Gerald Hardy's favorite video game—today—is "Spider-Man," but what this six-year-old has learned to do is amazing, too.
The shy six-year-old is quiet and well-behaved. He was the only kindergartener in the Program Challenge class
at North Douglas Elementary School last year, a class for students who are excelling in kindergarten through
second grade.
Six years ago, Gerald Hardy's mom, Stacey, was planning for him one day at a time. Gerald was born nine weeks
premature, and his doctors were concerned he might have developmental disabilities. Stacey was nervous about
his child care. She needed to find someone she could trust with her only son. Stacey brought Gerald to Sheltering
Arms, a United Way community partner, when he was four months old. "He was immediately comfortable with the teachers.
He didn't cry; he didn't squirm."
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The teachers used songs to teach him colors and how to spell his name. Stacey and her husband, Darren, worked
with Gerald a lot at home, too. Sheltering Arms sends home progress reports and lets parents know what the
children are working on, so Stacey and Darren were able to build on the lessons Gerald learned during the day.
Jackie Bartley, family support coordinator at Sheltering Arms, remembers when Gerald was a baby. "Gerald proves
that if you give children an early head start, a healthy start, anything is possible."
In Douglas County, a program lights the spark of learning, and protects it.
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