University of Kentucky College of Education
CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION
FAMILY FUN & LEARNING
Grad Students Host Event for Students in Family Literacy
On June 7th, nearly 70 community participants attended
a Family Fun and Learning Night at Lexington’s Carnegie
Center, presented by graduate students from the University
of Kentucky’s College of Education. The two-hour event, on
the theme of “Celebrate Families!”, was a service-learning
partnership between the Carnegie Center and Dr. Kristen
Perry’s students.
Graduate students enrolled in Family Literacy had been
learning about literacy as a lifelong process that is grounded
in families and communities. Part of the course’s focus is on
learning about, from, and with families, as well as developing
strong partnerships between families, communities, and
schools.
Students used their new expertise to design and implement
intergenerational, hands-on activities that celebrated families
and drew upon their rich funds of family- and communitybased knowledge. These activities included designing
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homemade cards or writing letters to family members,
creating family-themed superhero comics, making
family puppets, talking about and writing favorite family
recipes, developing a family “bucket list” for the summer
vacation, and making a family scrapbook. Students also
set up a “family photo booth”, which allowed families to
be photographed along with a statement about why they
love their families, or why their families are unique. In
addition to receiving a free book, participating families and
UK students also shared a dinner of pizza and salad, made
possible in part due to the generous support of the Euclid
Avenue Domino’s.
Unconscious Bias
Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale, of Cook Ross consulting
firm, gave a presentation on unconscious bias to
UK College of Education faculty and staff during a
college retreat held in August.
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