Cooperative Extension Service Communications and Technology Department 3354 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-6342 • fax (307) 766-3998 • ces..uwyo.edu

 

For Immediate Release

Story contact:

Cleta Booth (307) 766-4816

 

 

Contact: Steven L. Miller, Senior Editor

Phone: (307) 766-6342

E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu

Archived News Site www.uwyo.edu/agadmin/news/news.htm

 

Date: April 30, 2007

 

UW child center to unveil parents’ hopes and dreams for children

 

            Hopes and dreams that have only resided in hearts will be unveiled this week on the walls of the University of Wyoming’s Early Care and Education Center.

            Parents of youths attending the center have recorded their hopes and dreams for their children to be presented Thursday, May 3, through family portraits and written stories.

            Seventeen of the 80 families using the center participated in the first round of the project, said Cleta Booth, co-director of the center with Mark Bittner. The project’s intent is to give parents a voice in the center and teachers a sense of the power of partnering with parents and their children in childcare.

             The project is based on The Tucson Children’s Project, which Booth viewed last year while attending a Western States Leadership conference in Arizona.

            “Because they were working with a low-income Hispanic population with limited English, their goals were to make the voices of parents heard in the center,” said Booth. “They did that very powerfully. One video showed a father with his very young child. He had the traditional dreams for his child – an education, meaningful employment. The child watched him intently as he spoke.  Then the tape was cut off and the presenter told us the father had just gotten out of prison. There was hardly a dry eye in the place.”

            Booth wanted to bring the powerful tool into the UW center. “We saw it as a wonderful opportunity for getting the voice and perspective of parents into the center and for families to get to know each other,” she said.

            The Early Care and Education Center opened August 2005. The 9,220-foot training and research facility supports the child development and education lab experiences of students in both the colleges of agriculture and education.

            The facility consolidates the former UW Child Care Center, Child Development Center, School-Age Care Program, and College of Education Pre-K program, and it allows for the addition of infant and toddler car.

            Families getting to know other families was a motivating force to participate in the project, Booth found.

            All participating families volunteered and were asked four questions: what do you like to do as a family, how do you happen to be in Laramie, what do you want us to understand about yourselves and your family, and what are your hopes and dreams for your children.

            The interviews were videotaped, transcribed and placed on a DVD for the families. Family portraits were taken by Ted Brummond, UW photographer, without charge to the program.  Booth expressed gratitude to Brummond. “He is an excellent photographer and is so good with people,” she said.

            The hopes and dreams of parents at the center are not uniform, Booth said. “Some parents have specific academic and professional hopes and dreams. Most want their children to grow up and find something they like to do and will be happy doing. They believe that is more important than money or education,” she noted.

            Others place a high value on community service or social justice.

            She also found many of those participating moved to Laramie within the last one or two years. “They are still feeling isolation and adjustment and are finding the center an important part of adapting to Laramie,” said Booth. “It offers contact with other families. They leaped at the chance to get their story out.”

            Some also have nontraditional stories. One is from a single mother. “She says people have such stereotypes about teen pregnancy and teen mothers,” said Booth. “She wanted to let people know about her and her daughter. They are a family, and she has high hopes for her daughter and herself.”

            Booth said the project may also help in the center’s mission to teach future child-care givers.

            “I think it’s an extremely powerful tool to help educate our college students about partnering in a deeper way with parents,” she said.

            On the Web: http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/family/Early_Child_Care_Center.asp

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