Grambling State News

At Grambling State University (GSU), the place where ‘Everybody is Somebody,’ even the littlest Tigers are important.

And now GSU has a special reason to celebrate its littlest tigers after the university held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the rebirth of its Child Development Center.

GSU’s Child Development Center closed in 2009 due to a lack of sufficient funding, but monies from the Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s Black and Native Family Futures Fund and a $2 million grant from the U.S. The Department of Education helped return the facility to operation on the Grambling State campus.

The Department of Education grant, known as the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) grant — was awarded to GSU to develop comprehensive support strategies for student parents, including childcare services.

Grambling State University President Dr. Martin Lemelle, Jr. is a product of the Child Development Center and expressed his pride at the facility’s reopening.

“We celebrate little tigers and encourage them to become future Tigers and come to Grambling State University and explore the career and life of their dreams,” Lemelle said. “We’re excited about the child development center and its rebirth and what it means for our community, what it means for the ecosystem of our students and parents, and thinking through the articulation of the possibilities.

“So when you open the door today and see yourselves here and your children here, share the message — the message that this is possible because of investment. Investment from the Department of Education, investment of partners like the Aspen Institute, which allows us to do this great work. This is also an opportunity for our workforce, because many of our team members from across the campus are here today. If you have little loved ones in your family, there is also an opportunity to engage them in the fabric of the child development center.”

The center will operate under the auspices of GSU’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS), which is headed by interim director Terry Matthews. Heading the Child Development Center itself will be interim director Carol Lewis.

“Our goal is to produce readers by the age of 4,” Lewis said. “We will be able to accomplish this goal because of the wonderful ecosystem we have at Grambling State University. We have support from the (FCS) department, the department which the center is housed within.

“But FCS is not the only department that has embraced this Childhood Education Center. As you see here before us, we have the Call Me MiSTER program. Those gentlemen have been instrumental in helping us do the groundwork necessary for us to open.”

Lewis also thanked Dr. Stacy Duhon, dean of GSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, for incorporating an early childhood education component into GSU’s education program.

“We have early education majors who are doing their work study in our childcare center,” Lewis said. “And we expect to expand on that. Our goal is to teach the whole child so that in secondary school education, we want to expose them to the early stages of human development so that they become not only better educators but better parents in the long run.”

Lewis said both of her two sons were reading by the age of three and that is something she wants to see for all children attending GSU’s Child Education Center.

“That can happen with any child, so that is my goal for the children of this center — to expose them to literacy early and often so they are prepared for K-12, not only to succeed but to excel,” Lewis said. “We want them to ask where did those abilities come from? And we want them to know that it came from the Grambling State University Child Development Center.”

Matthews said the rebirth of the center creates a new future for GSU.

“A bright future officially begins here in our ‘Little Tiger World of Wonder’ — the Grambling State University Child Development Center,” Matthews said. “Today we gather to celebrate the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the GSU Child Development Center, a place where little tigers’ dreams take flight and their little minds blossom.

“This is more than just a building. It is a beacon of hope, a nurturing ground where children can explore, learn and grow. And not just young minds, but also our GSU students, who are now positioned to receive invaluable learning experience as they observe and work with our little Tigers.”

Matthews said the philosophy of the GSU Child Development Center is rooted in the belief that every child is unique and deserves a high-quality classroom education.

“Our center provides an opportunity for parents to invest in their child’s future at no cost to them,” Matthews said. “I’ll say that again — at no cost to them. Full funding for tuition and the complete operation of the child education center is provided through a CCAMPIS grant that awarded Grambling State University $2 million.

“We are committed to providing high quality childcare and education for our little tigers. We are so proud of the fact that the teachers at the center are graduates of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. We are excited to embark on this journey at the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and we will carry out our vision, our mission and the goals here at Grambling State University. Together we will create a bright future for our children, for our little tigers, their parents and the wonderful world of the GSU Child Development Center.

Samantha Dimmer is a GSU student with a child going to the GSU Child Development Center.

“Going to Grambling State University, I majored in Child Development and came to school back in 2009,” Dimmer said. “I had children at that time, and it was a whole lot of work trying to maneuver back and forth and find a babysitter. I kept my dream going  in 2011 when I was pregnant and ended up in grad school. My son was right here in class with me. It grew to be very hard because I didn’t have the support system that we have now.”

But Dimmer stuck to her goals, earning an Associate’s degree in 2013 and also studying Computer Information Systems. She completed her undergraduate degree last year and thanks to the rebirth of GSU’s Child Education Center, Dimmer, who now also has a 1-year-old son, is in graduate school.

“When you don’t have childcare and you want to complete your education, you either stop or you keep going,” Dimmer said. “So, this is the product of keeping going.”

Dimmer thanked Department of Family and Consumer Sciences lecturer Dr. Suzanne Mayo-Theus and Lewis for the support they’ve given her in work to continue her education and expressed gratitude to the child development center for helping her continue her academic journey.

LaNya Carter, a senior social work major from Monroe, gave birth to son Xylon Kirkpatrick, Jr. on July 3 and is able to continue her studies thanks to GSU’s Child Education Center.

“It means everything to me,” Carter said of the center. “Growing up in a Black community, you see it every day, but it’s much more different when you’re a single mom yourself. I was raised by a single mom, and I watched her struggle every day. So, when I found out I was pregnant, I didn’t know what to do or how it would go.

“So, I couldn’t be more grateful. I don’t know who could watch my child while I am in school. I couldn’t afford childcare, but this allows me to better myself and become the mom I need to be.”

Carter, a corporal in the Louisiana National Guard, said she hopes her story will encourage other moms to take advantage of the child education center.

“It’s not just a daycare, they actually teach my child,” Carter said. “He went and the next week he was literally coming home and making noise and ‘talking’ and doing things like trying to sit up at only 4 months.

“And they update you all the whole time, so it’s almost like you are there. I know when he’s taking a nap. It’s amazing.”