By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

OVER 480 parents and children attended the celebration of the CNMI’s first Week of the Young Child that began with a conference at Koblerville Elementary School on Saturday.
The celebration highlighted the early education needs of pre-school age children and recognized the achievements of parents and early childhood educators in providing learning opportunities for these young children.
The Week of the Young Child is celebrated by hundreds of organizations across the nation that work toward improving early learning opportunities for young children.
During the week, several celebrity readers went to child care centers and read to the children — Reps. Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan; Manuel A. Tenorio, R-Saipan; Candido B. Taman, R-Saipan; Jacinta M. Kaipat, Covenant-Saipan; Ramon A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan; Absalon V. Waki Jr., Covenant-Saipan; Francisco S. Dela Cruz, Covenant-Saipan; Ray N. Yumul, Ind.-Saipan; Senate Vice President Pete P. Reyes, Ind.-Saipan; and Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan, D-Saipan.
The Week of the Young Child. ended with early childhood education activities and exhibits at the 4-H Building in Susupe for children 3 to 8 years old.
Commissioner of Education David M. Borja and Board of Education Chairman Roman C. Benavente welcomed the parents and children who attended the conference.
Christine Masga, the principal of Hopwood Junior High School, was a featured speaker and she discussed the need for child care and how the PSS child care program enabled her to secure subsidized child care so that she could go to college and get her degree.
The keynote speaker was Abby Cohen, state technical assistance specialist of the National Child Care Information Center of the Child Care Bureau.
Cohen is an attorney and a nationally recognized expert in the fields of early childhood education and childcare services.
Her address highlighted the need for child care, the success of the CNMI child care program and commended Andrea Alepuyo for the excellence job she has done administering the program in the CNMI.
She also commended the Executive Committee of the Week of the Young Child — Maribel Loste, Andrea Alepuyo, Maria T. Peter and Keiko Yamagata — for their hard work in planning the week’s activities.
The conference had sessions on language and communication skills in the early years, family literacy, family math, toys to make at home and school, health and nutrition, dental care, positive parenting, reach out and read, anf recognizing signs of hearing problems in young children.