The Santa Monica Daily Press – Marissa Laham
“Growing up in West Los Angeles, I was extremely fortunate when it came to the quality of experiences in early childhood and public school education. My hands-on mother was so passionate about education that she left the comforts of her job as city planner to become an elementary school teacher after room parenting in my kindergarten classroom, and she hasn’t missed a day of work teaching grades kindergarten through three since. I was the first-born child to two involved parents that primed me for preschool and kindergarten. As the oldest of three children, I had the luxury of watching my younger brothers also experience high quality public education in the more privileged public schools within Los Angeles Unified School District. Now, as a graduate student studying social work, I look back and realize how truly fortunate I was. I see how my early educational experiences paved the road for later opportunities and successes in higher education, the work force, and in life. It saddens me that in 2015, quality education and enrichment for children preparing for school readiness is still a luxury that so many are not afforded, and some even blocked from.”(more)