USU Children’s Parade on April 17 to Celebrate Week of the Young Child

USU is celebrating its early childhood programs April 13-17 by observing the Week of the Young Child, a program of the National Association for the Education of Young Children which promotes high-quality early learning for children from birth through age eight. The week-long event has been celebrated since the early 1970s across the country in childcare centers, preschools, and other early childhood education facilities.

To observe the week, children served at USU will participate in special activities planned by their teachers and staff. On Friday, April 17 at 10 AM, USU faculty and staff are invited to attend the children’s culminating event of the week—the Week of the Young Child parade on the Logan USU campus.

The parade will begin at the University Inn and follow the walkway south past the Taggart Student Center and the Eccles Science Learning Center. It will conclude on the Quad. The parade is open to all children and families who are served by USU’s early childhood programs. Parents or guardians may accompany their children throughout the parade. All young children, including babes in arms and in strollers, are invited to participate. Costumes and noisemakers are welcome.

“We are excited to observe the annual Week of the Young Child,” said Lisa Boyce, Ph.D., executive director of Dolores Dore Eccles Early Care and Education. “This is an opportunity to highlight the importance of high-quality early learning and to recognize the vital role early childhood educators play in helping children grow, learn, and thrive. At USU, we are proud to offer exceptional programs that support young learners while also providing hands-on training and valuable experience for our college students.”

Within the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, early childhood programs reach children throughout the greater USU community: Sound Beginnings, Dolores Dore Eccles Early Care and Education, Child Development Lab, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, ASSERT, and Care about Childcare. USU Extension also administers Cloverbuds at four of the statewide campuses. In total, these programs serve thousands of young children throughout Utah every year.

• Dolores Dore Eccles Early Care and Education is a childcare and education program for children of USU faculty, staff, and students.
• Sound Beginnings serves children from birth to age six who are deaf or hard of hearing and whose families want their child to learn to listen and talk. The program aims to help these children gain language, social-emotional, and academic skills so they can successfully transition into general K-12 education. 
• Child Development Lab is a preschool program on the USU campus for infants through age five. Approximately 100 children are enrolled in one of the four labs every semester. 
• Edith Bowen Laboratory School, a K-6 public charter school located on the Logan campus, has been nationally recognized as a Blue Ribbon School for its excellence in literacy learning.
• ASSERT (Autism Support Services: Education, Research and Training) is an intensive preschool program that uses research-based instructional techniques to help children between the ages of three and five who have autism spectrum disorder.
• The Cloverbuds 4-H program is administered through USU Extension. The program allows children ages five to eight to explore various 4-H programs through summer camps, clubs, and afterschool programs.
• Care about Childcare is a program for families in Cache and Box Elder counties that guides them toward high-quality childcare options.

  Parade Route