Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers' mission is to provide quality, financially accessible childcare for children and their families in a nurturing, diverse, safe, and enriching environment. | | |
Thank you for a CAMP-tivating Summer! | Time flies when you're having tons of fun! We blinked, and summer was over! This week, as we help our children transition into a new school year, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for an incredible 2025 summer camp season. Because of your support, our campers enjoyed a fun and enriching experience, filled with memories that will last a lifetime. Please watch the video below to see just a few of the smiles that YOU made possible this month! | | Look At What We've Been Up To! | |
Animals, Bubbles, and Community!
Fun was as easy as ABC at our Easton Preschool Site! Campers learned about the importance of giving back by peddling their hearts out to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital at the site trike-a-thon. Kids made the most of the gorgeous summer weather with outdoor splashing and a bubble party on the playground. Fellow camper Dior's parents came by to beat the heat with a refreshing treat: snow cones! A visit from the Party Animals petting zoo was a major highlight. It was cuteness overload as some of our littlest friends met some little friends of their own!
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Yo-ho-ho and a Barrel of Fun!
Our Cordova campers hit the high seas for Pirate Week, crafting pirate hats, handprint art, and messages in a bottle. "X" marked the spot when they followed the map to Chuck E. Cheese for a day of exploration. The children set a course for adventure, starting the day with an engaging STEAM activity before heading off to play games in hopes of taking home treasure!
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Far Out with 4-H
At our White Marsh Site, campers blasted off during Science and Space Week. Mr. Tom from 4-H stopped by to share some spectacular science with our students, including an experiment during which our mini-chemists made rock candy crystals in the shape of trees. Mr. Tom also assisted several of our children in entering the 4-H Fair, and many of them won blue ribbons. Congratulations to Anastasia and Aurora Critchlow, Never Morris, and Payton Leonard! Vera Trommatter and Noelle Mock also won a blue ribbon for the latest volume in their illustrated book series about CC the Cat. Inspired by our Critchlow Adkins literacy programs, our co-authors have been writing the CC the Cat series together for four years. We are so proud!
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Making Masterpieces!
At our Easton School Age Site, campers spent a week discovering their Art Inspiration. They explored various genres of art, including pottery, canvas, mosaics, and self-portraits. Mrs. Lynn from Kiln Born provided to-go clay painting kits, and the children created edible art when they made paint palette cookies. The week was capped off with a sensational summer send off celebration with Willy Woo Woo and "The Turtleman!"
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Send in the Clown!
It was Carnival Madness at our St. Michaels Site for the last week of summer camp. Campers put their creativity on display when the school age children worked in teams to envision and design their own carnivals and the preschoolers made tie dye t-shirts. Everyone enjoyed popcorn, snow cones, hot dogs, soft pretzels, face painting, and carnival games. The cherry on top of an extraordinarily fun week was a visit from Ms. Trish Payne, who put on a hilarious clown show and made amazing balloon creations!
| | Follow us on Facebook to get your Friday fix of cuteness with our Weekly Round Up! | | | Our Board Is Going Places! | | |
Our Board of Directors went on a field trip last week! They visited three of our sites: St. Michaels, White Marsh (in Trappe), and our brand new classrooms in Cordova. It was a great opportunity for our valued leaders to become even more immersed in and inspired by our mission to provide high quality, financially accessible childcare in a nurturing, diverse, safe, and enriching environment!
We would also like to extend a giant "Congratulations" to our Board Member, Annie Mewborn, for earning her Doctoral Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Instructional Leadership! Annie is the Assistant Principal at Easton Elementary School, and we are so lucky that she is part of our leadership team at Critchlow Adkins. If you see Annie out and about, please give her a round of applause from her Critchlow Adkins family!
| | Each summer, we partner with our friends at SOS Sink or Swim to offer our families the opportunity to sign up for FREE swimming lessons. Thanks to SOS and Talbot County Parks and Recreation, our campers learn lifelong, life-saving skills that allow them to swim and be safe in the water. We are so grateful for this valuable partnership. Thanks also to Rennie Gay, the Gay family, and all who participate in the annual Conor's Project Sporting Clay Shoot and Crab Feast for raising funds to help with transportation and staffing for our swimming lessons (as well as enrichment programming for our campers). Scroll down for details about this year's Conor's Project event, which is coming up next weekend! | | |
At Critchlow Adkins, we are incredibly fortunate to partner with phenomenal local businesses, who support our mission in a variety of ways. Jon Duffy of J. Duffy Construction is one such partner! Jon and his team recently completed the beautiful renovation of the preschool classroom at our White Marsh Site.
