Pleasant Hill, Calif., March 9, 2016– The public is invited to The Twelfth Annual Young Children’s Issues Forum, to be held on Saturday, March 12, 8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., at the Pleasant Hill Community Center, at 320 Civic Drive, Pleasant Hill. This year’s theme is Speak Out for Children: Educate and Advocate.
The annual community event is sponsored and organized by the Contra Costa Local Planning & Advisory Council for Early Care and Education (LPC), and is coordinated by the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE).
The purpose of the program is to provide a forum for discussion among legislators, local elected officials, public agency representatives, business leaders, and the community regarding current children’s issues. Annually, this award-winning special presentation is a favorite for numerous local elected officials to take part in, as presenters and/or in question-and-answer sessions.
Confirmed guest legislators and elected officials include: Congressman Mark DeSaulnier, Assemblymembers Susan Bonilla and Tony Thurmond, Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools, Karen Sakata, and Contra Costa Supervisor, Candace Andersen. Superintendent Sakata, will present opening remarks overview of the importance of early childhood education.
Additionally, the topic of focus for this year’s forum is the national movement towards Quality Early Care and Education, legislation, and the essential role of the teacher in high quality early childhood education.
The Forum agenda features an impressive list of guest presenters, including:
- Dr. Julie Nicholson, associate professor of practice, chair of early childhood education, and director of the center for play research in the school of education at Mills College
- Ted Lempert, executive director, Children Now
- Sean Casey, executive director, First 5 Contra Costa
- Benu Chhabra, care provider, Central County Family Child
- Gabriela Rowland, Concord Child Care Center
- John Moon, teacher, Transitional Kindergarten
- Maria Rios, Community Services Bureau/Contra Costa Head Start
- Stacie Roundtree, care provider, East County Family Child Care
- Ruth Fernández, manager, Educational Services, CCCOE
- Cathy Roof, chair, Advocacy Committee of the Contra Costa Local Planning & Advisory Council for Early Care and Education (LPC).
In 2014, the Annual Young Children’s Issues Forum received Assembly and Senate recognition’s for ongoing quality civic engagement opportunities offered to the public through this annual event. In 2012, California School Public Relations Association (CalSPRA) awarded the Young Children’s Issues Forum with the California Gold Award, their highest accolade of annual Excellence in Communications.
For more information about the Annual Young Children’s Issues Forum, please contact Ruth Fernández at (925) 942-3413 or visit: www.plan4kids.org. Tickets for this program are $15 per person, and can be purchased via this Eventbrite link. Tickets also include continental breakfast, lunch and resource fair.
