20 Remarkable Years EDUCATING CHILDREN

Written by Ki Ki Hobbs

Bubbles float through the air, music blares from a speaker, and children scream with delight as they race down a new slide. Amid the revelry, Palm Beach Gardens City Manager Ron Ferris and Mayor Chelsea Reed can be seen dancing while a child pounds out a rhythm on some drums. It’s all smiles at the 20th Anniversary Celebration for Riverside Youth Enrichment Center.

The city-run, licensed, childcare center is the brainchild of City Manager Ron Ferris, who proposed the idea back in 2004. Leisure Services Administrator, Charlotte Presensky, says it was the City’s way of providing employees and residents with a safe place to send their children during the workday. City Councilmembers approved the proposal, and about 60 days later, RYEC welcomed its first-ever class.

When asked about RYEC’s 20 years of educating children, Ferris gives all the credit to the Leisure Services Department and their staff saying, “They brought the educational element and sophistication that far outranged my vision.”

“We all work together for one common goal, and that’s the children,” says Christy Wolnewitz, RYEC’s Early Childhood Director.

To watch the Riverside Youth Enrichment Center’s 20th Anniversary Celebration video, visit the City Hall YouTube page at www.youtube.com/@Cityofpbg.