MISSISSIPPI STATE – The fourth annual Mississippi KIDS COUNT Summit will focus on the educational challenges affecting the future of Mississippi’s children.

This year’s event, “Working Together to Improve Educational Outcomes for Mississippi’s Children: What Will It Take?” will be Feb. 3 at Christ United Methodist Church in Jackson. The event provides a forum to discuss early care and education, literacy, healthy schools and graduation rates.

The one-day summit will include a town hall meeting featuring nationally known speakers, a networking lunch, breakout sessions, a presentation highlighting this past year’s success stories, and the release of the 2010-2011 KIDS COUNT Data Book.

Featured speakers are Ralph Smith, executive vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation; Nina Sazer O’Donnell, vice president of education for United Way Worldwide; Dr. Paula Duncan, chair of Bright Futures, American Academy of Pediatrics; and Dr. Helen DuPlessis with University of California Los Angeles’ Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities.

A continental breakfast will begin at 8:30 a.m. followed by the opening session at 9:15 a.m. Lunch is included along with a copy of the Data Book. Success story winners will be awarded at the summit. This year’s winners are Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids, or SPARK; Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s Between the Lions Preschool Literacy Initiative; the New Albany School District’s Coordinated School Health Program; and the United Way of the Capital Area’s Jackson’s Promise Coalition.

Visit http://mskidscount2011summit.eventbrite.com/ to register. For more information, contact Dorris Baggett at (662) 325-8079, dorris.baggett@ssrc.msstate.edu or Anne Buffington at (662) 325-1590 or anne.buffington@ssrc.msstate.edu.

Writer: Karen Templeton