Jennifer Garner walks the red carpet at the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar party March 4. (Danny Moloshok/Reuters)
Hey, isn’t that … Jennifer Garner, fresh from her meme-making appearance at the Oscars this month, visiting an early-childhood education center in Northeast Washington on Monday?
The A-list actress popped up Monday morning on the Instagram feed of Washington’s makeup-artist-to-the-stars Erwin Gomez, so we knew she was in town, but it wasn’t until her own Instagram post showing her at the Educare school that we learned what she was up to. Garner posted a brief video of herself (wearing jeans and tennis shoes) and a gaggle of little kids, all sitting cross-legged as they apparently played a game. “Quiet hands up!” a teacher instructs the group, and Garner gamely raises a hand along with the students.
“I was reminded of the magic of #Headstart and #EarlyHeadstart on today’s visit to #Educare in Washington D.C with @savethechildren,” she wrote in the post. “75% of the families at this preschool/pre-K/daycare have household incomes at or below $9000 year! In Metropolitan D.C.! In these bright, cheerful, happily chaotic classrooms you’d never know– kids were too busy learning and growing, not to mention showing me the ropes.”
That wasn’t the only stop on the D.C. agenda for Garner, who is a trustee of Save the Children, an organization with Washington offices that advocates for kids’ rights and education. She appeared Tuesday morning at a closed panel with the Senate Finance Committee, per a Twitter post by Mark Shriver, the president of Save the Children’s political advocacy arm. “Great morning with my friend and @SavetheChildren trustee Jennifer Garner testifying before the Senate Finance Committee with @SenatorMenendez, @OrrinHatch, @SenatorTimScott and later, @RonWyden on the importance of #homevisiting programs like #MIECHV,” he wrote, referring to the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program for which Congress recently renewed funding. “#InvestInKids.”
