OCCC Children's Lab School will put on literacy workshop

A literacy and health information workshop put on by the Child Development Center and Lab School will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, on Tuesday, Aug. 1, at the Southern Oaks Library at 6900 S. Walker.

Constance Pidgeon, Child Development teacher and lab assistant, said the event marks the last of the summer. It will feature guest speakers from three groups: the Women and Infants and Children in education, the Department of Human Services and a Resident Nurse from a Latino health clinic speaking on women’s health.

“[The workshops] are part of an outreach program aimed at building relations with the Hispanic community in South Oklahoma City,” Pidgeon said.

In collaboration with former Lab School teacher Teresa Schutten, Pidgeon has taught three workshops this summer. Schut-ten, a bilingual Spanish-speaker, helped Pidgeon cross the language barrier as interpreter.

Schutten call;ed the program a “double workshop” for parents and children on the importance of everyday reading.

“Parents have observed Teresa and I modeling reading and writing activities with children,” Pidgeon said. “We’ve given parents materials on GED, ESL and enrollment information for OCCC.”

A $3,300 grant issued in March from the OCCC Board of Regents supplied funding for the program.

The grant will expire on Aug. 3, but Pidgeon said the Lab School faculty plan on maintaining contact with Hispanic agencies in south Oklahoma City to build relationships for future collaborative efforts.

“We’re trying to reach the Hispanic community and make them aware of the government programs available to them,” Schutten said.