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Steamboat Springs — Tom Gangel says his recent appointment to Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien's new Colorado Early Childhood Advisory Team probably wouldn't have happened 10 years ago.

But an inclusive approach to examining how children develop and how best to meet their needs is bringing a number of professionals with differing areas of expertise to the table.

"The goal for the advisory team is to look at early childhood development with educational, mental and physical health for children from birth to age 8," said Gangel, who is among 21 educators, parents, elected officials and health care officials appointed to the team. Gangel is director of the Steamboat Mental Health Center.

"The goal is really to take advantage of the fact that all of the research is now showing us that there are lots of things we can do to help really little kids prepare for school," said Gangel, who noted the team will meet for the first time this week in Denver, followed by monthly meetings for the next two years.

"Helping parents and school teachers or day-care providers understand ways they can stimulate both brain activity and stimulate emotional development is one reason why I'm at the table," he said. "There is the other end - the kids that are having behavioral problems - and we counsel day-care providers, teachers and parents to work with that particular child."

Christie Kauerz, Lt. Gov. O'Brien's early childhood policy director, said the team is an umbrella advisory group for the state's 31 early childhood councils, which cover 56 of Colorado's 64 counties. Routt County's early childhood council, First Impressions of Routt County, works at the local level administering health care, education, family support and parenting resources.

"This is a big shift in looking at early education not just at school entry, but from birth," Kauerz said. "We are looking at those transitions as they enter preschool, kindergarten, first and second grade : and it's about looking at the whole of the child to ensure they are ready for these transitions."

O'Brien said in a statement that the team will provide advice and support to local early childhood councils to improve and sustain the availability, accessibility, capacity and quality of early childhood services throughout the state.

"There is no more important goal than to make Colorado the best place for families to raise their children," she said.

Gangel said educators have primarily focused on classroom resources when addressing early childhood education, but his inclusion on the team shows a new way of thinking about children.

"Clearly, everyone is trying to get a little more integrated now," he said. "It's to ensure that every place in Colorado that is getting any state funding - preschools, day-care centers and kindergartens - is doing the best they can for children."

- To reach Mike McCollum, call 871-4208

or e-mail mmccollum@steamboatpilot.com