Kauffman to host 14th Annual Quality Celebration

Event honors the accomplishments of early learning professionals

The 14th annual Quality Celebration will be held Thursday, April 14, 2011, at the Kauffman Center, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, Missouri. The event honors early learning teachers, centers and family home providers who have earned credentials or degrees or achieved national accreditation in the past year. The program will begin at 7 p.m.

Brent Stewart, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Kansas City, will serve as the evening's master of ceremonies, and Catherine Wilson, retired professor of early childhood education at Park University, will provide the keynote address.

Honorees will include 24 early learning professionals who have earned associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s degrees in the field of early education, with assistance from the Mid-America Regional Council’s Metropolitan Council on Early Learning, and six family child care providers who have earned accreditation, or reaccreditation, from the National Association of Family Child Care. Also, 12 regional early learning centers will be honored for achieving state or national reaccreditation.

The Quality Celebration is sponsored by The Family Conservancy, the Francis Institute for Child and Youth Development, Hallmark Cards, Inc., Local Investment Commission, Mid-America Head Start, Metropolitan Council on Early Learning, the Mid-America Association for the Education of Young Children, Partners in Quality, Project Eagle, United Way of Greater Kansas City, and Tri-County Smart Start–United Way of Wyandotte County.