Huntington Times

The June Harless Center for Rural Educational Research and Development has been awarded a $50,000 Sparking Early Literacy Growth in West Virginia grant. The West Virginia Public Education Collaborative (WVPEC) and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, working with the West Virginia University Foundation, awarded the grant to the June Harless Center, which is part of the College of Education and Professional Development at Marshall University.

The funding will be used at Marshall through a collaboration between the June Harless Center and the Marshall University Communications Disorders program in the College of Health Professions. The project aims to emphasize how children can benefit from a well-rounded approach with the expertise of an early childhood educator and a speech-language pathologist in the pre-K classroom.

Clinicians from the Marshall University Communication Disorders program will work with teachers from the Marshall University Early Education STEAM Center, home to an on-campus pre-K program, and the Explorer Academy, a local elementary school. They will participate in professional learning and coordinate activities that foster emergent literacy and language strategies.

The presence of both education students and communication disorders students presents a unique learning opportunity in pre-K classrooms.

“Advancing literacy outcomes for children in West Virginia is paramount to the mission of the June Harless Center,” said Dr. Tarabeth Heineman, executive director of the June Harless Center. “We believe that by developing best practices for rich language acquisition in early childhood classrooms, we can support all learners to grow and develop. The Sparking Early Literacy Growth program has provided a wonderful opportunity to work collaboratively and combine the expertise of two departments on campus.”

The June Harless Center will work with WVPEC throughout a year-long implementation of the new Sparking Early Literacy Growth program. A WVPEC Sparking Literacy Consultant will be assigned to help with project implementation.

The WVPEC is committed to advancing public schools in West Virginia from early childhood through higher education. The WVPEC’s aim with the Sparking Early Literacy Growth Grant is to find innovative ways to improve literacy in West Virginia. For more information on the grant and WVPEC, visit wvpec.wvu.edu.