SEPTEMBER 23, 2004 Child Development Center Seeks Accreditation
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V OL.100 , NO .4 THE T HE U NIVERSITY OF N EBRASKA - KEARNEY ANTELOPEWeekend Weather Tennis fall FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Sunny Sunny Mostly Sunny Got milk? season High 76 High 75 High 76 page 4 kicks off Low 47 Low 47 Low 48 page 7 THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 23, 2004 Child Development Center seeks accreditation by Ken Gallagher Most of the center's operating budget needs are met through the Antelope Staff Writer fees parents pay to have their children enrolled at the center, but when the center sets out to make improvements, such as enhancing its curriculum or installing new playground equipment, it must seek The Child Development Center at UNK aims to enhance its other sources of funding, such as grants and donations, she said. preschool and day-care programs by becoming an accredited facili- Becoming an accredited facility will put the center in a stronger ty. position to acquire funding and resources for such improvements, The center recently began the nearly year-long process of becom- Cordova said. ing accredited through the National Association for the Education of Everyone associated with the Child Development Center has a Young Children, JoAnna Cordova, director of the Child hand in the accreditation process. All aspects of the center's opera- Development Center at UNK, said. tion will be evaluated and assessed by staff, parents and administra- Accreditation will enable the center to improve its programs as it tors as the process continues, she said. strives to provide the best possible experience for children and their Determining the needs and expectations of parents whose chil- parents, Cordova said. dren attend the center is an especially important aspect of the accred- "I think we provide a great experience for the children now, but itation process, she said. by attaining accreditation, we will enhance the program so much Rachel Vanderbeek of Kearney is glad to be part of the process. more," she said. Vanderbeek's children, Claire, age 4, and Will, 7 months, both attend The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the center. the nation's largest organization dedicated to improving the quality Vanderbeek said the center provides more than just day care for of programs for children from birth to third grade. The association's her children. The center's preschool program is especially important national accreditation system encompasses child care centers, to her, she said. preschools, kindergartens, and school-age child care programs. Vanderbeek said that accreditation will surely strengthen the cen- Currently about 8,000 facilities in the U.S. are accredited by the ter's programs. "It will give our kids some more opportunities," she association, with a total enrollment of nearly 700,000 children. said. The UNK Child Development Center operates under the auspices Accreditation is not an inexpensive process for any child care of the university's Vice Chancellor of Business and Finance. The center. university provides space for the center in the Otto Olsen building, The UNK Child Development Center needed $900 to fund the as well as utilities and maintenance needs, Cordova said. project, Cordova said. Fortunately, the center secured a grant from Aside from those needs, the center is financially responsible for Nebraska's state branch of the Association for the Education of meeting its own needs, Cordova said. Young Children which covered all but $75 of that cost. This includes not only instructional materials and wages for the Cordova said providing such grants encourages organizations to center's 24 part-time and four full-time staffers, but also items such seek accreditation. Photo by Ken Galliger as toys, playground equipment and books. Geoffrey Exstrom, age 4, prepares his breakfast Monday morning. Nebraska authors get festive and celebrate literature by Charise Dawson little different. Now with this Book Award for an anthology: to Get Published.” Antelope Staff Writer book in their hands, they didn't “I'm a big Ron Block fan. I think Jeff Gerdes, an undergraduate even know the half of it.” he's wonderfully grotesque.” from Gibbon, was especially Strangeness has a place in Another festival feature interested in the session about Strange is okay. This was part plains literature, Block argued. included readings and discus- getting published. Gerdes wrote of the message delivered by Ron Literature that gets to the truth of sions from “A Different Plain: some pieces in a class with UNK Block, writer and keynote speak- small towns in the plains allows Contemporary Nebraska Fiction professor Charles Peek last er for the 2004 Nebraska Book readers to notice the things they Writers.” The novel was part of semester and is now interested in Festival luncheon held in the see day after day, the speaker a community