(828) 526-0173 | [email protected] | Copyright 2024 – All Rights Reserved.
Funding For Musical Programs
Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: April 2023
The Gordon Center for Children provides compassionate, structured care for local children.
Dr. Michael Crowe presents a generous gift from Bel Canto to The Gordon Center.
When Bel Canto’s Dr. Michael Crowe presented a check to the Gordon Center for Children last month, he was following through on this Highlands musical landmark’s founding principle.
“For 30 years, we’ve been providing funding for musical programs here at The Gordon Center and area preschools and Highlands School,” Dr. Crowe said. “We understand how important it is to introduce children to music and we know how vital the Gordon Center is to the entire community.”
Dr. Crowe is correct about the center’s importance. Through cooperation, partnership, and support from the Highlands United Methodist Church, the Gordon Center for Children provides early childhood education opportunities to families of Highlands and the surrounding areas.
Their mission is to promote the cognitive, physical, emotional, social and spiritual development of the children in a warm and safe environment.
Currently, three classrooms are open to children ages one through five.
The Nursery Class is open for children ages one to two. The Transition Class is open for children ages two through three. The Pre-School Class follows a Kindergarten prep curriculum and is open for children ages three through five, but the class is reserved for children the two years prior to beginning Kindergarten.
Activities include Chapel with Pastor Randy Lucas, Exercise with Tina Rogers, visits to Hudson Library, Music with Angie Jenkins, and visits from the Nature Center staff.
“Our town is growing, and with more families moving into the area, the need for childcare is growing as well,” says Center Co-Director Victoria Long. “Even with both amazing opportunities available in Highlands, this past year the Gordon Center had a waitlist of over 50 children.
“It’s our dream to expand both the afterschool program and the childcare program in the future to be able to accommodate more families, but to do that we first need to reinforce what we have so we can continue to provide excellent education and care to these children. As a non-profit, we keep childcare costs low so the families in the community can more easily afford to send their children here. We currently are running at a weekly deficit, and we rely on grants and donations from our generous community to offset our overhead costs.”
If you’d like to help, visit highlandsmethodist.org/gordon-center-for-children. It explains the program and its opportunities, and allows donations.
