(JACKSON, Miss.) – Jackson State University and Mississippi Public Broadcasting unveiled the new Mississippi Learning Institute Early Childhood Resource and Training Center on Oct. 2 at the Sally Barksdale Educational Resource Center on the university’s main campus, 1400 John R. Lynch St. in Jackson.
Through a grant from the James and Madeleine McMullan Family Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, JSU and MPB have created an early childhood teaching laboratory that will provide professional development and technical assistance to Mississippi educators, college students, child care providers, and participants in the MLI Parents as First Teachers Program.
The brightly decorated interactive resource lab is a model preschool classroom and is based on the Between the Lions (BTL) Preschool Literacy Initiative. Studies have shown that preschool children who are exposed to the BTL curriculum far outpace their peers in knowledge of words and phonics. The Mississippi Learning Institute Early Childhood Resource and Training Center will provide educators with tools and techniques for implementing curriculum concepts in the classroom.
For more information, contact Dr. Nikisha Ware at the Mississippi Learning Institute at 601-979-0208 or nikisha.g.ware@jsums.edu or Mari Irby at MPB at 601-432-6286 or mari.irby@mpbonline.org.