University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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celebrated fifty years of tradition at the Edna A. Hill Child Development Center A long-standing tradition was acknowl- edged in October as the Edna A. Hill Child Development Center celebrated its 50th anniversary of providing child care to Lawrence area children. The center was established during World War II by the head of the department of home economics, Edna Hill, for whom the center is named. Alita Cooper, associate director, said the center has two primary purposes. The center works to provide 24-hour child care for the women employed at Sunflower Ordinance Works, which was a large ammunition plant, and to create a child development lab. Cooper said the component of the CO 171 PH U PI J t V center that had really grown is research, conducted by students in the master ' s degree program, as well as by faculty members. Our mission is to train child development specialists, to re- search, and to provide a service to children and families in the community, Cooper said. Approximately 100 youngsters, ranging from infants to five-year-olds come to the center every day for a high quality day with planned activities that enable them to learn by exploration and hands-on experience in a Our mission is to train child develop- ment specialists, to research, and to provide a service to children and families in the -Alita Cooper, associ- ate director, Edna A. Hill Child Develop- ment Center good environment, Cooper said. The center is set up so the children are practicing or learning something all the time, ' Lynn Marotz, associate director, said. We plan activities that appear to be play but that are really very purposeful to develop more complex skills, she said. Marotz said two unique aspects of the center are that the programs mix ages together to allov children who develop at different rates to learn from one another and the use of inclusionary class- rooms. Inclusionary means that we have handicapped and non-handicapped children mixed together. The children without problems accept handicaps as a routine part of life and are incentives to the handi- capped children, Marotz said. Even the playground equipment was especially designed to be accessible for all the children, she added. Debbi Napolitano, Danbury, Conn., graduate student, worked at the center to gain experience in her field of behavioral analysis. I love working with kids to see how they develop and how they learn, Napolitano said They do some of the neatest things. It ' s really a lot of fun, she said. . 26 Hill Child Development Center

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.n American Red Cross worker pepares Sean Mayers, Gardner jmior, for donating blood. icto by Amy Soil Blood Drive 25

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Cory Caviar, Overland Park, Kan. junior, points out the difference in two pictures to a kinder- garten student. Photo by Martin Alstaedten Working patiently, Jenny Dover, Stillwell, Kan. junior, explains a workbook exercise dealing with money. Photo by Martin Alstaedten Hill Child Development Center