From The Director . . .

     This month we are thrilled to welcome three new employees to our Institute team. Hilary Pritchard, Kathy Johnson, and Judy Bonhiver are our latest additions.
     Hilary K. Pritchard was recruited as Program Coordinator for the Minority Research Training and Outreach Program in November 2002. Hilary earned her MA in English at San Francisco State University and worked at the University of California San Francisco for over thirty years.
     For the majority of that time, she worked as a scientific editor, editing faculty papers to be published in the biomedical literature. She also developed and taught scientific writing courses for faculty, lectured in the postgraduate curriculum on the ethical aspects of scientific writing and publication, and taught a workshop for underrepresented minority students in the school's Undergraduate Mentorship Program. In 1998, Hilary was appointed to the Authorship Task Force, an international organization sponsored jointly by the Lancet, the British Medical Journal, and the Council of Biology Editors.
     Most recently, she served as Principal Administrative Analyst for Academic Affairs in the School of Dentistry, where she was responsible for oversight of the school's academic programs and publications. She also worked with faculty and administration to develop and implement an outcomes assessments program for the school. She was one of five people appointed to the Educational Policy Subcommittee to redesign the dental curriculum, and chaired the group responsible for developing the new longitudinal thread, Scientific Method and Clinical Dentistry.
      Kathryn Johnson joined us in December as senior policy analyst to the Marian Wright Edelman Institute. Kathryn's expertise is in the areas of program and curriculum design, grant writing, strategic planning, public policy analysis, and institutional research. 
     Kathryn brings to the Institute, more than twenty years in higher education building university-based programs aimed at promoting interdisciplinary research, experiential learning, and the access of women and minorities to higher education.
     Previously Kathyrn held positions at the San Francisco Urban Institute, the University of California Davis's Women's Resources and Research Center, at University of California's Office of the President and at University of California, Berkeley. Kathryn is the author of the University of California Davis report, Academic Barriers to Retention and Promotion for UC Davis Women Faculty and Recommendations for Action. Please welcome her.    
     At the end of March, Judy Bonhiver joined us as Office Coordinator, after a three year stint in Southern Russia with the Peace Corps.  In Russia she worked with university level Russian students who spoke English, teaching them about business (advertising, marketing, holding meetings, how to interview and write a resume, etc.).  Prior to moving to Russia, she lived here in San Francisco with her husband in Noe Valley and worked for 3M Company / Imation as a territory representative and manager for 15 years.

Child Study Center: Impacting the Academic Experience for Over 30 Years

     In 1970, an SFSU student conducted a small research project in classificatory development using a group of preschool children who were enrolled at the SFSU Child Study Center. Since that time, the Center has enabled students and faculty to conduct more than 50 research studies on such far-ranging topics as "Psychology of Cognitive Development" (1978), "Evaluative Connotations of the Racial Labels Black and White as a Contributing Factor in the Development of Racial Attitudes in Preschool Children" (1975), "Motor Schema Strength as a Function of Variable Practice in Four-year-old Children" (1982), "Parental Understanding of the Correlation Between Preschool Activities and the Learning of Math in K-5" (1995) and "Verbal Metacommunication and Social Competence in Preschool Children" (2002). The Center's impact on student learning, teacher training and curriculum development has been immense.
     The Child Study Center, located in the Lakeview Center on the campus' North State Street, is among a unique group of laboratory schools that exist on elite campuses nationwide including NYU, Yale University School of Medicine, Wellesley College and Stanford University. These centers, funded in part through grants, tuition, in-kind donations and direct subsidies, provide a unique source of academic enrichment, scholarship and collaboration to their campuses, to parents and to the communities they serve.
     With oversight from an interdisciplinary Advisory Council and directed by classroom supervisors Kate Danforth and Carol Field, the Child Study Center provides an exemplary, high quality early childhood setting for 36 children each semester. The Center's classroom supervisors are responsible for screening among the child applicants in order to select a heterogeneous group (e.g. sex, age range, socio-economic and cultural diversity). Additional criteria used in the selection of children includes the child's perceived ability to participate effectively within the structure of the Center and the willingness and ability of parents or other family members to participate in and support the Center. The Center, however, is not conceived nor operated as a childcare facility. 
     During the fall 2002 semester alone, the Center served as a site of academic enrichment for more than 400 SFSU students and provided a source of best practices role-modeling for more than a dozen student interns. The number of students served by the Center has grown to more than 500 this spring. Students use the Center to fulfill course requirements, conduct research and develop master's theses and doctoral dissertations. Departments whose students utilize the Center include Child and Adolescent Development, Biology, Psychology, Consumer & Family Studies, Communicative Disorders, Counseling, Kinesiology, Elementary Education, Liberal Studies, Physical Therapy, Recreation and Leisure Studies, Social Work, Sociology, Special Education, and Speech and Communications. The UCSF School of Nursing also utilizes the Center. 
The Child Study Center has produced a number of stellar community leaders who once served as interns. Among the list of graduates since 1997 are a large number of preschool and elementary teachers, school psychologists, a Head Start coordinator, grants managers, doctoral students, children's advocates and university professors. 
     With an eye to the future, the Child Study Center is actively working to increase the number of faculty and post-doctoral research projects conducted at the Center; expand offerings of workshops, seminars and trainings for early childhood educators and the community; provide expertise to day-care programs and serve as a model of early childhood classroom design; provide parenting workshops for the campus and the community; and develop collaborations with other child centers including head Start, the AS Early Childhood Center and child study centers on other campuses.
     To learn more about the Center or arrange for a visit, contact Office Coordinator Amanda Lucas at 338-2441 or csc@sfsu.edu.

