CASE STUDY UPDATE: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for New Silver Bay Childcare Playground Set for September 8th
The playground is part of the Little Mariners Child Care Center that is scheduled to open at the end of October. The playground features specialized equipment for children ages 1 to 5 and will be utilized by children at the Little Mariners Child Care Center and the school district’s Early Childhood Education program. It will also be open to the public when the school and childcare center are closed. Construction of the playground was made possible through a partnership with the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota and a $48,000 grant from the Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation.
Kerissa Graden, Little Mariners Childcare Coordinator stated, “I want to thank the Northeastern Minnesota United Way and the Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation for making this playground project possible. It takes everyone working together to create the best opportunities for our community.” The Little Mariners Child Care Center was a solution result from a community action group that consisted of members from: Northland Foundation, Northspan, Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation, The City of Silver Bay, Shoring Up Business, Lake Superior School District, North Shore Federal Credit Union, Northshore Mining and community members.
The action group’s focus was to develop a plan to address the 833% deficit of child care slots in the Silver Bay area. After months of meetings and discussions, the Lake Superior School District approved a plan to house and operate the new child care in Silver Bay’s William Kelley School.
By April 2020 the school district had hired a Childcare Coordinator and new Community Education Director/Grant Writer to take on the project. Since then, over 15 grants have been written totaling $367,500. To date, $267,900 in grants have been awarded for the project from the following contributors: Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation, Northland Foundation, Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation, North Shore Collaborative, Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation and community member donations.
The beginning of August began with the work to prep the area in front of William Kelley school, including the moving of the famous “Anchor”. Over the next few weeks the ground was prepped, playground and fencing installed, and wood chips delivered. The playground will be used for our Little Mariners Preschool and Childcare Center for children under the age of 5.
The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place on September 8, 2020, 11:00am at William Kelley school.
For more information, contact Little Mariners Childcare Center Coordinator Kerissa Graden at 218-226-4437 ext. 8453 or kgraden@isd381.org
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About Little Mariners Childcare
Our mission at Little Mariners Child Care Center is to provide stable, high quality child care for families in our community in a safe, educational, and nurturing environment. Located in William Kelley School, Little Mariners Child Care Center will help your child grow and learn from infancy to graduation, and beyond! This program will offer year-round care, Monday through Friday for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. We also plan to offer school-age care after school, on Fridays, and for summer vacations. The center is projected to open by the start of the school year. https://www.isd381.k12.mn.us/community-education/welcome-to-little-mariners-child-care-center/
On September 8th, the Little Mariners Child Care Center in Silver Bay hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for its playground. The center, slated to open in October, will be located in William Kelley School and is the product of a collaboration between the Lake Superior School District and a wide range of partners, including the Northland Foundation, Northspan, Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation, City of Silver Bay, Shoring Up Business, North Shore Federal Credit Union, Northshore Mining, Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation, United Way of Northeastern Minnesota, North Shore Collaborative, Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, and community members.
Northspan has assisted Little Mariners throughout its efforts to launch. Thanks to support from the Northland Foundation, Northspan developed a Community Solutions Action Plan for Silver Bay that identified an 833% deficit in available child care slots in late 2019. Northspan staff has since convened numerous stakeholder meetings and work to bring the diverse array of partners together to support and fund this vital project for Silver Bay.
Challenge: Silver Bay faced an 833% deficit in available child care slots in late 2019, which was by far the highest number in the region. The shortage was so dire that partners from a wide range of areas knew they needed to come together to find a solution, but weren’t sure what direction their efforts would take.
Northspan’s Role: Developed the Community Solutions Action Plan to guide the process and convened numerous stakeholder meetings and work to bring the diverse array of partners together to support and fund this vital project for Silver Bay.
Results: Little Mariners Child Care Center located in William Kelley School opened in 2020 with financial and logistical support from a long list of community partners.
References: Tony Sertich, Northland Foundation, tony@northlandfdn.org, 218.723.4040; Chris Ismil, IRRR, chris.ismil@state.mn.us, (218)735-3010
Contact Elissa Hansen at ehansen@northspan.org for more information.