Human Development & Family Science News
The Magic of Science
by Daria Webber, Director
Bernice M. Wright Child Development Lab School
Department of Child and Family Studies
As I read an announcement: NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) Endorses the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) Position Statement: Early Childhood Science Education, I found myself reflecting on how we integrate science into our curriculum at the Bernice M. Wright Child Development Lab School here at Syracuse University. We know that children are natural scientists, “discovery scouts” as one of my own children’s preschool teachers called them, and their everyday play is full of scientific exploration. They are daily using some the very basic principles of scientific inquiry that include identifying, comparing, contrasting, classifying and hypothesizing. Science requires children to be actively involved in their play and the process that is occurring. It is a very magical world to young children.
This idea is very apparent in science activity at our preschool. This summer, all of the classrooms had butterfly tents in them, and students followed the process of the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. It began with the caterpillar, and the week culminated in the release of the butterflies on our playground. In between there was much discussion and activity at every stage. Children drew the chrysalis and made predictions about when the butterflies would emerge from the cocoon. They read books, which of course included Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” and visited web sites to gain information. They fed them their orange slices, and observed and documented their progress. As I observed the joy and excitement with the children as they released the butterflies, I could see that all of the adults, including myself, were also experiencing the joy and magic of science as the butterflies flew away, and we made new predictions of what would happen now that they were free.
Honig Authors The Best for Babies
Caregiver-child interactions are critically important in promoting cognitive, language, and social-emotional learning in young children. With examples and detailed explanations, Dr. Alice Honig’sThe Best for Babies: Expert Advice for Assessing Infant-Toddler Programs illuminates the behaviors and interactions that teachers or care providers should provide for the children in their care. The book offers an easy-to-use checklist that directors, mentor teachers, or parents can use to assess each teacher-child interpersonal relationship and the ways caregivers offer learning and living experiences for young children. Published by Gryphon House, the book will be released in November 2014.
Study Identifies Key Components for Prevention, Intervention Programs for Adolescent Smoking in China
Falk College professors, Ambika Krishnakumar (Child and Family Studies) and Lutchmie Narine (Public Health) authored “Parenting practices and adolescent smoking in mainland China: The mediating effect of smoking-related cognitions,” which appeared in the August 2014 edition of the Journal of Adolescence. In collaboration with Dr. Yan Wang, Drs. Krishnakumar and Narine examined the direct and indirect associations of general and smoking-specific parenting practices with Chinese adolescents’ smoking behaviors. Results suggest that parenting practices and smoking-related cognitions are critical components to be incorporated in prevention and intervention programs for adolescent smoking in China.
Falk College Welcomes New Faculty
As we begin the Fall 2014 semester, Syracuse University’s Falk College is pleased to announce the appointment of five new outstanding faculty members: Beth Dixon, Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, Margaret Voss, Patrick Walsh, and Jennifer Wilkins. We also welcome Mine Göl-Güven as visiting assistant professor of child and family studies. Their exceptional wealth of academic and practical experience in their respective fields is complemented by their passion for teaching, research, scholarship and service. Each of them will offer students tremendous opportunities for learning inside and outside of the classroom. We invite you to read more about their accomplishments, and areas for potential collaboration
Dyshawn Davis, Senior CFS, Impacts Syracuse On, Off The field
CFS senior student-athlete, Dyshawn Davis, is a senior linebacker for the SU Men’s Football team. He spent the summer putting his classroom skills to work, working with children as part of the Building Men program, an educational outreach pilot program in Syracuse designed to help young men learn to make good decisions and develop character and leadership. Davis was one of five Orange players to intern with the organization, and it’s an experience, he said, that impacted him as much as it did the kids.
CFS alumna honored for pro bono immigration efforts
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) honored CFS alumna, Diane Chappell-Daly, with the 2014 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award for outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the immigration field during AILA’s Annual Conference in Boston, MA in June.
In addition to volunteering her time and expertise as an attorney, she organizes others to successfully offer an immigration clinic with the recently formed Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP). Recognizing a great unmet legal need, Ms. Chappell-Daly proposed to create a clinic for immigration law practitioners to provide pro bono legal services to the community and volunteered to take the lead on the project. She hosted Research Colloquiums with the local immigration bar to recruit volunteers, helped design a clinic that would be easy for local solo practitioners to join, and helped design an intake, which is conducted by volunteer law students at the clinic to gather the most pertinent information so that the attorney can provide a truly in-depth consultation at the clinic.
The first immigration clinic was held last year and was a tremendous success: seven pro bono immigration attorneys assisted 25 clients over the course of four hours. Since then, there have been three more clinics and her leadership in this program continues; she has been unwavering in her commitment to helping expand pro bono representation to deserving non-citizens in the immigration field.