Jon lives in Hurlock with his fiancée Danielle and their three kids. When he is not working, he loves cheering on his kids at sporting events, spending time together at home, or finding new activities to enjoy as a family.
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Jon started J Duffy Construction in 2021, but construction has been in his family for generations. Both his father and grandfather worked in the industry. What always stood out for him was the pride they took in their work, and that same pride is what inspired him to start his own business.
What sets J Duffy Construction apart is their focus on relationships. Jon's goal is to serve select clients with the highest quality workmanship, while demonstrating that they genuinely care, not just about the end result, but the client's experience throughout the process and their future relationship. Jon and his team offer a wide range of services, and they approach every job they work on with the same level of dedication and integrity.
One of Jon' clients is involved with Critchlow Adkins, and told him about our White Marsh renovation project. As a father, he always wants to keep his kids safe, and when presented with the opportunity to help out other children, he jumped at the chance. Knowing that he is spending his time for a good reason and helping other people brings him joy.
Jon shares, "I fully support Critchlow Adkins' mission and believe in what they are doing. Their commitment to providing childcare that is affordable is great and it's something that every community needs more of. Supporting families this way is important and can be a ripple effect for years to come, and being even a small part of that effort is truly meaningful to me."
Thank you, Jon! We are so grateful for your partnership and the bright and welcoming new classroom you helped build for our students!
| | Make Plans To Celebrate With Critchlow Adkins! | | If you're looking for ways to have a fantastic time AND help Critchlow Adkins Build Brighter Futures for local children and their families, we've got you covered! Join is for one, two, or all three of these wonderful upcoming events! | | |
The 8th Annual Conor's Project Sporting Clay Tournament and Crab Feast is coming up next Sunday, September 7th! Compete solo or in teams of 4, and new this year, each participant will have 75 Targets!
You don't have to be part of the sporting clay shoot to join us for the community crab feast, featuring crabs, burgers and hotdogs, beer, soda, water, dessert, and music by Lee Coulby. Plus, enter a raffle to win a Retay Extra Black Gordion shotgun. This special event is hosted by Rennie Gay in memory of his grandson, Conor, who was a student at Critchlow Adkins.
| | | Click the button below to learn more about Conor's Project and register, buy crab feast tickets, or enter the raffle! | | | | Our first ever Play It Forward American Mahjong Tournament is coming up on Thursday, September 10th at the Easton Fire Hall! Join us for games, prizes, and refreshments, all in support of local children and their families. No matter your skill level, there’s a seat waiting at the table just for you! Register as an individual or as a four member team, and you’ll be paired with players who match your skill level. Plus, we’ll be awarding lots of prizes at every level! | | Click the button below to learn more about Play It Forward and register before the deadline of September 5th! Questions? Contact Zandi Nammack at zandinammack@gmail.com. | | |
Celebrate 55 years of exceptional childcare with us at a very special Critchlow Adkins Trivia Night! The fun takes place on Thursday, October 23rd at the Tred Avon Yacht Club in Oxford.
Don't miss out on this evening of community, which includes cocktails, dinner, a unique silent auction, and a rousing game of trivia. We'll also hold our annual Fund-A-Need paddle raise. This year's Fund-A-Need goal is to raise $75,000 to support our tuition assistance and enrichment programming. With state childcare scholarships frozen, more families will need your help to make our high quality care accessible to ALL.
