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November 1, 2007

ULM Child Development Center receives visit from distinguished expert

The ULM Child Development Center was honored by a visit from Sue Wortham, the 2007 recipient of the Patty Smith Hill Award for her activities in the field of early childhood development, Monday, Oct. 8.

Wortham toured the new facility, located at 702 Cole Ave., and visited with the children, Director Emily Williamson, and McGehee Early Childhood Professor Janie Humphries of Louisiana Tech. An expert in playground design, Wortham was invited to visit the new ULM center. She was in Monroe visiting family and was able to fulfill the center’s request, also lending her professional expertise by giving advice for the playground redesign there.

The honored visitor is a distinguished educator, author, and creator of “Global Guidelines for Early Childhood Education and Care in the Twenty-First Century.” She has authored numerous textbooks and studies and participated in international programs in countries like China, Italy, Africa, Haiti, Chile, among others.

Wortham is the past president of the Association of Childhood Education International, the organization which bestowed its highest honor on her in May of 2007. She was the co-chair of the Zurich Seminar to Develop Global Guidelines and has led the way in setting universal standards for early childhood programs. In addition, Wortham developed the Self-Assessment Tool that enables early childhood education and care sites to assess and evaluate their programs.

As a consequence of her work, Wortham and her husband Marshall, retired professor of art, were chosen as advisors to World Children's Relief, an international non-profit organization that develops educational programs in Africa and Haiti.

Wortham is professor emeritus in the Division of Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Marshall Wortham is retired from the art department at Texas State University in San Marcos.

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