SU Dedicates Claude Moore Center for Literacy
Shenandoah University will dedicate its Claude Moore Center for Literacy on Thursday, June 26, at 11:00 a.m., at the James L. Bowman Building, 20 South Cameron Street, in Winchester.
Dr. Peter Edwards, director of the Claude Moore Center for Literacy and professor of reading in the School of Education and Human Development at SU, anticipates the center's dedication on Thursday, June 26, at 11 a.m., at the James L. Bowman Building, 20 South Cameron Street, in Winchester.
Visitors and the media are invited to observe and photograph a summer reading camp taking place in the center between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.
A $35,000 grant from the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation of Fairfax, Va., enabled the university to establish the center, part of the School of Education and Human Development, to promote literacy in the region through community outreach and by training current and future teachers in best practices in teaching reading and writing.
The Center for Literacy will house a collection of traditional and electronic educational materials, adaptive technology and software for students, their families, graduate instructors and teachers.
The reading camp, the center’s first initiative, is for elementary and middle school students with a broad spectrum of reading difficulties. Graduate students pursuing master's degrees in education with a concentration in reading will tutor the students, one-on-one, four mornings a week from June 25 to July 16.
The tutors, with their faculty supervisors, are already meeting with students and parents to assess the children's reading problems and write individual remedial instruction plans as well as involve parents in the learning experience.
"Parental involvement is one of the most critical factors in helping children to develop reading and writing skills," said Dr. Peter Edwards, director of the center.
"Parental involvement is one of the most critical factors in helping children to develop reading and writing skills," said Dr. Peter Edwards, director of the center. "We know our students experience greater success when parents are part of the process."
Dr. Edwards said the staff is developing a plan and timeline for several other initiatives during the coming year.
"We are looking at opportunities to work directly with children through community outreach. For example, we may offer a young writers conference for students from local schools.
"We will also offer opportunities for our graduate education students and existing teachers to help them hone their teaching skills. We particularly want to work with those who teach at schools with high numbers of at-risk children. Other plans call for involving graduate students and local teachers in SU's annual Children's Literature Conference, writing workshops and other professional development opportunities."
Edwards said he is also talking with Loudoun County Public Schools educators about the possibility of expanding the reading camp to Shenandoah's Northern Virginia Campus in Leesburg next year
"By this time next year, the campus will be located in a new and much larger facility with the classroom facilities and technology to ideally accommodate a reading camp in Loudoun County," Edwards said.
Dr. Edwards, who earned bachelor's degrees in history and comparative education from the University of Western Australia and master's and doctoral degrees in reading education from the University of British Columbia, began his career teaching at the elementary and secondary levels. Since 1974, he has taught reading education at undergraduate and graduate levels at universities in Australia, Canada and the United States. He joined Shenandoah University in 2006 as director of the university's graduate reading specialist program.
Edwards has developed and directed successful, family-based reading and literacy centers at several locations, including Clarion University of Pennsylvania, SUNY Plattsburg and SUNY New Paltz. The upcoming reading camp was modeled on the successful pilot literacy clinic he created last year at Shenandoah.
The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation was established in 1987 by Dr. Claude Moore to enhance educational opportunities for young people in the Commonwealth of Virginia and elsewhere. Upon his death in 1991, the philanthropist left his estate, the bulk of which consisted of Loudoun County real estate, to the foundation to further these efforts.
The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation is an organization recognized for instigating programs and partnerships aimed at increasing academic competence and encouraging leadership abilities, with an emphasis on the underprivileged. For more information, visit http://www.claudemoorefoundation.org/.
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, a national nursing shortage continues to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for healthcare grows. The U.S. Department of Labor has predicted a need for 600,000 new nurses by 2016, among the largest number for any occupation. In addition, nursing preparatory programs across the country are struggling to expand enrollment levels to meet the rising demand for new nurses.
Shenandoah University offers a full-range of nursing programs at its Winchester campus, from a baccalaureate track (LPN-to-BSN, RN-to-BSN, a five-semester transfer BSN and a traditional four-year BSN degree program) to a Master of Science with specialty tracks in health systems management, family nurse practitioner, nurse midwifery and psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioner. This fall, students in the first Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) class will prepare for terminal degrees in family nurse practitioner and psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioner/clinical nurse specialist.
Inova Health System is a not-for-profit healthcare system based in Northern Virginia that consists of hospitals and other health services, including emergency- and urgent-care centers, home care, nursing homes, mental health and blood donor services, and wellness classes. Governed by a voluntary board of community members, Inova's mission is to improve the health of the diverse community it serves through excellence in patient care, education and research. Inova provides a healthy environment for its patients, families, visitors, staff and physicians by prohibiting tobacco use on its campuses.
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