Students engage with interactive learning stations at the 2024 Grow Festival. Submitted photo
Fulton Independent will host the 13th annual Grow Festival on Monday, Nov. 10 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. CT, an event designed to support early childhood development.
The Grow Festival brings families together for an afternoon filled with refreshments, hands-on activities, developmental screenings and essential kindergarten readiness resources.
Hosted by the Family Connection FRYSC (Family Resource and Youth Services Center) in collaboration with the Four River Counties Early Childhood Regional Collaborative, the festival shows the unwavering community support for early learning.
“The goal is to demonstrate the educational items we’re sending home,” said Tracy Pulley, event leader and FRYSC director for Fulton Independent.
Preschool teachers and community partners set up interactive stations that demonstrate educational techniques parents can use at home to focus on the growth of their child’s motor skills.
From sorting pompoms on colorful rugs to balancing on plastic stepping stones, each activity is designed to support physical, cognitive and social-emotional development.
These activities also help prepare children for the Brigance Screener, a tool used statewide to assess kindergarten readiness and offer insight into the child’s coordination, communication and emotional skills.
“Until you become a parent, there are some things you forget about,” Pulley said, explaining that these stations help parents rediscover simple ways to support their child’s educational journey.
“A rising tide lifts all boats,” Pulley said. “When one family does better, we all do better in our community.”
The Grow Festival began as part of a statewide initiative funded by Kentucky’s tobacco settlement dollars, a portion of which was allocated to the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood.
Those funds helped establish Community Early Childhood Councils, now known as Early Childhood Regional Collaboratives.
Originally part of the regional ABC Festival held in Hickman County, the Grow Festival was localized to individual school districts in the river counties to make it more accessible for families in underserved areas.
“We’re just trying to get everybody up to that same starting line, so they have as good of an opportunity to move into adulthood as possible, and then your whole neighborhood and society benefits,” Pulley said.
The festival thrives off a large network of community partners who contribute resources and expertise to the event.
Last year’s collaborators included HANDS, WIC, KY Moms MATR, the Fulton Police Department, the University of Kentucky Fulton County Extension Service, Anthem, Head Start and Early Head Start.
“First Steps provides something that I don’t, and HANDS can help children with developmental delays in a way that I couldn’t,” Pulley said. “Collaboration makes such a difference.”
Last year, the event served 70 children. Parents in the small district return year after year and share how the festival has helped them feel more confident in their parenting journey.
“I just want our parents to really be equipped as much as possible with all the tools they need for their children to be learning,” she said.
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