New resources help Naz students support success for community children
New diverse books and high-quality toys at Nazareth provide resources that future teachers, music therapists, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and others who work with children can use in the community to build stronger relationships and support children's success.
Sarah Ullyett and Bradie Harris, both senior music therapy majors, explore the new materials for students to use in the community.
Thanks to funding from a Nazareth Changemakers in Action Grant, the Children's Literature room in the Lorette Wilmot Library on campus has new and more diverse books, toys, music-making items, inclusive seating, and colorful decor.
Students can take out kits — such as one with a yoga for children book, yoga pose cards, yoga pose dice, a game track, spinner, and more — or create their own combinations, such as a stuffed animal cat and Eric Carle’s Have You Seen My Cat? children’s book or a wooden train set with a book about trains. A grad student studying inclusive early childhood education is there twice a week to provide guidance.
New books include Let it Shine, an award-winning book of spirituals; Too Many Tamales, a family Christmas story; Where’s Walrus, a picture book about an animal that escapes from the zoo; and a book called Why Does Izzy Cover Her Ears? Dealing with Sensory Overload.
School of Education faculty (left to right) Eileen Radigan, assistant professor, and Cindy McPhail, professor and associate dean for academic affairs, explored the books and materials available in the children's literature room at a grand opening event.
During a grand opening celebration in September 2022, Sarah Ullyett, a senior majoring in music therapy, commented on the sensory overload book: “That’s just a great way to explain feelings to kids.” She also remarked on the colorful boomwhackers — tuned percussion tubes like ones that she uses with a teenaged client with physical and intellectual disabilities to work on improving his grasping ability. While she already uses a set of boomwhackers with a client, that set must stay within the music therapy clinic. Having the additional materials in the library allows more students across campus to have access to them.
Ellie LaDuc, a first-year student double majoring in inclusive childhood education and theatre arts, said she loves to sing and read to kids, so she was glad to see all of the new resources. “It gets me excited,” she said. “I want to be an elementary librarian, so this is really my vibe.”
Bradie Harris, a senior music therapy major, said it’s great to have new, heavy-duty books with laminated covers, since she has to disinfect any materials she takes into a hospital neonatal intensive care unit, where she has a practicum placement this semester. Earlier she and a speech-language pathology grad student provided co-treatment to a client, and she could imagine using new phonics magnetic tiles with clients to create words and write a song together. “There’s so much stuff we can get inspiration from,” said Bradie.
Sarah Ullyett and Bradie Harris test the puppets. Bradie said, "Puppets are always fun ... and children will tell a puppet things they won't tell you."
Lisa Hiley, Ph.D., an associate professor in communication sciences and disorders, said using the new materials enables more authentic and engaging interactions with children, which can lead to deeper learning, more creativity, and interprofessional use of developmentally appropriate materials with children on campus and in our community.
This initiative has also partnered with the Monroe County Library System to infuse the national Talk Read Sing campaign, which promotes talking, reading, and singing to young children as a way to boost early learning and brain development from birth to age 5. Tonia Burton, head of children's services for the county libraries, was at Nazareth's library to celebrate the enhanced Children's Literature room. "This is great," she said, looking around. "Having diverse materials is going to allow the students to relate to families more easily," she said. "That's so important."
The children's literature room is open when the library is open.
Taylor Coonelly, a sociology major who graduated in August, was prompted to advocate for the grant for this initiative from her three years of scholarly research at Nazareth, culminating in her senior capstone thesis about diverse children's literature, and from her passion for hands-on work in the community.
"I saw a need in the community for engagement with high-quality, own-voices stories, and I worked to create connections and partnerships in the Rochester community to provide them with these resources," says Coonelly, who works in the Monroe County Library System and is now pursuing a master's in library sciences and school media. "As a pillar of the Rochester community, Nazareth has a responsibility to create this inclusion," she adds.
Christopher Allen, a Nazareth reference librarian, also supported the project, drawing from his experience as the full-time district librarian for Wayland-Cohocton Central School.
The additions to Nazareth's children's literature room are continuing. "We are open to suggestions from faculty and students about future materials," said Missy Reed, clinical associate professor and clinic manager in music therapy. "What we have in there now is the first round."