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<p>HANOVER TWP. &#8212; Wyatt Butcher said &#8220;Hi,&#8221; ran up and down the room as fast as his little legs would go, and stopped when teacher Aimee Smith asked if he wanted to go under the colorful little &#8220;parachute&#8221; classmates billowed above the floor.</p><p>&#8220;Yeah!&#8221; he said, gleefully scooting under the chute. But the visit was heartbeat brief, as he hopped back up with an overwhelming need to once again run up and down the long room.</p><p>&#8220;Smart move, tiring them out,&#8221; Hanover Area Superintendent Andrew Kuhl said of the students getting rigorous play time in the new Pre-K Counts program that officially began Tuesday in the Lyndwood Center.</p><p>Hanover Township partnered with the Luzerne Intermediate Unit to win a grant to fund the program, which created two classes of 18 children, each getting full-day pre-L at the school that closed several years ago.</p><p>&#8220;We wanted to get this going at the start of the school year, LIU Executive Director Tony Grieco said as the tots ran and shouted themselves to a suitable level of tired. &#8220;But we couldn&#8217;t do it until the state released the money.</p><p>The &#8220;money&#8221; is a big boost in state funding for pre-school programs this year, but it got tied up in the budget impasse between Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled legislature. A partial budget was passed several months ago, getting a bit less than half the expected education money into the hands of local school districts.</p><p>The increase in money also allowed Head Start to open a program for 18 more students at the same center, Kuhl said.</p><p>Greater Nanticoke Area announced this week the start of enrollment for its Pre-K Counts classes. Those interested in applying can call the Greater Nanticoke Family Center/Pre-K Counts office at 570-735-0935.</p><p>Head Start is generally federally funded while Pre-K Counts uses state money. Proponents argue such programs increase a child&#8217;s success later in life because they enter kindergarten better prepared.</p><p>The programs target lower-income families. For Pre-K Counts, that&#8217;s 300 percent of the federal poverty level, three times higher than the requirement for Head Start.</p><p>Not that those nuances meant anything to the students Wednesday. Wyatt again stopped running just long enough to coax Kuhl into bending low enough to hear. &#8220;I want a car!&#8221; the boy said before running away anew.</p><p>When exercise time was over, they all lined up, more or less, with each line getting a designated &#8220;line leader.&#8221; One boy decided to lay down in the doorway, forcing the lines to use a different exit.</p><p>Learning to socialize and interact with other children in an orderly way is a big part of what these programs provide, Kuhl said.</p><p>As everybody else left, Kuhl and Grieco stood over the prone tot, coaxing.</p><p>&#8220;Everybody else is going to get ice cream,&#8221; Grieco said.</p><p>The boy stared, rolled over slowly, finally pushed himself up and headed for his classmates.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyatt Butcher, 3, plays under a small &#8216;parachute&#8217; during gym class at a Pre-K Counts program in the Lyndwood Center in Hanover Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL031716prek.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyatt Butcher, 3, plays under a small &#8216;parachute&#8217; during gym class at a Pre-K Counts program in the Lyndwood Center in Hanover Township. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

New Pre-K center in Hanover Township offers services to more children