03-22-04

HANSEN EARLY CHILDHOOD LECTURE TO BE MARCH 30 AT ISU

AMES, Iowa -- A nationally recognized expert on early childhood intercultural perspectives will revisit campus March29-31. Janet Gonzalez-Mena is the 2003-04 Barbara E. (Mound) Hansen Early Childhood Lecture Series Endowment speakerfor Iowa State University's College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Gonzalez-Mena will speak on "Making Links: A Parent-Professional Collaborative Approach," at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 30,in the Mahlstede Room at Reiman Gardens, 1407 Elwood Drive, Ames. The event is free and open to the public.

Gonzalez-Mena's lecture will be on suggestions for increasing the joint efforts between school and home while providingexamples of ways to increase sensitivity to the partnership.

Gonzalez-Mena is a consultant and member of the WestEd Program for Infant Toddler Caregivers. WestEd is a SanFrancisco-based nonprofit education research and development agency that serves California, Arizona, Nevada and Utahand trains infant/toddler caregivers in the United States.

She has worked as a preschool teacher, child-care director, Head Start trainer and program coordinator focusing on thecare of abused and neglected children. She has authored several books and articles on early childhood education.

While at Iowa State, Gonzalez-Mena will participate in a diversity discussion from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Tuesday,March 30, Room 0333, Palmer Human Development and Family Studies Building. The discussion is free and open to thepublic.

Gonzalez-Mena will also tour the ISU Child Development Laboratory School, meet with human development and familystudies students both in the classroom and informally, and interact with Lab School faculty and staff.

"The Hansen Lecture Series is used to address cutting-edge topics in early childhood education," said Carol AlexanderPhillips, administrator for the Lab School. "Her experience is a natural fit for the diverse student body in the LabSchool, the college and at Iowa State."

Established in 2001, the Hansen Early Childhood Education Lecture Series Endowment is made possible by a gift fromRichard and Barbara (Mound) Hansen. The Hansens created the series to bring contemporary, issue-oriented topics onearly childhood education to the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

For more information, contact Phillips at (515) 294-7478.

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