The late Dr. Albert Karnig honored at Making Hope Happen Foundation gathering

The life and work of the late Dr. Albert Karnig, president emeritus of California State University, San Bernardino, have left an indelible mark on the city of San Bernardino and the surrounding region. On Tuesday, February 26th, his widow, Marilyn Karnig, was the honored guest at The Big Reveal event held in the Norton Elementary School library by the Making Hope Happen Foundation. What was The Big Reveal? The Infant-Toddler Success program now bears the name of its founder and visionary and will from now on be known as Dr. Albert Karnig Infant-Toddler Success program, or KITS for short, in recognition of the visionary university president-emeritus who understood that the groundwork for success in college and career is laid in infancy.

Dr. Albert Karnig was president of CSU San Bernardino from 1997-2012. During his tenure, he fostered close relationships with area school district leaders and others focused on improving educational outcomes in the region, getting students ready for college and careers.

Dr. Karnig was the child of immigrants, only learning English when he entered kindergarten in New York. He was committed to making a university education attainable for anyone who was willing to work for it, but achievement gaps persisted. There were years when, despite meeting the requirements to attend CSUSB, as many as 70% of incoming freshmen required remediation in math and/or English.

In 2015, Dr. Karnig’s search for answers and the key to unlock children’s potential led him to Dr. Laura Kamptner, CSUSB Child Development faculty and nationally-recognized expert on the subject of Parenting. What he learned is that 80-85% of brain development happens in the first 36 months of life and what a child experiences in that window of time determines how they learn, regulate their emotions, and respond to the world around them.

With that knowledge in hand, a team was gathered, and the Infant-Toddler Success Program was launched, providing research-based, parenting education to families with children ages 0-3 in partnership with the Community Foundation, which served as the organization’s fiscal agent from March 2016 – September 2018; Making Hope Happen Foundation with which it merged in October 2018; CSUSB’s Institute for Child Development and Family Relations, which serves the program delivery partner; the San Bernardino City Unified School District; Dignity Health; SACH Health Systems; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; Hope Through Housing; Feldheym Library; and many others.

Since its first class held in May of 2016, the program has served nearly 700 adults and teens, providing parenting education, a light meal, free enriched childcare, free children’s books to take home and keep at every session, and ongoing support by way of phone calls, emails, and follow-up classes.

During the event Marilyn Karnig named the first recipient of the Dr. Albert Karnig Infant-Toddler Success Award for excellence in child development education and advocacy: Dr. Laura Kamptner, without whom the program would not have been possible and whose life’s work have educated countless students and families about the importance of the early years.

Infant-Toddler Success is a project of Making Hope Happen Foundation in partnership with California State University, San Bernardino’s Institute for Child Development and Family Relations. The mission of Infant-Toddler Success is to support parents and caregivers of children ages 0-36 months in helping their children to be ready for school and life. The focus of the program is on the creation of a secure attachment between young children and their parents, and helping parents learn appropriate ways to support their young child’s cognitive, language, social, and emotional development. For more information please visit www.InfantToddlerSuccess.org.