Ocala ADSOE students presenters at Florida Early Childhood Conference

Nine students from Barry University’s Reading Master’s Program in Ocala were selected to be presenters at the Florida Early Childhood Conference held on Sept. 29 at the Doubletree Hotel in Orlando. The reading program is part of Barry University’s Adrian Dominican School of Education.

More than 2,100 public and private school teachers and child caregivers from across the country attended this annual conference, which is designated as the state conference for the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Barry students delivered a presentation entitled “Hooray for Dr. Seuss in VPK: Meeting Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Standards Using Dr. Seuss activities and books.” The one-hour, hands-on presentation provided learning opportunities for teachers and parents. The purpose of the presentation was to show how the emergent reading standards of the Florida Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program can be implemented in an early childhood classroom using developmentally appropriate teaching practices.

This idea began as a parent presentation for the parents at Kinderoo Children’s Academy in Ocala to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday this past February. The Barry students decided to submit a proposal to be presenters at this conference and were accepted. This is the first time students from Barry’s Ocala site have presented at the conference. Barry students presenting were: Lori Bates, Lindsey Barber, Michele Haugland, Camille Heyliger, Cary Palmieri, Katie Patterson, Jennifer Roach, Shirley Wright and Pamela Wiygul.