White House officials to join early childhood panel

Two White House officials are expected to join a panel discussion on early childhood education this week in Bentonville.

The free event is scheduled from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday in a field on J Street adjacent to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, said Sunny Lane, spokesman for the Helen R. Walton Children's Enrichment Center, which operates the Early Childhood Initiatives Center to support other early childhood programs.

Reservations can be made with Lane or Kristen Herbert at (479) 273-3552 or through ecicnwa.org.

The event will focus on the national movement for expanding early childhood education, Lane said. Steven Williams of PepsiCo will lead the conversation that will include Lynn Walton of the Walton Family foundation, Karen Parker of the Wal-Mart Foundation, Sara Lilygren of Tyson Foods, Mike Malone of the Northwest Arkansas Council and Larry Perkin of Hight Jackson Associates.

They will be joined by John King Jr., deputy secretary of education at the U. S. Department of Education, and Linda K. Smith, deputy assistant secretary and inter-departmental liaison for early childhood development for the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

NW News on 09/15/2015

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