At the Smart Start Breakfast for Children’s Champions earlier this month, Allison Wine was named as the 2024 Children’s Champion and Steve McCrossan received the Starfish Public Advocacy Award.

According to the release, Wine's nominator called her presence "a guiding light in the pre-school classroom."

The nominator added, "By helping teachers create a supportive and nurturing atmosphere, Alison helps children feel more secure and confident as they navigate their first school experiences. She empowers both teachers and parents to understand and respond effectively to each child's unique needs.  Her role has expanded to over 50 pre-k classrooms in 9 schools where she helps lay the foundation for a positive life-ong attitude towards learning.

"The impact of Allison’s work is evident in the increased social competence and emotional resilience of the children she serves.  Her collaborative approach ensures a cohesive and comprehensive support system that permeates the entire educational environment. It is her heart and her dedication that makes Allison our Champion.  Allison has continued to help a few children she met as four-year-olds who are now teenagers.  She has taught them to swim, enrolled them in extracurricular activities and driven them to basketball practice.  

"Allison works with families to gain their insight and ensure they have the resources needed at home because we know how important consistency is and how important our investment is in every child and family we serve."

McCrossan (pictured below) is executive director of Nourish NC.

According to the release, McCrossan  "is passionate about ensuring the dignity of clients from greeting them kindly, to respecting privacy, to offering culturally appropriate foods. Steve was especially moved when one parent said, 'My son thinks he won a prize for being good every time he gets a black grocery bag. I love that it's done in a way that he has no idea it's because we are struggling, and he has no shame in getting the bag.'

"He knows that for children to show up at school healthy and ready to learn, they need to have not spent the weekend hungry.  Hungry children are sick more often, slower to recover, have lower math and reading scores, and greater rates of tardies and absenteeism."

Other honorees were Victoria Carrai, Bobbi Fitzsimmons, Edna Lancaster, Janice Padron and J’Vanete Becton Skiba, according to the release.

"All are individuals who have provided exceptional service to young children ages 0-5 and/or their families in New Hanover County," the release stated.