St. Louis’ annual 2024 Early Educators Appreciation Event was a huge success! Forty-six phenomenal early educators were nominated and celebrated at the Missouri History Museum on May 5, 2024. For the 200 attendees, there was valet parking, an elegant dinner, open bars, swag bags, certificates, raffle prizes, and so much laughter! Thank you to Mayor Tishaura Jones for your opening remarks, Lindsay Newton with the Missouri History Museum, Alisha Abbot with PNC Bank, and to our guest speaker, Shaquan A. Grove, who spoke about “Celebrating Resilience: The Heartbeat of Early Childhood Education.”
Our five celebrated early childhood awardees included:
2024 Early Educator of Excellence, Sharon Smith
2024 Early Childhood Director, Above & Beyond, Jessica Black-Gant
2024 Early Literacy Champion, Laura Polak
2024 Home Visitor of the Year, Jeannie Davis
2024 Early Childhood Education Champion, Rochelle Bea
Follow our St. Louis Early Educators Appreciation Event Facebook page at: Facebook
The 2024 Early Educators Event Committee members includes Books for Newborns, City of St. Louis, Gateway Early Childhood Alliance, LUME Institute, Ready Readers, RISE STL, St. Louis Community College, St. Louis County Library, St. Louis Public Library, Alliance, Turn the Page STL, United 4 Children, Urban Sprouts, WEPOWER, Southside Early Childhood Center and Wonderschool.
