Florida A&M University News June 17, 2016 FAMU Early Childhood Development Center Director Goes Above and Beyond Courtesy of WCTV Eyewitness News By: Alicia Turner TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Going beyond the speeches of last week's 2016 Community Summit on Children and into the community, one local program director says class time is about more than the ABC's. Babies, toddlers, and young children attend school at Florida A&M University's Educational Research Center for Child Development. Many of them are the heart of a recently released study concerning the status of Leon County Children. "Many of the children in our center are children of color," FAMU ERCCD director Kenedria Thurman says. "Statistically they are at a higher risk for a lot of things, like behavioral problems, a higher risk for poverty, and a higher risk for lack of brain development simply because of when they may have begun their learning experience." Experiences that can make all the difference. Thurman says that the center has always gone above and beyond the call of duty to prepare students, and sometimes it's preparing them for more than education. "You have all of these different elements that go into poverty that I think makes the difference between what a child needs and what we can provide to make sure they get a holistic supply of resources," Thurman says. "Most children need more than the bare minimum." Thurman also says that events like the recent summit are a good way to get everyone involved and now it's a matter of how to create change. "When we try to make social change and impact the lives of children and families, sometimes you do have to cross the streams," she says. "Sometimes there are multiple things at the table necessary to effect change on one of those people. I like to cross the streams and see what we get when we make those kinds of change." Change that now could make all the difference in the future. Thurman says she is looking at ways to continue to collaborate with others to continually make the center better for its students. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-592-4820 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/ Register here http://hbculibraries.org/html/2016meeting-form.html for the October 10,11 Membership Meeting in Atlanta. [Sized Coming Soon]NEW DIGS!!!! The HBCU Library Alliance is relocating to the Atlanta University Center Woodruff Library. July 1st is target date for transition. Stay tuned!!! LYRASIS, Inc. 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 150 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.