Center for Child Development
Saturday, November 21, 2009   
 Search  
 
Register  Login  
Home  
 
Welcome to the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning
 
Improving Louisiana by Focusing on its Children


The Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning is a multi-disciplinary group of evaluation and research professionals who focus on early childhood, K-12 education and lifelong learning. The Center provides high-quality, rigorous evaluations of programs that are implemented to address learning from birth through adulthood. Applied research is continually conducted in all areas of child education, health, and well-being to ensure a prosperous and healthy future for all of Louisiana's children.

   What's New Minimize  
     
  
   Recent News and Events Minimize  
Picard Center Joins Forces with Barnes & Noble to Give the Gift of Literacy - Sunday, November 01, 2009

LAFAYETTE, La. – In the spirit of the holiday season, Barnes & Noble is hosting its annual Holiday Book Drive to give the gift of literacy to the surrounding community.

 

The Barnes & Noble Holiday Book Drive is an annual program that provides customers with the opportunity to purchase a book for donation and give it to a child in the community.

 

The 2009 book drive begins Sunday, November 1 and runs through Friday, January 1, 2010.

 

Each year, Barnes & Noble selects a local non-profit organization to distribute the books directly to the children. The Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is the recipient organization for this year’s Holiday Book Drive

 read more ...

Woman of Excellence: Picard Center Staff Member Honored for Community Involvement - Thursday, October 15, 2009

LAFAYETTE, La. – Martha Bryant has always been considered a woman of excellence by her employer. Yet a highly regarded community organization formally bestowed that title to her as one of its 2009 Women of Excellence.

Martha Guidry Bryant, Acting Project Director at the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, was nominated by former colleague Dean Frost for her 38-year span of professional and community outreach efforts.

 read more ...

Picard Center Fights ALS One Step At A Time - Monday, October 05, 2009

LAFAYETTE, La. – More than 25 friends, family members and staff of the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning laced up their shoes and participated in the Walk to Defeat ALS on Saturday, Oct. 3 to publicly honor former State Superintendent of Education, Cecil Picard. Picard was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, in May 2005 and aggressively battled the disease until his death from complications in February 2007.

 

Donning baseball t-shirts and forming Team Picard, staff members and supporters raised money for the Louisiana Chapter of the ALS Association and walked in the 1.25-mile fundraiser around Girard Park.

 read more ...

School Districts Develop Plans for Healthier Students - Friday, August 07, 2009

Several schools systems are starting the school year with a new plan for the health of their students.

 

The Coordinated School Health initiative is a model developed by the national Center for Disease Control to improve children’s health by bringing together schools, public health agencies, families and community leaders and integrating various strategies where kids spend most of their time – in schools.

 

To create their strategic health plans, the school systems first partnered with the Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning to gather data and determine strengths and weaknesses surrounding six overarching issues: alcohol and drugs, obesity, school readiness, behavior, attendance and truancy, and student health services. From the data analysis, each school district chose two areas of focus and created action plans to address the issues.

 

 read more ...

Researchers: Far Above Minimum Wage, LA Families Still Struggling - Thursday, August 06, 2009

NEW YORK CITY – New research has shown that across Louisiana, families need well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 in order to make ends meet.

The basic cost of living for a family of four in Orleans Parish is $44,184 annually. This budget includes only the most basic living expenses such as rent, food, child care, health insurance, out-of-pocket medical needs, transportation, and taxes. Still, it translates to both parents working full-time at $11 per hour. In Jefferson Parish, a family of four needs $50,242, or $12 per hour, per parent, while in Acadia Parish, the same family needs to earn $36,310, or $9 per hour, per parent. And single parents must earn far higher wages to provide for themselves and their children.

Columbia University’s National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) has used interactive data tools to generate customized information on family budgets for several Louisiana parishes since 2007. This year, NCCP researchers collaborated with the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to update and expand existing data tools. The collaboration has made it possible to create custom results for each of Louisiana’s 64 parishes.

 read more ...

Hitting The Pavement - Monday, July 27, 2009

LAFAYETTE, La. – A University of Louisiana at Lafayette research center recently turned to familiar subjects for a project on healthier living. Snapping on pedometers, staff members from the Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning conducted an evaluation on themselves and walked before, during and after work hours to increase awareness of the roles physical and mental health play in the quality and productivity of life.

 read more ...

UL Research Center Receives $400,000 as part of $1 Million Donation for Children’s Health Studies - Monday, July 06, 2009

LAFAYETTE, La. - With child obesity on the rise, a UL research center hopes to positively impact children’s health on a statewide level. A recent donation from a frequent center donor may make that quest possible.

UL Lafayette President Dr. E. Joseph Savoie and family of the late Cecil J. Picard recently joined staff of the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning to witness a $400,000 check presentation from the Special Children’s Foundation.

 read more ...

La. Workforce Commission, University of La. at Lafayette Partner to Improve Occupational Forecasting - Wednesday, April 01, 2009

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) has contracted with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Research Consortium to develop a method and the tools for providing enhanced information on workforce demand and projected supply to help build and manage a more responsive workforce delivery system.

 read more ...

     
  
   Related Links Minimize  
     
  
   News and Events Archive Minimize  

  

To Visit the News and Events Archive

Click Here