Jumpstart for a Day draws 500 to SFSU

     SFSU's Jumpstart San Francisco hosted more than 500 preschool children from all over San Francisco on April 8th, 2003 at its fifth annual citywide learning festival, Jumpstart for a Day (JFAD). The children, along with their teachers and many parents, spent their day on campus at 17 hands on active learning stations set up at the Seven Hills conference center. This year's JFAD, presented for the second year as the MWEI contribution to the San Francisco's Week of The Young Child celebration, was blessed with beautiful weather, and children could be seen enjoying a range of learning activities from making colored play dough or fancy musical instruments, to playing with a set of life size alphabet blocks. Each learning station was tied directly to a children's book. The stations were staffed by 60 Jumpstart Corps Members, and close to 100 campus and community volunteers. All were trained on their individual stations to offer high quality interactions, guiding thought provoking inquiry, taking dictation and having a great time. 
     In addition to the learning stations, there was also on going entertainment and gifts for the children and their families. Judy Johnston from Jumpstart Press also attended, handing out two issues of her wonderful children's magazine Tessy and Taby. Hubert Lange, a local puppeteer, performed two puppet shows. Mary Norris, a storyteller from the San Francisco Library, engaged the children in fabulous stories throughout the event and the San Francisco Fire Department was on hand to give stop-drop-and-roll demonstrations as well as fun interactive tours of the fire engine. The children even got to use the fire hose!
     "I can't believe how actively engaged all of the children were! I was very impressed with the number of developmentally appropriate activities. We had a blast!" said Charles Drew Child Development Center Site Director, Tamitrice Rice. 
     "I am most pleased with the number of families that attended the event," said Jumpstart Site Director Lygia Stebbing. Each adult was given a Multilingual Jumpstart Family Activity guide with fun take home literacy activities in English, Spanish and Cantonese. "It was like a trip to Disney land for the children and the parents, the children could choose where to go with their parents," said Jumpstart Team Leader, Rakita O'Neal.
     Although many of the Jumpstart sites around the country have scaled back or eliminated their JFAD celebrations, Jumpstart San Francisco remains committed to mounting the festival each year. "This is one of our major outreach activities, since we are able to reach twice the number of children and families that we regularly serve" said Faculty Advisor Dawn Terrell. She added, "it's nice for the kids who work with our Jumpstart Corps Members to get to see where the mentors go to school." Terrell concluded, "I really have to hand it to our great team of Corps members, team leaders, and support staff. Lygia and her crew put on a really stellar festival, with limited resources." The event was made possible through the hard work of Jumpstart Corps Members and dedicated volunteer's from Eric Rosegard's REC 380 class and Pearson Publishing. Support for the event was also provided by Melinda Felice of CPAC, Starbucks coffee, Safeway foods, Whole Foods, Costco, Walgreens, the Klein Foundation, and the Marian Wright Edelman Institute.

