The Wyoming Early Childhood Care and Education Listening Tour will visit nine cities across the state this month, including a Thursday, March 12 stop in Cody.

The tour is part of Wyoming’s $2 million Preschool Development Grant. Children and families, community members, and those working to support children birth through 5 are welcome to attend all or any part of the program.

This open house style event in Cody will take place at Millstone Pizza Company & Brewery (1057 Sheridan Ave.), with one session running from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and another from 6-9 p.m. Registration is required with food provided for those in attendance.

Wyoming was one of six states and territories awarded a Preschool Development Grant, Birth through Five, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care this year.

Wyoming’s preschool development grant “allows the state to identify and build on existing early childhood initiatives and programs to develop capacity and a roadmap to for immediate and lasting results to the statewide early childhood system,” event organizers say. “The emphasis on planning allows Wyoming to learn from both data and listening to people, and then to make a thoughtful plan that leverages our strengths and moves us to a comprehensive, impactful early childhood system that works for our youngest children, families, early childhood educators, and communities.”

The event is being hosted in partnership with Align, a Cheyenne-based nonprofit organization.

For more information, or to register, call 267-375-9085 or visit www.bit.ly/wy-ece.