.png){kind=small}
United Way of Southwest Minnesota (UWSWMN), the City of Marshall, Bend Rite Fabrication and Pete’s Powder Coating held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, July 12th to commemorate the opening of the brand new Born Learning Trail at the Southwest Amateur Sports Arena in Marshall. The Born Learning Trail was installed on May 27th and the painting was completed on June 24th. It is now open for area children and families to use. The Born Learning Trail in Marshall is the first bilingual trail in UWSWMN’s service area, with signs in both English and Spanish.
Born Learning Trails are outdoor amenities that assist and support active learning and early education for young children. They facilitate an easy and fun way for parents, grandparents and caregivers to use our outside environment to assist in learning necessary skills to make them successful in school. The series of 10 signs is designed to assist in adult and child interaction to boost language and literacy development and support early learning in every day moments.
Other United Way Born Learning Trail sites include: East Bay Park in Balaton, Lake Park in Cottonwood, City Park in Currie, Veterans Park in Dawson, City Park in Fulda, Rice Park in Granite Falls, Veterans Memorial Park in Hendricks, Heinz Park in Lake Wilson and City Park in Walnut Grove. A portable Born Learning Trail is also available for use at events.
Pictured L-R: Sharon Hansen (City of Marshall Administrator), Shelby Otto (UWSWMN), Mayor Robert Byrnes (City of Marshall), Preston Stensrud (Parks Superintendent), Scott VanDerMillen (Marshall Community Services Director) and Bill Maertens (Bend Rite Fabrication).