Newspaper Page Text
Volume XXXIV No.3 November 19. 1990
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A SCHOOL WITHIN A SCHOOL: SPELMAN’S DAY CARE
by Carla M. Cherry
Have you ever walked past Laura
Spelman and heard the screams of
delightful children? Have you ever
wondered what all the commotion was
about? Well, Spelman College has a
day care center that is celebrating its
16th anniversary this year.
Mrs. Annette White is the director
of the day care center. She received
a bachelor’s degree in English from
Spelman in 1964, and received a
master’s degree in education from
Virginia State University in 1980. She
furthered her studies at Georgia State
University.
The children’s ages range from 2
1/2 to 5 years of age, and are placed
in classes according to their age. Their
academic program includes the study of
language arts, social studies, science,
music, art, and physical education.
They go swimming twice a week, and
when volunteers are available, they
take computer classes.
The children participate in several
campus activities as well. They go
trick-or-treating for Halloween,
participate in the Thanksgiving
convocation as well as the annual
Christmas program. They have an
annual luncheon, and even took part in
Dr. Cole’s Inaugural Convocation.
The children hold their graduation
ceremony in May and the program
closes in the third week of June. The
graduation ceremony is open to the
general public.
The day care center opened its
doors in 1930. It was founded by
Pearlie Reed, who served as the first
director of Spelman’s nursery school.
Its purpose was to serve as a
laboratory school for students to
observe child development, and for
parents to have a place for their
children to participate in activities.
The center is now under the auspices
of the Education Department.
Students from the Psychology and
Education Departments within the
Atlanta University Center can conduct
studies of the children under the
supervision of the teachers.
The day care center can
accommodate 75 children, but only
accepts 60. There are four teachers,
two teaching assistants, and one cook
on the staff. There is a 1 to 8 teacher-
student ratio for the 2 1/2 year olds
and a 1 to 12 teacher-student ratio for
the 3-year-olds.
Not surprisingly, the children were
anxious to be heard. A survey
revealed that swimming, field trips,
playtime in the sandbox, and playing
"fire engine" were among the activities
preferred most by the 2 1/2-year-olds.
The 3-year-olds enjoyed playing with
Legos, using the abacus, reading and
writing.
One 4-year-old confessed that he
liked to read about "Batman and
Joker," while another professed a love
for "basketball, football and pumpkin
games." (Don’t ask me; I couldn’t
understand it either!)
The 5-year-olds preferred playing
kickball and basketball, and one 5-
year-old couldn’t resist those infamous
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
One young lady enjoyed playing
"kitchen and doctor," while some of
her classmates liked the "monkeybars,
the slide and the swings."
What books did they recommend
for knowledge-hungry Spelmanites?
"The Cat in the Hat, Getting Ready to
Read, and (my personal favorite) Green
Eggs and Ham."
The cherubic, energetic children at
the day care center keep the staff very
busy. Talking to them was truly a joy.
Their smiles brighten up the campus.
ALUMNAE SPOTLIGHT: SPELMAN PRODUCES PRAISED NOVELIST
By Ladonya Massie
Attending an institution like
Spelman College has many advantages.
African-American women have the
opportunity to express themselves
freely without the male domination that
exists in the "real world." We are also
surrounded by accomplished female
professors and peers.
The most meaningful memories that
we will carry in our minds always are
of the dynamic African-American
women whom Spelmanites have the
opportunity to see, to know to admire
to learn from and to aspire to be like.
It is even more exciting when the great
women are also Spelman graduates.
One magnificent woman, who
happens to be a 1971 Spelman
graduate, is Tina McElroy Ansa, author
of Baby of the Family. For a few
weeks this semester, she was our
writer-in-residence and taught a creative
writing course. In her voice, you can
hear the excitement and passion that
she has for writing.
Ansa, who was bom in Macon,
Georgia, said that she knew at an early
age that she wanted to be a writer. As
a small child reading stories, she knew
that she would one day write stories.
When asked why she chose to
attend Spelman, Ansa gave two
reasons. First, her sister was a
Spelmanite. The second reason
concerned her high school experience.
In 1963, she and other African-
American classmates integrated a
Catholic high school in Macon. Of
course, being one of the few African-
Americans in the school excluded her
from the social activities most people
enjoy in high school.
She decided then that she would
attend a black college. On a
visit to Spelman during the
Morehouse-Spelman Pre-College
program, Ansa fell in love with
Spelman College.
She entered Spelman in 1967 and
was a writer for the Spotlight. As she
reminisced about her college days,
Ansa smiled and said, "I remember my
first story for the Spotlight. It was on
Andy Young. I had a crush on him
then." And she laughed.
At Spelman, Ansa was an English
major and education minor. She said
that her Spelman experience "was a
good experience. . . a nurturing
atmosphere."
But Ansa said that now,
Spelmanites have the advantage to
experience many writers like Rita Dove
and Toni Morrison and are encouraged
to write.
Ansa said that during her Spelman
days Nikki Giovanni came to campus
and maybe one other writer, but her
professors were pushing her toward
teaching instead of writing.
Nevertheless, she did not choose
to teach. Upon graduating from
Spelman, she went to the Atlanta
Constitution determined to get a job.
That day, Ansa was offered a summer
internship as a copy editor.
After the summer she was hired
full time and eventually became a
feature writer. She worked for the
Atlanta Constitution for nine years and
then decided to leave to begin work on
her creative writing.
Ansa wrote a short story about a
little girl who meets a big, strong,
black, Amazon-like woman in a beauty
shop and submitted it to magazines.
However, it was not published.
Then she sent it to Toni Morrison
(continued on page 3)
Happy Thanksgiving!