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Helping Children Turn Five Ready to Thrive: Brain Awareness Week 2024
March 2024
Did you know it's Brain Awareness Week?
This annual campaign is dedicated to increasing public awareness and understanding of the brain, and the importance of brain health. Here at Smart Start of Mecklenburg County, brain health is a cause close to our hearts. This is because science shows that 80% of brain growth happens by the age of three!
To coincide with Brain Awareness Week, March 11-17, Smart Start has launched a spring billboard campaign featuring its program, The Basics Mecklenburg.
The Basics Mecklenburg is a public education campaign dedicated to empowering families and caregivers to support brain development among infants and toddlers. This innovative campaign aims to raise awareness about the critical importance of early childhood experiences in shaping a childs brain development.
The Basics Mecklenburg envisions a community in which young children of all racial/ethnic backgrounds are poised to reach their full potential, having benefited from early experiences that promote resilience, joy, learning, and healthy brain development. Our Mission is to pursue both equity and excellence, by building community capacity that engages and supports parents and other caregivers of young children in their roles as the most important influences in their childrens lives.
- Stacy Baker, The Basics Mecklenburg manager.
Stacy Baker, MPA, is a Charlotte native. With more than ten years of experience working with nonprofits and in the early childhood field, she has ensured that The Basics offers the tools required for parents and early educators to foster a community of thriving children. Contact Stacy Baker to learn more about The Basics and get involved as a community partner.