MURFREESBORO
— Every day at
the Ann Campbell Early Learning Center seems to be a party in the making, so
why not share the fun at a giant community party Friday, July 29?
“Saddle
Up,” the MTSU program’s annual fundraising event, is more family-friendly this
year, opening up Murphy Center from 5:30 to 8 p.m. July 29 for kid-focused fun,
hands-on activities and, of course, great food.
“This
year is the 10th anniversary, and what a great year to completely change
everything!” says Christy Davis, the new director of the ACE Learning Center.
“Historically,
it’s been an adult-focused event, but we serve children, so what better way to
celebrate than to make children the heart of the event?”
“Saddle
Up” tickets are $10 per person or a $50 maximum per family. Included in the
admission price is great food from local businesses. Suggested attire, as
always, is jeans, boots and cowboy hats.
A silent
auction will feature Walt Disney World tickets, tickets to the Tennessee
Aquarium, Southwest Airlines tickets, a gift card from Bell Jewelers, Discovery
Center passes, MTSU football, baseball and basketball tickets and more.
Tickets and more information are available at http://www.mtalumni.com/saddleup.
“The
Discovery Center (of Murfreesboro) is bringing animals!” Davis says, “and we’ll
have a huge straw-bale maze, a live bee observatory, a magician, a
horse-grooming station … Dance Murfreesboro is going to come, too! We’ll have
lots of sensory activities for children, so there are many opportunities for kids
to have some fun. We’ll even have a gigantic coloring book!
“This is
a great opportunity for any community members, if they’re curious about our
center and what we do, to come and find out more about us.”
The ACE
Learning Center provides learning environments for children with
and without developmental delays, allowing them to play together and learn from
each other. Teachers at the center plan activities that help each child develop
good communication, social, cognitive and motor skills.
Davis, an MTSU alumna with bachelor’s and master’s
degrees in education, was named the new director of the center June 7,
replacing longtime director Susan Waldrop, who retired last year.
Dr. Ann Campbell, a faculty member in MTSU’s
Department of Elementary and Special Education, established what was then known
as Project Help in 1983, creating what would become one of Tennessee's first
inclusive early childhood programs for children ages 15 months through
kindergarten.
Campbell died in 2011, and the center, now expanded
from its main MTSU facility on North Baird Lane into additional space in the
university's Fairview Building, was renamed for her in 2014.
MTSU students are integral to the ACE Learning
Center and its young charges. They work and volunteer in the center’s four classrooms
throughout the academic year, interact with and play alongside the children,
and support the teachers by assisting with daily activities.
The annual Saddle Up event supports ACE Learning
Center projects alongside funds from tuition, MTSU, the United Way of
Rutherford and Cannon Counties, the Charity Circle of Murfreesboro and private
donations.
To learn more about 2016’s Saddle Up, donate
silent-auction items or become a sponsor for the event, contact Davis at christy.davis@mtsu.edu.
For more information about the Ann Campbell Early
Learning Center and its work, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/acelearningcenter
or call 615-898-2458.
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