CASSOPOLIS — Cass County parents now have twice the opportunities each month to engage their children in a developmentally-aimed program thanks to a new partnership between Great Start Cass County and an Edwardsburg church. 

The Great Start Cass County playgroup program has extended into Edwardsburg. The free playgroups, which are open to any children ages infant to 5 and their parents, regardless of school district or town of residence, previously offered groups from 9:30 to 11 a.m. the first, second and third Wednesday of every month at Squires Elementary School, 725 Center St., Cassopolis. Recently, Great Start added a new playgroup from 9:30 to 11 a.m. the first, second and third Thursday of each month at the Community Church of Edwardsburg, 28647 US-12, Edwardsburg. 

“Any and all are welcome, and everything is free,” said Chris Whitmire, director of early childhood education for Lewis Cass Intermediate School District. “There is a free book, a free snack and, of course, there is free friendship.”

In addition to providing free books and snacks, Whitmire and Amber Skorupa, playgroup coordinator, said the playgroups are designed to address the developmental needs of the children. Often teachers, speech and language pathologists, physical therapists and occupational therapists are on hand at the playgroups to help connect parents with the resources their children might need.

“We use developmentally appropriate activities for each age level,” Whitmire said. “We cover activities appropriate for cognitive development, physical development, emotional development and language development. We focus on literacy and more.”

“I think it absolutely benefits both the children and the parents,” Skorupa added. “I think it benefits parents to interact with other parents to have that support and to learn different developmental milestones and the different activities they can do at home with their children. For the children, it gives them a first-time, school-like experience. I think it is great for them to experience this while they are that young.”

While Great Start has been offering playgroups since 2011, the program was redesigned in 2019. With less than a year since the redesign, its organizers said they are happy to have already added a second weekly playgroup in Edwardsburg. Whitmire said Edwardsburg made the most sense to expand to after Cassopolis due to its demographics and the partnership with the Community Church of Edwardsburg.

“We are very excited,” Whitmire said. “We have felt very welcomed. We feel we will be able to grow the program even more because they have been so welcoming to us.”

Though the Great Start playgroup has only been in Edwardsburg for a few weeks, its organizers are already looking to expand the program even further. Whitmire said she has a goal of having 20 families per playgroup. Once that happens, Great Start will look into expanding to different areas, likely first Dowagiac, then Marcellus.

“We hope to offer playgroups in every one of the major school districts in Cass County,” Whitmire said. “We want to reach as many families as possible.”