The Honey Brook Township Park & Recreation Committee hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony, with help from local children, celebrating the new Born Learning Trail and Little Free Library at the James A. Umble Park on May 2.
The Honey Brook Lions Club was instrumental in working with the United Way of Chester County (UWCC) to identify the Park site for the Trail. The Born Learning Trail in Honey Brook Township was funded through a grant UWCC received from the 1675 Foundation. UWCC engaged a volunteer team from SABIC-Integrated Plastics (SABIC-IP) to install the Born Learning Trail. SABIC-IP donated $600 in materials for the installation. Public Works Director Don Johnson was also on hand to assist with the installation of the Trail in November 2014.
The Born Learning Trail is part of UWCC’s Early Childhood Education Initiative, designed to assist parents and other caregivers in engaging their young children in early learning activities. The 1/4-mile trail is composed of a series of 10 signs and stencils prompting parents or other caregivers and young children through language development activities.
Thanks to a grant by CCRES Educational & Behavioral Health Services, a Little Free Library kiosk has also been added to the Trail. This library functions as a free lending site for pre-K level books. The child-sized library is designed to promote reading with a “take one, leave one” approach at the outdoor activity location. SABIC-IP volunteers were instrumental in the assembly, staining and installation of the kiosk this spring. Both the Born Learning Trail and the Little Free Library, as part of the Chester County Early Education Initiative, are strategically focused on touching rural or underprivileged communities and promoting early childhood learning as the norm in Chester County.