UNITED WAY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY LAUNCHES BORN LEARNING TRAIL IN MITCHELL PARK TO PROMOTE EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING

United Way of San Luis Obispo County dedicated a trail in Mitchell Park on
August 2nd, 2008 as part of an unprecedented public engagement campaign called Born Learning,
designed to help parents, caregivers and communities provide young children with early learning
opportunities. The Born Learning campaign is designed specifically to help young children prepare for
school.
The Born Learning Trail in Mitchell Park features ten stations along a path near the children’s
playground with activities that encourage everyday, teachable moments with young children. It is a fun, interactive series of outdoor games on colorful engaging signs which help adults and children explore and learn together, turning a regular outing to the park into fun learning opportunities. This path
encourages the caregiver to follow the child’s lead, building the child’s curiosity and confidence,
reinforcing the learning already underway. Based on the latest early childhood research and approved
by national early learning experts through United Way of America, the Born Learning Trail is designed
to help adults interact with children to boost language and literacy development and to help caregivers
understand how to best support early learning in everyday, outdoor moments.
“We’re taking part in the Born Learning campaign because we want to do all we can to help parents
and caregivers prepare young children to succeed in school,” said Rick London, CEO United Way of
San Luis Obispo County. “What if every child had five years of education before kindergarten? The
reality is that children are learning constantly, right from birth. We know what happens in a child’s early
years matters – for success in life and for school readiness.”
“The Bank of America Foundation has been supporting United Way's Success by 6® program since
1999 and is pleased to see the establishment of a Born Learning Trail right here in our own Mitchell
Park”, said Greg Bland, Market President Central Coast, Bank of America.
According to research gathered by United Way of America, many parents undervalue their role in
preparing young children for school. Parents and caregivers don’t know exactly what actions to take to
prepare young children for school, or feel like they don’t have time to do what’s needed. The proof is in
the numbers: 46% of today’s kindergartners start school behind, children entering kindergarten with
skills they need to succeed are more likely to graduate from high school.
“We hope the Born Learning Trail will help meet parents’ need in this community to get young children
off to the right start,” said Susan Hughes, Executive Director First 5 San Luis Obispo County.
“Kindergarten readiness is key to our children graduating from high school on schedule.”
“We were especially happy to install the trail into Mitchell Park because of its close proximity to the
senior center,” said Rick London, “This makes it easily accessible for grandparents and caregivers to
access the trail on a regular basis.”
"The Born Learning Trail is a natural extension of the children's play area at Mitchell Park and we are
delighted to be partners in a project that enhances the educational opportunities available to children
through play," said Betsy Kiser, Director of Parks and Recreation.
The trail was dedicated on August 2nd with a special performance from children’s entertainer Ivan Ulz.
Ulz is renowned for his special appeal to toddlers and his “Fire Truck” song. Ivan was joined by John
Messer on guitar. Families were invited out to experience the trail, and hear the live concert. The San
Luis Obispo Children’s Museum offered an art experience, Dr. Nick the Baloonatic was on hand to
make balloon animals, plus there was face painting and a fire truck. Pete Riolo of Pro Coatings donated
the time and paint for the letters and shapes. Ron Devey of Valley Fencing donated the time and
cement to install the sign posts.
The trail was made possible through collaboration between the First 5 Commission, Bank of America,
City of San Luis Obispo and United Way of San Luis Obispo County.
For more information about Born Learning, visit www.bornlearning.org. For more information about Ivan
Ulz, visit www.ivanulz.com. View photos of the event on our website, http://www.unitedwayslo.org.
This news release is available on the United Way of San Luis Obispo County website at
http://www.unitedwayslo.org/News/index.html