The Franklin Sun | More than 350 books, valued at $1,500, were delivered to Franklin Parish Library in December thanks to a grant from First Book Marketplace.
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Onie Parker, Franklin Parish Library director, in conjunction with Julie Emory, of the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana, wrote the grant for Talk, Read, Play Every Day in Franklin Parish, requesting new books for the six Little Free Libraries (LFL) throughout Franklin Parish. 

The Franklin Sun, WINNSBORO, LA: Two Franklin Parish state-funded early childhood centers were recently recognized as showing significant growth in a Louisiana Department of Education report.

Fort Necessity School and Future Blossom’s Child Care were listed in the Top Gains category by the Department of Education.

In 2016-2017, Louisiana began reporting performance data for all publicly funded early childhood programs, including early childhood centers, Head Start programs and pre-kindergarten sites, as a way to measure core elements needed for positive child outcomes, provide a clear and focused path to improvement, and give families an easy way to compare choices in their community.

​The Louisiana Department of Education has released performance ratings for every publicly funded early education program in the state.

Top Gains programs, those showing significant growth, were located in 17% of networks. Caddo, Franklin, Jefferson, and Orleans Parishes had at least three programs on the Top Gains Honor Roll.

These gains in Franklin Parish are a reflection of hard work by child care professionals, Child Care Connections staff, community support and more. The Talk, Read, Play Every Day in Franklin Parish was a catalyst and we are proud of the continued support these centers receive.

The Franklin Sun - ​Opportunities abound for those willing to spend time improving their communities in Franklin Parish, said Lisa Kiper, WSB Community Development Coordinator.

Kiper spoke with members of the Winnsboro - Franklin Parish Chamber of Commerce Thursday at their monthly meeting.
“If you are wondering where you fit in, I can find a place for you,” Kiper said.

One such “place” is with Impact Winnsboro, Kiper said. 

Impact Winnsboro is a branch of Convoy of Hope where different religions and races have come together to take on various projects throughout Franklin Parish.

“We want to be the hands and feet for helping people,” Kiper said. “We have to work together.”

Recently, Impact Winnsboro and Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana joined forces to bring early childhood curriculum to 13 daycare centers in Franklin Parish.

“Because of the curriculum, all of their scores have come up,” Kiper said. “Impact Winnsboro provided the labor and the Children’s Coalition provided the money.”

Convoy of Hope is a 25-year-old nonprofit organization providing communities and its residents with free essential items such as food, school supplies and haircuts. Convoy of Hope brings together a small army of local businesses, churches and governmental officials to be the labor to deliver the items to the people.

In another important area, volunteers are fighting back against bullying.

Twenty-one early childhood teachers have been trained to teach an anti-bullying curriculum called Al’s Pals through the efforts of Northeast Louisiana Children’s Coalition, Kiper said.

All elementary public schools along with Temple Pre-School will have the curriculum.

“We are super excited about this,” Kiper said.
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In the spring, “buddy benches” will be purchased for the schools. These benches will be designed for students who need help or for those who want to help or be a “buddy” to sit on the bench.

The Children’s Coalition is proud to announce that the Al’s Pals: Kids Making Healthy Choices has expanded to Franklin Parish Pre-K classrooms. This program is packed with fun and creative lessons and applicable opportunities to strengthen the social-emotional development and resiliency skills among our students.

Parents should be on the lookout for the colorful letters that will give you ideas to work with you child in the home.  This is a great way for parents and teachers to reinforce learning for their student!

This initiative is a continue effort as part of the Talk, Read, Play Every Day in Franklin Parish project. In addition to the Al's Pals expansion, community leaders have helped install a Born Learning Trail at Davis Park, an Early Childhood Literacy Hub at the Library and several Free Little Library locations across the parish. Thank you Franklin Parish for the continued partnership and support.

Al's Pals is funded by the Northeast Delta Human Services Authority.

FRANKLIN PARISH, La. - (4/10/19) Today was a big day for about 170 little ones in Franklin Parish.

The Franklin Parish Public Library unveiled their 'Talk, Read, Play Everyday in Franklin' project. 

The partnership between the Children's Coalition and the Franklin Parish Public Library is all in an effort to put a book in every child's hand. 

The COMO foundation awarded $4,000 to the early childhood education hub.