Highlighted Events This Week In Wicomico Schools

On Friday, April 9, from 9-9:50 a.m., author Eileen Spinelli and illustrator Anne Kennedy (“Miss Fox’s Class Goes Green”) will meet with Pemberton Elementary kindergartners and the public for a Q&A session. From 10-10:50 a.m., author S. Terrill French (“Operation Redwood”) will meet with Pinehurst Elementary fourth-graders and the public. From 1-1:50 p.m., author Marfe Ferguson Delano (“Earth in the Hot Seat,” “Genius: A Photobiography of Albert Einstein”) will meet with Salisbury Middle and Mardela Middle students and the public.

The festival will continue on Saturday, April 10, with a community day at Barnes & Noble with collaboration by the Ward Museum. This event from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. will include book signings by Green Book Award winners, and information provided by environmental organizations. All events are free and open to the public. For the latest information, please call 410-543-6509. http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~elbond/childlitfestival.html.

Friday, April 9
Warriors’ Challenge
Mardela Middle and High School

Have any plans yet for April 9? Please make plans to participate or help out with Mardela's Warriors’ Challenge sporting competition. Specific details will be forthcoming but for now all you need to know is that the Mardela Middle and High PTA is sponsoring this competition on Friday, April 9, from 6 - 8 p.m. in the gym. Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12, and teachers will compete in fun and zany games to see who walks out of the MMHS gym that evening being able to say that they survived the Warriors’ Challenge. 410-677-5142.

Friday, April 9 and Friday, April 10
Early Childhood Concert and Conference
Salisbury University

Wicomico and Worcester Counties will have an Early Childhood Concert for families, featuring David Kisor (of the Devereux Early Childhood Initiative) at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 9 at 7:00 to kick start the Lower Shore celebration of Month of the Young Child. The concert will be in the Wicomico Room at of the Guerrieri University Center at Salisbury University. On April 10 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Wicomico and Worcester will host an all-day Conference featuring David Kisor for child care providers, prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers. This event will be held in the Bistro at Salisbury University. These events and programs for Maryland’s young children and their families demonstrate MSDE’s commitment that students entering kindergarten are ready to learn. Since the Division of Early Childhood Development was established, the number of accredited childcare programs has grown significantly and MSDE has established several quality initiatives to improve the early learning opportunities for all children. This is reflected in the “Children Entering School Ready to Learn—School Readiness Information for School Year 2009-2010” report by MSDE’s Division of Early Childhood Development, where Maryland students entering kindergarten fully prepared for learning increased by 5 percent from 2009 to 2010, up to 78 percent. That is up 29 percentage points since the baseline year of 2002. Kindergarten readiness has improved significantly since all early care programs were brought under MSDE in 2005. For more information on these events visit the Maryland State Department of Education’s website at www.MarylandPublicSchools.org or for the complete Maryland School Readiness report visit the special MSDE website, www.MdSchoolReadiness.org.