PARTNERSHIPS

PARK DISTRICTS, FOREST PRESERVES AND RECREATION DEPARTMENTS WORKING TOGETHER WITH CIVIC AND BUSINESS LEADERS TO BUILD OUR COMMUNITIES

Making "Big Ideas" Happen

How Bolingbrook's recreation supervisor enlisted the help of many in the
community to turn an idea into a memorable special event

BY BECKY RHEINTGEN, CPRP

Did you ever have a "big idea" but were too afraid to implement it? Too afraid of the commitment of time, energy, and resources?

I had one. I wanted to bring to the Bolingbrook Park District an event called the "Week of the Young Child," an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children to promote a learning environment for children, at home, in child care, at school and in their communities.

According to NAEYC, "Early Childhood—the marvelous years from birth through age eight— is truly where our future begins. For young children, each moment is an opportunity to learn more about the world, practice social skills and gain critical thinking skills and knowledge.

When it came time to start planning the event, the fear that comes along with organizing a new event crept into mind: "I can't even get an instructor hired to teach Irish Dance. How am I going to plan a week-long special event with a $1,000 budget?"

Turns out, to get assistance in planning events and to get community organizations involved, all you need to do is ask. Borrowing a line from Forest Gump's mama: "Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what your gonna get."

After much planning and community cooperation, the Bolingbrook Park District held its first annual Week of the Young Child (WOYC) Celebration April 1-7, 2001. More than 1,320 people participated.

Forming the WOYC Committee

In the beginning of the 2000-2001 school year, six part-time preschool teachers were invited to serve on the Week of the Young Child planning committee. I served as the chairperson. The committee met once per month to plan the event. From the start, the committee determined the activities that would be offered throughout the week at little or no cost. A long brainstorming session resulted in many possible activities including book fairs, vision and hearing screenings, children's concerts, celebrity book reading, safety seat checks, TV turnoff day, art activities, an ice cream social, library card sign up, parent education, and contests. The long list of ideas was divvied-up among committee members to research. A month later, the committee reconvened with many ideas for activities and events and planning began. Committee members confirmed the activities with the corresponding organizations. The schedule of events was coming together. Now we had to find a way to pay for it!

Finding Sponsors

With a budget of $l,000, the committee needed to raise funds in order to provide all of the activities. They came up with many innovative ideas including holding a book fair, selling handprint t-shirts through the preschool program, and soliciting cash and in-kind sponsorships from local businesses. After receiving the mailing lists from the Bolingbrook Chamber of Commerce and Bolingbrook Local Development, we developed a list of businesses that we thought might donate to Week of the Young Child. A sponsorship letter was developed and mailed to each business.

We then divided the list of businesses into six groups. Each committee member followed up with either a phone call or personal visit to the businesses on their list. Many of the businesses said they receive three to four letters per day and countless visits per week. The committee had its most success with personal visits to businesses. It is much easier to say no to someone over the telephone than in person.

We received many more no's than yes's. Some of the donations received included gift certificates to local grocery stores, 20 half-gallons of ice cream, cash donations from local businesses, and a free deejay for an event. Smaller donations were used as door prizes. With sponsorship— after paying for staffing, supplies, and performers—the park district had a $176 surplus without having to spend the $1,000 that was allocated for the event.

10 Illinois Parks and Recreation

NECESSITY SPURS COMMUNITY PARK COLLABORATION

Marketing the Event

One of the main goals of the Week of the Young Child is to focus public attention on the needs of young children. The park district's marketing and communication coordinator was invited to the next WOYC committee meeting. Of course, all of the normal avenues for marketing an event were used. Informational flyers were handed out to participants enrolled in preschool programs, swimming lessons, dance classes and gymnastics classes. Front desks at each facility had promotional flyers available. Press releases with photo opportunities were faxed to the area newspapers. Personal phone calls were made to local media contacts.

More unique ways to get the word out involved giving detailed schedules to each of the preschool sites. The instructors "pumped up" the event at their parent talks every day, starting two weeks before the event and ending the last day of WOYC. A large colorful poster with a detailed schedule was placed on an easel in the front lobby of each facility. Each day during the week-long celebration, the poster was modified to highlight the next day's events. Display cases in both of the park district's community centers were decorated to promote WOYC a few weeks before the event. Children from local junior high schools and high schools painted the interior windows of the two park district community centers with child-oriented paintings the week before WOYC.

Using marketing ideas from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a cover letter and sample proclamation was mailed to Bolingbrooks Mayor Roger Claar. Ultimately, the mayor proclaimed April 1-7, 2001 Week of the Young Child in Bolingbrook and presented a proclamation to the park district at the village board meeting a few weeks before the event. State Representative Jim Meyer issued a Resolution to the Illinois House of Representatives and presented it to the park district at the Week of the Young Child's kickoff event.

Tons of Trucks and Other Nifty Events

The week-long event kicked off with "Tons of Trucks." Local trucking companies, the police department, the fire department, the Village of Bolingbrook and the Park District maintenance department were all asked to bring vehicles to the community center parking lot for children to climb on and climb in. There were two semi-trucks with sleeper cabs, a back hoe, a water truck, a bobcat, a fire truck, a police car, a dump truck and much more. The police department provided many free services throughout the week such as a bike rodeo, car seat safety checks, and child identification fingerprinting. The village of Bolingbrook provided a dump truck for the Tons of Trucks event and provided a tent, free of charge, for the police department's car seat safety check. A Bolingbrook police officer, secured the donation of a new bicycle from Walmart, to be given away to a participant at the Bike Rodeo.

Entertainers and book fairs were scheduled throughout the week. Some programs that normally charged a fee were free-of-charge during WOYC, such as Preschool Open Gym and Kindermusik. Park district staff were asked to be guest readers in preschool classes throughout the week. Parent education seminars were offered on two evenings. In addition, students in the National Honor Society at Bolingbrook High School were asked to volunteer to help with Tons of Trucks and the Ice Cream Social. Students enrolled at Joliet Catholic High School volunteered for the Ice Cream Social to work towards completing their Christian service hours.

Week of the Young Child was a great way to thank the people who most often participate in park district programs: young families. While we had their attention, we educated them about the benefits of early childhood education, children's services available in their community, bicycle safety, car seat safety, the benefits of reading to your children and the benefits of playing with your children. With more than 1,300 people attending the week-long event, the park district far exceeded its initial vision for the event.

With the help of a committee of part-time staff and community organizations—such as the police department, fire department, library, village, and school district—you can turn your big idea into a grand event.

BECKY RHEINTGEN, CPRP is a recreation supervisor for the Bolingbrook Park District.

About the Week of the Young Child The Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the world's largest early childhood education association, with over 100,000 members and a network of nearly 450 local, state, and regional affiliates. The purpose of the Week of the Young Child is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. NAEYC first established the Week of the Young Child in 1971, recognizing that the early childhood years (birth through age 8) lay the foundation for children's success in school and later life. The Week of the Young Child is a time to plan how we—as citizens of a community, of a state, and of a nation—will better meet the needs of all young children and their families. The theme for the Week of the Young Child April 7-13, 2002, is "Children's Opportunities—Our Responsibilities." While the NAEYC designates the Week of the Young Child dates and theme, typically events are planned and implemented in local communities. Celebrations are organized and coordinated by the nearly 450 regional, state, and local NAEYC Affiliates. Individual early childhood programs and community organizations providing services to young children and families may plan their own celebrations as well. - from the NAEYC Web site

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