Pathways Early Learning Center

🎨✨ Check out some “priceless” art created by our talented Early Learning Center staff and kiddos! ❤️

These little masterpieces are full of creativity, imagination, and a whole lot of love. 🖌️💕 Around here, every tiny artist creates something worth more than money could ever buy! 🥹🎨

Art from Pathways ELC Auction item 'Art from Pathways ELC' hosted online at 32auctions.

🎡 The Pathways Magic City Carnival Silent Auction is officially OPEN! 🎟️

Bidding has begun on an amazing lineup of items with something for everyone. Think dream travel packages, delicious dinners out, entertainment experiences, and so much more. Whether you’re bidding for yourself or hunting for the perfect gift, there’s a little magic in it for all ages! ✨

Don’t miss your chance to snag something special while supporting a great cause. Get your bids in now! 🎪💛

https://www.32auctions.com/pathwayshome

📣Attention Birmingham leaders: the dunk tank is calling your name.

Mayors. Council members. Coaches. Principals. Pastors. Executives. We want YOU in the seat at the Magic City Carnival, and the whole city wants to throw the ball. 🎯

It’s all for a great cause! Show Birmingham you’re a good sport and take the plunge (literally).
Tag a local leader who needs to get dunked 👇

🎪August 22, 2026 5pm-8pm · Cahaba Brewing 🎟️

Earlier this week was Parent Enrichment Night, and Mallory Messersmith from McWane Science Center showed our families easy ways to bring math into everyday moments with their kids. We always have a blast with her. Thanks to a generous grant from McWane Science Center, our teachers also got a training session with Mallory this year, and our families were able to visit McWane Science Center. None of this would be possible without their support, and we are so grateful for it. We can't wait for next year!

Last night was Wrappy Hour with Bundles of Hope, good food, good music, and a whole lot of diapers getting wrapped alongside people who showed up just to be there for our communities. Bundles of Hope partners with us to provide diapers and wipes for our ELC and for families at Pathways, removing one more thing parents have to worry about while they are navigating hardship and working towards stability. This is what it looks like when a community decides no family should have to choose between diapers and anything else they need. If you would like to donate diapers or wipes, Pathways is a drop off location, we would love for you to stop by!

Last Saturday the Pathways ELC team spent the day at Jones Valley Teaching Farm in Birmingham for the Farm to Early Childhood Education Summit. The rain stayed away and gave us a beautiful day to learn, laugh, and get our hands in some dirt. Cooking and food already live inside our classrooms, our kids love nothing more than prepping, cutting, cooking, and eating fresh produce themselves. When children take ownership over their food like that, something shifts. They are more willing to try new things. That is something we will never stop chasing for our kids, and we would love nothing more than to one day grow our own food too. Not every idea from the day fit perfectly into our space, but it didn’t stop us from thinking and planning what could. That’s just who we are, always growing, always figuring it out together. If you know an educator who would love this kind of work, send them our way!

These two right here.

Ms. Earnestine Adams, our Pathways ELC Dietitian, and Ms. Phaedra Davis, our Pathways Dietary Manager — they have been showing up for this community long before the ELC even opened its doors.

Earnestine has spent nearly 50 years in nutrition and early intervention for infants and toddlers. She still shows up like it is her first day. Phaedra runs our kitchen with so much heart that people find reasons to come by just to be in the space she creates.

Together they manage our CACFP nutrition program and make sure food at Pathways ELC is more than just a meal — it connects to how our children learn and explore every single day.

Those brown bag lunches at McWane last week? That was them too. 💛

We are grateful for every single thing they pour into the ELC!

We took over McWane Science Center last Friday and honestly? It was one of those days that reminds you why this work matters so much. Current families, former families, little ones who started in our infant room now running through exhibits like they own the place.

Watching our children explore, question, and light up — and watching their families right there with them, on the floor, present, following their child’s lead — that is everything. That is the work too.

We laughed a lot. We had real conversations — wins people are celebrating, things families are still working through. And we held all of it together. That is Pathways ELC. Not just a program your child attends but a community that stays with you.

Thank you for trusting us with your babies and your stories. We do not take that lightly. 🌿🤍

🍞✨ Dine for a cause!
Join us for a Benefit Night at Panera Bread on Sunday, June 8th from 4–8 PM and help support Pathways! A portion of proceeds from every purchase will come back to us but only if you do your part! 🙌

📍 In-store: Simply mention Pathways at the time of your order.
💻 Online orders: Use the code found on our flyer at checkout.

Whether you’re grabbing a soup, a sandwich, or a sweet treat every bite makes a difference. Share this post, tag a friend, and let’s make this night a huge success!

❤️ Thank you for your support. It truly means the world to us!