Accreditations

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Writer at Early Childhood Conference

Hedda Sharapan, a colleague of Fred Rogers who died in 2003, and writer for his Family Communications, Inc. non-profit company, will be the featured speaker at an early childhood conference at the University of Southern Indiana on Saturday, October 24.

Sharapan worked for 43 years with Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, a children's television show that aired on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). In her current work at Family Communications, she continues to build on Rogers' legacy and develops web site material, gathers his quotations and ideas for books, and creates professional development materials. She has a master's degree in child development, and she'll offer stories and video segments both funny and touching. Her address is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. in Mitchell Auditorium of the Health Professions Center at USI.

Throughout the morning, a number of workshops will be offered by USI faculty and other professionals geared toward early childhood education.

A workshop on helping children want to become readers and writers will be held at 1:30 p.m. Participants will learn about "emergent literacy" from infancy by treasured video segments of lullabies, finger plays, and word games. Mister Rogers' visits with Ella Jenkins and Eric Carle also will be shown.

The conference is sponsored by the Bower Suhrheinrich College of Education and Human Services at USI and the Evansville Area Early Childhood Association, a chapter of the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children. Jane Meyer, the conference coordinator, is a USI associate professor of teacher education.

Nearly 300 participants, including early childhood teachers, family home childcare providers, university and high school students, and community agency representatives are registered for the conference.

Contact for more information:
Kathy Funke
Director, News & Information Services
812/465-7050
email

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