A Focus on CAD Alumni Loi Dang

     Loi Dang is a success. Last June when she graduated from SFSU with her B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development (Young Child and Family concentration), she knew what she wanted to do - open her own family day care center. In November, her goal became a reality when she opened her own family day care center, licensed for 14 children. She credits her internship in the CAD program with providing her with the skills and knowledge to realize this dream. Before her internship started, she felt like the 150 hour requirement was a lot (note: it's now 120 hours) but by the end of her internship, she wished more hours were required! 
      Loi transferred to SFSU from CCSF, where she was a nursing major. She was accepted into the Nursing program at SFSU, but after volunteering at the AS Child Care Center on campus for a nursing course, she found that she loved working with infants and toddlers. She loved playing with them as well. She was so anxious to learn more about child development stages and why children were different from each other that she purchased a book on child development and started to read on her own. At about that time, she discovered the Child and Adolescent Development major and made the switch. Loi says she felt comfortable immediately with this change and knew she had made the right decision. In fact, she said that  she felt like a different person;she was much happier and she did better in school. She continues to read about child development and researches information on the internet as well. Her family day care center has mostly infants and toddlers and she looks forward to watching them develop and grow into preschoolers. For Loi, the most important thing was finding what she loved and pursuing her goals. She would like all current CAD students to know that "working with children is not just another job. It is different from any others." She continues by saying that it is hard, but the warmth, the love, and the growth of each child are the rewards and they make life meaningful.

CAD Commencement Reception - May 24
For CAD students who graduated in Summer 02 and Fall 02, and who have filed for graduation in Spring 03, we are hosting a graduation reception in your honor on Wednesday, May 24 from 10-11:30 a.m., at the patio in the front of the Housing and Residential Services Building, located at 800 Font Blvd. You will be receiving an invitation in the mail in the next several weeks and can invite two guests to join you. (This reception will replace the day of graduation morning reception that we held last year). Some of the students from CAD 600 and the Association of Students for Children and Youth will be helping to plan this event.

Advising Day for Fall 2003 Incoming Students - May 8
We will be holding a group orientation on May 8 from 11 a.m. to 12 noon for all incoming students. Check our website for the location (http://cad.sfsu.edu). We will also have individual, drop-in advising from 1-4 p.m. Sign in at the main office SCI 394 on that day and be sure to bring all unofficial transcripts of previous college work. If you are transferring from a private school, a UC, or out of state institution, bring course descriptions of your major course work.

Association of Students for Children and Youth - Potluck - May 14
Join your friends and peers at the last CAD student association event of the semester - the potluck will be held on May 14th, Wednesday, at 2:30 p.m. in SCI 270. The food at the last potluck was delicious and the company was wonderful. Watch for flyers!!! 
The student association has a new bulletin board outside the MWEI/CAD main office in SCI 394 so check it for updates, information about socials, and program information. A large bulletin board will be put up soon for the Association of Students for Children and Youth in SCI 270, the shared student lounge. Remember to use the lounge when you want to meet friends, rest, or study. It's there for you.

Sneak Preview at SFSU
Thanks to CAD students Trixy Atkinson, Hashim Bashiruddin, Yvonne Chen, Christine O'Brien, and Jason Sullivan for their help at CAD table on Saturday, April 5th. Sneak Preview is an exciting recruiting event that the university sponsors each spring for students who have been admitted to SFSU for the fall. These prospective students and their families tour campus, talk to faculty and students from many academic programs on campus, and listen to entertainment in the plaza. The students did a great job of representing the CAD program. Again, many thanks!!!

Summer Courses at Cañada College and CCSF
We will be offering courses at Cañada College and CCSF during the summer (plus a CAD 300 course on campus). These courses are intended for two groups of students: first, for Cañada College and CCSF students who are interested in the CAD major; and second, for SFSU matriculated students. Students in the first group should enroll for the courses through SFSU's College of Extended Learning and/or can contact Janet Egiziano with the CAD Program for more information (415-405 3560). Students in the second group should register for these courses through SFSU's touchtone registration. 
Be sure to check SFSU's schedule of courses since there are other CAD major courses offered through other departments. We are also offering CAD 300 on campus from June 9-July 11.