| | | Tickets for Trivia Night are on sale now! Click the button below to reserve your spot and celebrate your transformative impact on local families! | | | | Thank you so much to everyone who nominated Critchlow Adkins in the APG Best of the Best Chesapeake contest! Thanks to YOU, we made the top 5 in two categories: Best Childcare and Best Preschool. The voting round to decide the winners begins on Monday, September 8th and runs through Friday, September 26th. You can vote as often as once per day throughout that time period. We would be so grateful if you would vote for us to win! Thank you so much in advance. Keep an eye out for information about how to vote! | | An August STEAM Project YOU Can Do At Home! | | One of our favorite themes during summer camp is the Great Outdoors! Whether camping out in a tent in the yard, going on a nature hike, or observing the ecosystem at the beach, nature in the summer is full of exciting or interesting things. This month's at-home STEAM activity is inspired by an Eastern Shore summer favorite... Crabs! | | | | Before getting into our STEAM challenge, get inspired while reading A House For A Hermit Crab, by Eric Carle. In it, a young hermit crab outgrows his shell and must find a new one. With the help of new sea creature friends, he decorates and enhances his new shell, learning about friendship and change along the way. | | |
After reading the book (or watching the read-aloud above), it's time to test your engineering skills by working together to build your own Crab Claw game! You can create this super-simple game and build yourself hours of fun by using supplies you may already have around your house! You'll need paper cups, straws, craft pom poms, a pencil, and scissors.
Once you've gathered your supplies, click the button below to "grab" the instructions from Clever Patch and get started!
| | As always, be as creative as you want, and have lots of fun learning together! Visit our website for hundreds of additional STEAM activities you can do at home! | | | |  |
You fill our days with color and creativity! | | | |
Your support paints our children's lives with a broad brush of vibrant colors. You spark their imaginations, illuminate life's possibilities, and cultivate a lifelong love of exploration and learning!
Consider helping our students grow all year-round by establishing a recurring monthly donation!
| | Support Critchlow Adkins While Shopping! | | Connect your Harris Teeter VIC card to Critchlow Adkins via the Together in Education Program, and when you purchase the brands listed below, you help earn money to support our programs! | | If you are a Weis Market customer, scan the bar code below at checkout to help Critchlow Adkins earn funds for supplies, programs, and more! | | Thank You To Our Critchlow Adkins Community and Business Partners! | | |
Grant Partners
Bryan Brothers Foundation
Christmas in St. Michaels
Dock Street Foundation
Fullwood Foundation
Maryland State Department of Education
Mid-Shore Community Foundation
Rural Maryland Council
Rotary Club of Easton
St. John Foundation
Talbot County Health Department
Talbot Optimists
USDA Rural Development
Van Strum Foundation
Whole Kids Foundation
Women & Girls Fund of the Mid-Shore
Philip A Zaffere Foundation
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Academy Art Museum
Adkins Arboretum
Appleseed Books
Boy Scouts of America
Candlelight Cove
Carepacks of Talbot County
Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
Chesapeake College
Choptank Community Health
Eastern Shore Speech Therapy
Easton Cinemas
Easton Volunteer Fire Department
Environmental Concern
Family Affair Farm
For All Seasons
Girl Scouts of America
Healthy Talbot
Imagination Library of Talbot County
Judy Amdur Music
Judy Center Early Learning Hubs
Jump Start With The Arts
Lion's Club
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Maryland Zoo
Pickering Creek Audubon Center
Police, Fire, and EMS Departments
Positive Strides Therapeutic Riding
Project Right Steps
Ready at Five
SOS Sink or Swim
Society of St. Vincent de Paul
St. Michaels Community Center
Talbot County:
Health Department
Infants and Toddlers
Oral Health Department
Parks and Recreation
Public Schools
Talbot County Free Library
Talbot Family Network
Talbot Interfaith Shelter
Talbot Thrive
University of Maryland Extension
US Armed Forces
4-H Club
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Critchlow Adkins is so fortunate to have generous support from our local business community. Meet our CACC Stars!
*For more information on how YOU can become a CACC Star, click HERE or contact our Development Director, Liz Connelly, at lconnelly@cacckids.org.
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Bartlett Tree Services
Benson and Mangold Real Estate
Brambles Electric
Carpenter Street Saloon
Chesapeake Blooms
Chesapeake Building Components
Coventry Motor Works
Freestyle Fabrication
George's Green Thumb
Moore Funeral Home
RLE LLC
Roto Rooter
Talbot County Chamber of Commerce
What's Good, LLC
Windswept Clothiers
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Licensed Maryland Childcare Providers
Cordova - 45445
Easton Preschool - 31291
Easton School Age - 31294
St. Michaels - 31292
White Marsh - 53488
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