What is the Ready by 6 Council?
The Morristown Hamblen Ready by 6 Council (RB6) is a collaborative of approximately 20 local, regional and state organizations working together to ensure families with children birth to 6 years of age have the resources needed for their children to succeed. From the moment a child is born, his/her brain is developing – children are, literally, born learning! Throughout a child’s life, each positive experience that engages their brain strengthens it and prepares them to enter and succeed in school.
Vision
All children ready to enter school by the age of 6.
Mission
Engage the Morristown Hamblen community in strengthening systems to ensure delivery of appropriate services to promote the development and wellbeing of prenatal to six-year-old children and their families.
Ready by 6 is a program of the Hamblen County Foundation for Educational Excellence and Achievement (HCEXCELL). HC*EXCELL is a 501 (c)(3) independent non-profit Education Foundation. HC*EXCELL’s mission is to promote educational excellence and achievement as a means of sustaining economic prosperity and improving the quality of life in Hamblen County. Ready by 6 is a community effort to assist families with birth to 6-year-olds in having the skills and resources needed to enter and succeed in school.
Ready by 6 has a variety of community programs, including Healthy Habits which is a free program at the library. Classes offered include Camp Emotions, Little Artists, Movement and Music and Snack Attack.
Our New Moms Time (NMT) program is our peer to peer Facebook group to connect new moms to one another in the Hamblen County/Lakeway area. NMT’s goal is to create stronger and healthier families to better prepare their children for school. The NMT online Facebook group provides easy access to education, resources & builds a network of support through diversity. If you are a mom of a child under the age of 6 years old we would love to have you join. For more information please click on the New Moms Time tab above.
Ready by 6 Council Members
Curt Amos (Head Start) Douglas Cherokee Economic Authority (Head Start); Tish Jones, Ready by 6 Coordinator and Interim Executive Director HC*EXCELL; Jennifer Gilbert, Director, Kim Smith, Carrie Farris, Hamblen County Health Department; Dr. Christine Hogan-Young, HCBOE Federal Programs and Tony Dalton, HCBOE Early Child Hood Specialist; Ashley Hux, MH Central Services; Freda Nester, TN Voices; Whitney Jarnigan, Social and Behavioral Sciences Dean WSCC; Amanda McNally Children Librarian, Morristown Hamblen Library; Constance Hansen Resident Coordinator Tennessee Valley Housing Services, (TVHS); Lanette Breeden, Carrie Rodgers, Alisha Johnson/Translator, Pregnancy Crisis Center. Melissa Cupp, McNabb Center; Brent Ward, Department of Children Services; Betsy B. Jimenez- Hurst, Executive Director, HOLA Lakeway, Virginia Kidwell, Executive Director Tennessee Institute of Public Health (TNIPH), Jennifer Gentry, Recreation Program Manager, Jason Phipps Talley Ward Center Manager, Amanda Denditraszek, Jonna Miller, Anna Renner Covenant MHHS; Laura Moore, Director Stepping Out, Sherry Delay, MomCo ; Whitney Myers, Healthy Habits, Patricia Cox, Wellpoint Regional Representative III; Shana Watkins , TN Justice Center; Natoisha Hager, Director Lakeway CASA;; Barbara Simmons, Family Resource Center; Ashton Tincher, Isaiah House 117, Location Leader; Meagan Meisenzahl, Director, Strong Starts Program ,Ballad Health, Niswonger Children’s Network; Darlene Smith, Morristown Hamblen Imagination Library Advisory Council; Karen Davila, Coordinator for TN Strong Families, a program through Catholic Charities of East Tennessee Pregnancy Help Center-Knoxville; Rachel Linden, Client Community Outreach Coordinator, Nurse Family Partnership, Crys Riles, Anti-Hunger Advocate, TN Justice Center. Misty Graham, Child Advocate Center