MURFREESBORO — After more than 30 years with a
name that announced its goals, MTSU’s Project Help is taking the name of its
founder and its expanded services.
The
university unveiled a new sign Friday at the North Baird Lane headquarters for
Rutherford County’s only community- and center-based program helping very young
children, including those with special needs.
It
now proudly reads “The Ann Campbell Early Learning Center at Middle Tennessee
State University.”
"There's
a quote that's hung in my office for probably 30 years, and I think it's so
fitting today when we think of Dr. Campbell's work,” said Dr. Lana Seivers,
dean of MTSU's College of Education and former state commissioner of education,
at the special celebration.
“It
says, 'May He who has chosen to limit some of His children be merciful enough
to guide the hands of those entrusted with their care.’ We're so thankful that
Ann Campbell was entrusted with caring for our youngest and most special
children.”
You
can watch a video from the ceremony, which welcomed dozens of friends, family
members, students, teachers and even some Project Help graduates, at http://youtu.be/cV94xSWstGw.
Campbell, who passed away in 2011,
was posthumously recognized for her dedication to childhood education by a
special joint resolution in this year’s session of the Tennessee General
Assembly. Gov. Bill Haslam signed the proclamation April 10.
“Her
groundbreaking work in early childhood education, specifically her dedication
to providing services for very young special needs children as well as
educating typically developing young children to respect, befriend and help
their special needs peers, consistently placed Middle Tennessee State
University at the forefront of early childhood education,” the document reads.
The Lenoir City, Tenn., native spent her career creating
groundbreaking opportunities for children with special educational needs and
their teachers. After stints in Arkansas and Memphis, Campbell came to
MTSU in 1981 as one of only two professors of special education and immediately saw the desperate need
for a developmental preschool in Murfreesboro.
By 1983, she had created “Project HELP”
— Help Educate Little People — at MTSU to provide a classroom environment for
preschool children with special needs and a training ground for early education
majors.
“This
program was in place three years prior to the federal law mandating services
for very young children with developmental delays before they reached school
age,” said Dr. Brad Bartel, university provost. “During her time at MTSU, Ann procured
and managed — and this is amazing! — more than $23 million in federal, state
and private grants to support early childhood intervention programs.
“Who
better to bridge the social gaps that lead to academic problems, family
disruptions and bullying? Children teaching children diversity, helpfulness and
acceptance: very much the goal of everything we do here at MTSU.”
Campbell initially ran the program
out of two boxes in the trunk of her car. Its first permanent home was a
kindergarten classroom at Homer Pittard Campus School, and Project Help moved
several times when larger campus quarters became available. She led the effort
to fund, design and construct a freestanding building for the program on North
Baird Lane, which opened in 1997.
The program became a model for
other programs across the state, and its continuing growth led to a 2007 expansion
into a second MTSU location in the Fairview Building.
Campbell taught
classes and served as director of Project Help until 2000, when she passed the
torch to the first official full-time director, Debbie Bauder. Bauder returned
to the classroom in 2006, making room for the current director, Susan Waldrop.
“Renaming this program also
reflects the continued expansion of the comprehensive services we offer to the
community’s children and families, as well as our long-range goal to ultimately
operate a comprehensive one-stop, wrap-around educational and therapeutic
program for families across Middle Tennessee,” Waldrop said at Friday’s event.
The
Campbell Early Learning Center at MTSU provides classes for children ages 3
months to kindergarten, where little ones with developmental delays play and
learn with those who are developing typically. The Yellow Room, formerly known
as “Project Help Prep,” in the Fairview Center helps 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds get
ready for public school.
The
program also provides home-based services for families of children from birth
to age 3 who have developmental delays. It’s affiliated with the Tennessee
Early Intervention System and provides hands-on learning experiences for MTSU
and Motlow State Community College’s Nursing Program students who work with the
children and staff.
“Because
of her, literally thousands of Tennessee children received the services they
needed and deserved, and their families received the support and the resources
they needed to make sure their children are successful and valued and
appreciated,” said Seivers.
“All
of us like to think that we've made a difference in the world. I think very few
of us can hope for the kind of living legacy that Dr. Campbell's hands guided
through this work. It is work that so many people will witness and benefit
from, and our future is exciting and bright.”
For
more details about the Ann Campbell Early Learning Center at MTSU and its
services, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/ProjectHelp.
Check out the link to its Facebook page, too, for some great photos of the
people, big and little, and their activities.
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