A program that works with the Buffalo public school district's youngest students will receive funding to ensure that an estimated 2,200 pre-K students citywide can be served.
School officials gathered inside Public School 61 on Leroy Avenue Wednesday to announce that $100,000 from the 2015-16 school budget will support the Basic Emotional Skills Training (BEST) program.
BEST works with students through second grade to assist with emotional and social skills, including making and keeping friends, conflict resolution, dealing with frustration in a healthy manner.
Reminding a group of pre-K students in the room of the tale of the Three Little Pigs, Buffalo School Board member Sharon Belton-Cottman said BEST - like the brick house in the fable - is a solid foundation for a child's education.
"If they develop these skills, we know that we will not see the suspensions and the attendance problems and the behavior issues that we see later on," Belton-Cottman said.
The program is run by the Mental Health Association of Erie County. Its executive director, Ken Houseknecht, said while Buffalo and Western New York is currently enjoying its economic renaissance, the region's future is found in its classrooms.
"We are only going to go as high and as far as these guys take us," said Houseknecht. "We, the ones who have been blessed with opportunity and privilege in our own lives, have a solemn responsibility to give these guys every single opportunity to fully complete their God-given potential."
Seconding that sentiment was P.S. 61 principal Dr. Tonja Williams, who added that equipping young students with the proper emotional and social skills will help them reach their potential. Looking at the group of pre- students, Williams said she saw everyone including a future national leader, a doctor who could cure cancer, one who could clean the oceans and an astronaut among the youngsters.
"At these ages, these children can be whatever they want to be," she said. "It is our job, all of the adults - in this school, in this district and in this city - to help to remove obstacles and barriers that diminish their dreams."
