Top Photo: Officials stand with Millbrook Child Development Program kids, and students at Stanhope Elmore High School after a donation of five Tricycles for the MCDP. Officials include, from left, MCDP Director Cynthia Smoke, Rev. Brian Gilpin, Col. Dale Bain, Col. Charles Bonasera (SEHS JROTC), and at far right SEHS Principal Ewell Fuller.
By Andrew Edwards
Elmore/Autauga News Staff Writer
The Millbrook Child Development Program has served the region since 1988, providing care to Pre-K, K-2, K-3, and K-4 children, while preparing them for the kindergarten level. Their afterschool service widens the spectrum, focusing on K-6.
Games, activities and lessons are what fill the days for each child – but there’s always room to improve and grow.
That growth took center stage on Thursday afternoon as Col. Dale Bain, Vice President of the Elmore County Board of Education, presented the program with five new tricycles for the children. Bain, in conjunction with Rev. Brian Gilpin, Sr., Pastor at the Church of the Brook, and Scott Girlie, Asst. Pastor, found and purchased the metal tricycles.
“I approached my pastors at the Church of the Brook and asked if they might be able to purchase five new tricycles – and I was told yes. Their generosity has allowed me to stand here today and present them to a program that means a great deal to me,” Bain said.
Bain, who’s children walked the halls of the building when it was still an elementary school, has stayed extremely active with the program to this day – reading to the children for Read Across America Week and paying other regular visits.
“The Child Development Program is fabulous, and they really do a lot for the kids,” Bain said. “These are some of the best kids that I’ve ever been around, and the staff here knows how to treat them and prepare them for their next level of learning.”
1st Sergeant James Chambers, sponsor for the Stanhope Elmore High School JROTC, says the program has essentially been “adopted” by SEHS. Members of the JROTC started painting the inside walls of the building at the end of 2020, and will continue to periodically do so moving forward.
“We just wanted to come in and do something to help,” Chambers said. “We’re taking it one step at a time and treating this program as an “adopt a school” type thing.”
Generosity has extended its hand from a multitude of places, helping to improve upon a program that’s been in existance for over 30 years.
Cynthia Smoke, Director of the MCDP, was overwhelmed when describing the outreach from the community.
“The fact that you have board members that come in and show that they are concerned for the program – it means a lot. Mr. Bain has been so supportive. The kids love him, and when the kids love him, I love him,” Smoke said. “On behalf of this program, I want to thank all of these guys for everything that they’ve done. This is just the beginning.”
For more information about the Millbrook Child Development Program, follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/littlemustangsintraining