reading program getting them published. UNK Nebraskan Student Union said. called “One Book/One The writer said getting pub- last weekend. Small-town book clubs can Community.” Every library and lished is a difficult task; there is Block's presentation, benefit from this literature, nearly every book club in a lot of research and cover letter “Concerning Freaks, Book Block said, adding that writers Nebraska was invited to read the work involved. Clubs, and the Unbearable are outsiders that “offer correc- anthology, promote it in the com- Don Welch, UNK alumnus, Distances of the Plains,” was tive vision” to readers. munity and then join a discus- professor, poet and winner of the given to a full room of writers, Strange characters in litera- sion group at the festival. “I got Mildred Bennett Award for fos- teachers, students and lovers of ture act as a mirror for readers, to listen to three authors whose tering literary tradition in literature from across the state. he said. When a reader can work I admire read their own Nebraska, offered encourage- “A blank page always lis- acknowledge he is “strange,” he work,” said Eric Reed, UNK ment and advice to the luncheon tens,” said Block, who considers can close the distance between graduate student. attendants. writing a freedom from self-cen- his neighbors and fellow citi- Attendants of the “This is a great time to be a sorship. During the publication zens. poetry/prose reading at Black writer in Nebraska,” he said. process, however, a writer's work UNK graduate student Gary Sheep Coffee Shop on Saturday In recognition of the writers falls into the hands of strangers, Drop said, “Ron was both night listened to intimate read- at the festival and those across he added. humorous and inspiring in his ings and commentary of other the state, including newly According to Block, the multi-media presentation. He Nebraskan writers. “I appreciat- appointed poet laureate of the writer faces disembodiment as spoke about the truthfulness of ed the chance to meet serious United States, Nebraskan Ted “strangers make strange interpre- writing in and about Nebraska.” writers. I find the experience Kooser, Welch advised aspiring tations.” Shelly Clark agreed. “Write motivating,” Reed said. writers to “move to Lincoln and “Suddenly, you worry what what we know; don't be afraid to The festival featured sessions drink the water.” your Sunday school teacher will say what we want to say,” she on literature topics including The 2005 Annual Nebraska say,” said the Nebraska native. said. fantasy and science fiction, the Book Festival will be held at “In Gothenburg,” Block said, Clark is a UNK alum and Photo by Zack Houdek literature of classic Nebraska Nebraska Wesleyan University “people always thought I was a winner of the 2004 Nebraska Professor Charles Fort and Ron Block take a time-out and smile. author Willa Cather, and “How in Lincoln. UNK alumni empower Students help local Red Cross You will only feel a slight pain. select female students Students donated blood during the by Karri Thunker encouraged to get to know one Women and Leadership: The Antelope Staff Writer another before the weekend Essentials; Marketing Yourself Red Cross’s recent event takes place. With Confidence; Following Students are chosen for the Your Career Path; and Career, blood drive. The More than 50 women dedicat- yearlong program based on sub- Family and Personal Pursuits: blood mobile for the ed to mentoring and networking mission of an application and a Bringing Balance to Your Life. opportunities gathered together 250-word essay on the impor- “Role-playing played a big American Red last weekend at the UNK Alumni tance of mentoring in their lives, part in learning this weekend. Cross gave free House for Gold Torch Weekend. Kristin Howard, UNK Gold “We worked on the proper The Gold Torch Society was Torch Society director, said. way to network and learned how t-shirts to donors. established in 2000 by the "The society's alumni mem- to give the perfect handshake. I The American Red University of Nebraska at bers are successful women from found this all to be very benefi- Kearney Alumni Association. a variety of backgrounds includ- cial as I will be entering the Cross provides The organization provides ing education, politics, medicine, workplace in December,” Chrys blood to the mentoring and networking athletics, business and journal- Wiebelhaus, a public relations military, other opportunities for UNK alumni ism," Howard said. " senior from Hartington, said. and undergraduate women. The best aspect of the pro- “I also learned how important American blood The weekend focused on edu- gram is that alumni and students first impressions can be as they centers, and all cating, inspiring, connecting and have the opportunity to network are formed in the first seven sec- empowering women. and establish one-on-one person- onds of a conversation.” American hospitals. Alumni members are nomi- al relationships.