Nearly 40 percent of children in Utah County are not as ready as they should be for kindergarten.

That is a number that should matter to every one of us. It means many children in classrooms across our county are starting school already behind, and teachers are working hard to meet a wide range of needs in the same room. But it is also a challenge we can do something about. Readiness for school is built through simple, everyday things like talking, reading, playing and spending time with a caring adult, and those are things every family and every neighborhood can help provide.

All of us are affected when children are not ready. When some children start behind, the whole classroom feels it, and as those children grow, our schools, our neighborhoods and our entire community feel it too. The encouraging part is that the opposite is also true. When more children start school ready, the whole classroom benefits, and so does all of Utah County.

I believe we can change this. But it will take more than one program, one school district or one organization. It will take parents, educators, community organizations, businesses and caring neighbors working together.

Courtesy United Way of Utah County

That is why United Way of Utah County has brought together a new Kindergarten Readiness Committee to help guide and strengthen this work across our community. The committee will help us better understand the challenges facing young children and families, strengthen partnerships and identify practical ways our community can help more children enter school ready to succeed.

The committee will be chaired by Anne Ure, director of the Child and Family Studies Laboratory at Brigham Young University. I am grateful she has agreed to lead this important effort.

“Kindergarten readiness isn’t something that begins when a child walks into a classroom,” Anne said. “It is built over the first years of life through relationships, conversation, reading, play and everyday experiences. Parents are at the center of that work, but all of us can help create a community where families have the support and opportunities they need to help children thrive.”

The committee brings together people from across our community who care deeply about young children and families and who bring experience, perspective and a willingness to help. I am grateful for each of them and for the time and leadership they are giving to this effort.

No committee can solve this challenge alone, and that is not what this committee is meant to do. Readiness for kindergarten does not begin on the first day of school. It begins much earlier, in homes and neighborhoods and in the everyday moments between young children and the adults around them.

Courtesy United Way of Utah County

That means all of us have a part to play — and in Utah County, we have never been short on people willing to help.

One of the most important things we can do is support the parents of young children. Parents are a child’s first and most important teachers, and most are working hard and doing the very best they can. A little encouragement, friendship or practical help can make a real difference for a young family.

We can also support and volunteer with programs that serve young children and their parents. Programs such as Welcome Baby, Help Me Grow Utah and our United Way community centers help families find resources, build skills and create more opportunities for children to learn and grow. These efforts depend on the generosity and involvement of people throughout our community.

I have seen time and time again that when our community comes together around a challenge, we can make remarkable progress.

Our goal is simple: that more children in Utah County walk through that kindergarten door ready to learn, ready to participate and confident that there are adults around them who want them to succeed.

That work does not begin at the kindergarten door. It begins years earlier, in thousands of ordinary moments, with all of us.