Preschool clinic prepares young children for school

Back-to-School Clinic will be held for students who will be attending preschool through the Fairfield Community School District at Washington Elementary School.

The clinic will be held from 5-8:30 p.m. Aug. 12 at Fellowship Hall in the First Baptist Church.

Recognizing that getting a child prepared for his or her first year of school can be costly and time consuming, the clinic will serve as a one-stop shop for parents of Fairfield Community School District preschoolers. Everything a child needs to be ready for preschool will be provided for students and parents at their fingertips.

At the church, each preschool child will receive a free backpack containing all of his or her required school supplies and a free pair of back-to-school shoes. Assistance also will be available for parents who would like help filling out necessary school forms.

From the church, children will walk with sponsors to the Jefferson County Public Health office where free dental screenings, free immunizations and lead screenings will be available.

When they are done at public health, they will be transported by school bus to Jodi?s Touch hair salon where each child will receive a free haircut.

At each site, children also will participate in educational activities geared toward getting them prepared for school. Snacks will be served, as well.

Parents have the option of staying with their children for the course of the evening or leaving their child at 5 p.m. and picking him or her up when the clinic ends. There will be many qualified educators, health care workers and other volunteers on hand to make sure each child is well supervised and has a safe experience.

The clinic is open to children who are attending preschool at Washington Elementary only. At this time, clinic sponsors do not have the resources to provide services to children attending other preschools.

To gain some idea of how many children will be served, parents are asked to call organizers to RSVP. Parents can call Jordan Whitney at 919-9549 or Staci Wright at 919-6328 to RSVP or for more information.

Fairfield High School seniors Jordan Whitney, Cheyanne Laux and Joe Hietpas have organized the clinic as a required service project for the L.E.A.P. (Leadership, Empowerment, Achievement, Progress) Academy at Indian Hills Community College.

They are being assisted by FHS instructor Staci Wright, Washington Elementary principal Jeff Eeling, Chris Estle at Jefferson County Public Health, Joneane Parker at Jefferson County Health Center, Jodi Harwood of Jodi?s Touch hair salon, FHS secretary Tara Johnson and Fairfield Community School District secretary Traci Waugh.

The FHS Renaissance Program and the Fairfield Community School District also are sponsoring the event.