Donald
Teuma-Castelletti
BRYSON Sept. 30, 2017
Families with young children were welcomed to the Bryson RA and Lion’s Club site on Saturday, where they were offered learning opportunities on everything from developing a healthy body image to breastfeeding.
Hosted by the Pontiac’s Committee 0-5 Years, the Early Childhood Expo featured vendors, guest speakers, interactive workshops and various kiosks, encouraging the development of healthy and happy children.
“The goal was to promote services for family with children [up to five-years-old] in the community,” said Lisa Lagacé, coordinator of the committee. “We try to touch on everything in our workshops.”

The expo began with a baby-wearing workshop, and continued with a body image presentation, cooking on a budget, managing difficult emotions, yoga and optimizing language development.
In the body image discussion, a number of topics were discussed from encouraging healthy eating to promoting body-positive thinking. Catherine Plaziac, a nutritionist, and Julie Fleury, the healthy lifestyle transformation officer for the committee, led this talk and brought up some interesting points.
“The body is not just used for beauty,” said Fleury, regarding the stigmatization of comments directed towards boys and girls.
She explained that little girls are often called pretty, while boys are told they’re strong. By addressing both boys and girls as attractive and strong, this helps breakdown traditional gender stereotypes.
They also encouraged a positive attitude towards movement and physical activity, not as a reaction to eating or junk food, as well as not commenting on one’s own weight concerns in front of the children.
The workshops were led by trained professionals from in and around the Pontiac, many who, Lagacé highlighted, have worked with the committee before and will continue to offer their services.
Vendors onsite included Lighthouse Bookstore, Tupperware sellers, Jardin Educatif du Pontiac offering fresh vegetables and With Granny’s Machine, selling homemade items for the age range.
Planning the event since April, this was the first of its kind put on by the committee. It was an all-day event, running from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
As the event was open to the whole Pontiac, free transportation was offered to families, provided they sign up beforehand. However, Lagacé said, no one had signed up for it, so the service was not used.
The Committee 0-5 Years is a collaborative effort between local schools, daycares, and organizations that aims to prepare children for their start in kindergarten. Through workshops, projects and programming, they hope to better socialize and integrate these children, making the transition into school a smoother process.
“It doesn’t matter your income,” said Lagacé. “Our aim is to help all families be ready for school.”