She is described as going the extra mile by doing all of her pro bono work and organizing in her free time while keeping her small law firm running. She cannot delegate pro bono work to an associate or large staff but is fueled solely by her own initiative. As one fellow AILA member put it, “Diane’s career has been a true embodiment of AILA’s mission statement to promote justice in the immigration field. Though she has never been one to seek recognition, the depth of her commitment to pro bono services and the value of her contributions is well-recognized in our local legal community.”
She holds a B.S. from Bucknell University, an M.A. in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University’s Falk College, and a J.D. (cum laude) from Syracuse University College of Law.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.
Falk College Seed Grants awarded for 2014-15
Each year, the David B. Falk College Research Center, in collaboration with the Dean’s Office, awards seed grants on a competitive basis to assist faculty with completing preparatory work for research projects that have a high likelihood to compete for external funding. The 2014-15 seed grant recipients include:
Development and evaluation of a mind-body awareness intervention to enhance self-regulation as a mechanism to promote healthy weight among young children.
Dessa Bergen-Cico, assistant professor, Public Health
Rachel Razza, assistant professor, Child and Family Studies
Cultivating food justice: using photovoice to document the outcomes of a pilot food system intervention program for youth
Evan Weissman, assistant professor, Food Studies
Housing and LGBTQ youth
Maria Brown, professor of practice, School of Social Work and Aging Studies Institute
Deborah Coolhart, assistant professor, Marriage and Family Therapy
How do Iraqi refugees experience and make sense of family relationships as they resettle in a host country?
Rashmi Gangamma, assistant professor, Marriage and Family Therapy
CFS Awards Presentation, Poster Symposium Honors Student Accomplishments
The Department of Child & Family Studies (CFS) held its annual Student Award Ceremony and Student Internship Poster Symposium at the Bernice M. Wright Child Development Laboratory School this spring. Undergraduate and graduate students majoring in child and family studies were recognized for excellence in many areas.
CFS students also presented highlights of their semester-long internships and related special projects during this event attended by faculty, staff, students, internship supervisors, community partners and family members and friends.
A Reason to Smile on South Campus
The recent gift of a generous Syracuse University alumna and her family is bringing a big smile to the Bernice M. Wright (BMW) Child Development Laboratory School every day.
Literally.
Earlier this month, a 12-foot blue and orange ‘happy face’ sculpture was installed outside of the BMW Lab School on South Campus, a gift from Shelly and Scot Fisher. Shelly is an alumna of the Newhouse School as is their son, Sam. The artist, Scott Gerber, created the piece in his studio in Sarasota, Florida. In the near future, four of his full-body sculptures will appear on New York City’s Riverwalk.
The SU version of the happy face sculpture has a front that is blue and back that is orange. The face is four feet in diameter. Its finish has the same paint used on Learjets, making it weatherproof for Syracuse winters. According to BMW director, Daria Webber ’84, G’89, the sculpture will quickly become a defining feature of the school’s landscape when the new semester begins in August.
“What a wonderful first greeting as children, families, staff, and visitors arrive to our preschool,” says Webber. “This sculpture truly reflects the joyful nature of the work we do with children in our classrooms.”
On the day of the sculpture’s arrival, the students spent the morning on the front lawn exploring it. “The very first child who saw it ran into the school excitedly and said, ‘I just saw a happy face outside!’ At this point, teachers are thinking how it might be incorporated into their activities. It may involve a project sculpting clay in our new art studio in the fall,” adds Webber.
The Bernice M. Wright (BMW) Child Development Laboratory School serves children of diverse backgrounds and abilities between the ages of two and five years old. Located in the Falk College’s Department of Child and Family Studies, the BMW Lab School was founded in 1970 through the joint efforts of Syracuse University students, who were parents of young children, and the College for Human Development . The Child Development Laboratory School serves Syracuse University as a laboratory school in early childhood education and research.
Child and Family Studies majors inducted into Kappa Omicron Nu honor society
The Department of Child and Family Studies (CFS) honored 8 high-achieving students on April 25 at the inaugural induction of the Kappa Omicron Nu, Omicron Alpha Iota chapter honor society—the second induction of the national honor society program for CFS majors at Syracuse University. The mission of Kappa Omicron Nu is to develop empowered leaders who use an integrative approach to enhance quality of living through excellence in scholarship, leadership, and research. Students were selected on the basis of academic excellence in the major. The honor society’s purpose is to recognize and support academic excellence while promoting the ideals of service and leadership. Matthew Mulvaney, associate professor and Kappa Omicron Nu advisor, conducted the ceremony.
The students inducted into the honor society include: Sarah Benjamin, Jenna Chondris, Lexy Davis, Kendall DmochFagan, Emily Lord, Rebecca Rothstein, Rachel Zecher, and Emily Zimmerman.
Page 22 of 25