Thursday Ceremony Set for New UW Literacy Center

A grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the University of Wyoming’s new Literacy Research Center and Clinic is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, March 27.

The featured speaker is Wyoming First Lady Carol Mead, an advocate for literacy initiatives who has been instrumental in securing financing for the project. Other scheduled speakers are UW President Dick McGinity, Board of Trustees President Dave Bostrom and College of Education Interim Dean Michael Day.

A significant private gift to support literacy outreach and research projects is expected to be announced during the ceremony.

The facility will serve as the center of literacy knowledge in Wyoming by offering professional development for teachers, literacy education for pre-service teachers and graduate students, research on literacy education, and service as a statewide clinical resource. It is located on the first floor of the UW College of Education Annex Building, which has undergone an extensive, $3.8 million remodeling, funded by private donations matched by state appropriations.

The center includes a family literacy area; six diagnostic and tutorial rooms digitally connected to a centralized server to provide video, audio and computer data; two large seminar spaces with state-of-the-art online education technology; graduate student research space; two research studios; offices for Victoria Gillis and George Kamberelis, UW’s two Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chairs in Literacy Education; and office space for visiting scholars involved in the center’s outreach and research activities. The general contractor is Shepard Construction Inc. of Rawlins, and the design firm is The Design Studio Inc. of Cheyenne.

The center’s primary research goals are to develop more effective ways to help children become competent, strategic readers and writers, and to help teachers and parents become more effective in supporting children’s literacy development. The center’s mission requires cooperation among public and private entities to better serve the children, families, teachers, schools and community-based organizations for children.