The Growing Place Child Care Centers have been caring for, nurturing and educating children for the last 36 years.

Having grown to six sites in the West End of Monroe County, they serve children of various heritages which includes Native American, Russian, Polish, Egyptian, Colombian, Puerto Rican, Brazilian, Dominican, Pakistani, German, Cambodian, Guatemalan, Irish, Italian, Swedish, Haitian, Filipino, Saudi Arabian and Jamaican.Last Friday night, The Growing Place hosted its third annual International Dinner at two locations the cafeterias at Pleasant Valley High School and Pleasant Valley Elementary and brought these children and their families together to celebrate their heritages.Families were asked to bring a dish that represented their culture to share with everyone, and include a card describing each dish, its origins and why it is important to the family.The tables were laden with samples of international cuisine and proved to please the palates of the children and their families.There were costume centers where children and adults could wear costumes and play instruments and dance to international music. Another station offered to face paint a flag of one's choice on one's cheek.Children visited the craft station where they could make flags, story banners, a paper-mache dragon, Chinese lanterns, Edleweiss hats and other projects or artwork that represented their own creativity.Three years ago, Nancy Wright, the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts coordinator for The Growing Place, came up with the idea of an International Dinner to celebrate with families of the PA Pre-K Counts program and the Brodheadsville Center."We liked it so much we've extended the event to all of our centers," said Wright."That means that around 400 families were invited. Families love it because they can't believe the different foods the children will eat here. Kids who will only eat chicken fingers and french fries at home will happily try pierogies, empanadas, hamantashen and shoofly pie.""Our International Dinner is a perfect way to bring our families together," said Lisa Eick, Growing Place executive director. "The children see that what is important to them at home is interesting to their friends and teachers."Liz Fernandez of Kresgeville thinks the dinner is wonderful."Kids get to learn about other cultures," she says.Dorota Karas of Kunkletown also thinks the dinner is a wonderful idea."We all can get together and talk about our cultures and try other foods and the children get to play together outside of the school environment," she says.Nancy Zvonik moved to America from Russia 12 years ago. When her son, Leo, first came to The Growing Place, he couldn't speak a word of English and in just one year, he can now speak English fluently. His mother credits The Growing Place for his accomplishments."This night is amazing for families to come and experience all our different cultures," she says.Stephanie and Zachary Flyte of Kunkletown attended with their two children, Logan, 5 and Natalee, 1."I like this. I think it's a good thing to get us all together. We get to try stuff we never would have otherwise," says Stephanie.Dawn and Ross Borger of Kunkletown brought their daughters: 4-year-old twins, Allison and Lydia, and 2-year-old Madison."The Growing Place is a wonderful place. They always do things to include the parents. The girls really enjoy it there," said Dawn.Zuly Kennedy, originally from Panama, thinks the International Dinner is a great idea to show the kids all the different cultures."There's so much to choose from," she said of the variety of dinner choices.Dr. Douglas Arnold and his wife, Dora, attended the event."It's great and has become a wonderful tradition. The Growing Place is an outstanding organization to our community. They have top notch people and we work well together. I'm flattered to have gotten an invitation," he said.Guests were also asked to participate in the special post card campaign to ask Gov. Corbett to not cut funds for the state-funded Pre-K Counts program.The Growing Place believes that early education and quality pre-kindergarten benefits children and families because it has been found that children who come to kindergarten without all the skills they need, often stay behind and struggle in school.Early learning prepares children for reading and math, paying attention, following directions and getting along with others.The Growing Place is one of only four PA Pre-K Counts providers in Monroe County. It is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and has been awarded a Star Four designation from the Pennsylvania Keystone Stars program.For more information, call (610) 681-5486.