mentoring experiences.

 

I was sorry that I was unable to attend but I would like to thank the board members and staff who participated in the evening. Don't forget we are always on the lookout for new community and business mentors. If you would like to learn more about mentoring please contact Lindy Hardwick at our office or by email Lindy.Hardwick@thepccp.org. 

Kathy Edwards and I attended a meeting for child care rules revision last week. The most impressive part of the meeting, which was held from 7:30-9:00 p.m. in Columbia was that several child care providers from our service area attended! These providers believe so strongly in the important work they do that they were willing to work a full day - attend a fairly intense meeting and then return home around midnight. They also had to get up the next morning bright and early to greet the children in their care. I was very impressed! Unfortunately all meetings were held a significant distance from our area (Columbia, Springfield, or St. Louis were the closest for our region).

 

Child care rules are established by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The topic of this conversation was for rules that impact child care centers and family group homes. The rules include staff-child ratios, health and safety, staff training, etc. If you would like to see what the current rules regulating child care look like you can see them at the Health and Senior Service web site at:
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/ChildCare/LawsRegs.htm

The picture above is of Tina Tharp and a young child using the die cut machine - one of several pieces of equipment available to child care providers in our area!