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Elegant Evening Will Aid Venerable Child Development Lab

The Child Development Lab (CDL) at CSU, Chico has focused on the world of the young child for more than 40 years. CDL created generations of child development teachers, social workers, researchers, and administrators. The participation, observation, and research made possible by the lab continues to provide some of the best training available in the child development field.

A “Window to Their World” is the name of the campaign to raise the $100,000 needed for refurbishing the lab. A gala-dinner dance will be held September 22 as the first major event.

CDL started as a resource for the now defunct home economics department. In 1964, the lab moved into its current space at the back of Modoc Hall. It has provided the setting for observation, teaching and research for more than 2,000 alums.

Barbara Mahler, CDL director from 1972 to 1991, recently looked at pre-schools for a friend’s grandson in San Diego. “We went to one thatwas just glorious. It had a good curriculum; there were wonderful relationships between the adults and the children; the yard was exciting and innovative.” She was delighted to learn that the director was one of her former students. Mahler, who makes accreditation visits at pre-schools, frequently encounters former students at conferences, meetings, and as directors in day care centers. “The wonderful work that we’ve done at CDL has really rippled out and placed hundreds of excellent people in the field,” says Mahler.

The lab is known in the Chico community as a desirable accredited pre-school that serves 46 families a year. Since its beginnings in the 60s, the child development major has matured, and the laboratory school has become one of Chico’s premier pre-schools. “It’s one of the best examples of integration of the campus and the community, where the town and gown come together most enthusiastically,” said Greg Lavin, director of development for the College of Behavioral and Social Science, whose twins attended the school a decade ago.

But now the aging facility is in need of some rejuvenation. Mahler
remembered how wonderful it was in the 70s to work in a place that had state-of-the-art observation equipment, but the equipment hasn’t been updated since then. Enhancement to the sound system will allow different observers to listen to different areas of the playroom. If a child development class is observing the playhouse, and parents arrive to listen to their children in a different area of the room, they will be able to do so. An enhanced video system will use permanent cameras, allowing observation from university classrooms, and recording activities for research. Play yard enhancements include a larger yard, tricycle paths, and fencing.

Cindy Ratekin, faculty member in child development, has been the director of CDLsince 1991. She is looking forward to the enhancements that the Window to Their World campaign will support. “The renovations that will be completed with the funds from the Window To The World campaign will substantially build on CDL’s high quality setting and will allow us to continue to provide Chico State students a model for exemplary care for young children,” she said.

An Evening of Elegance A Benefit for the Child Development Lab

On September 22, “A Window to Their World” and Concours D’Elegance will sponsor a preview dinner dance for the Concours in the ballroom of the new Bell Memorial Union. The evening will feature fine dining and dancing to Chico’s premier dance band, The Skyliners, as well as classic cars and both silent and live auctions.
The $50.00 per person ticket includes admission to the Concours D’Elegance held on campus the next day. Tickets are available at Zucchini and Vine in downtown Chico, or by calling 345-5822 or x6171.}

Barbara Alderson