Wednesday, July 15, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
19
Grant focuses on preschool children Feds want to garnish wages
By Christine Coffin
Correspondent
BEND — The U.S.
Department of Education
has awarded Oregon State
University(OSU)-Cascades
researcher Shannon Lipscomb
a $1.5 million grant to develop
and test a program to help
teachers improve the school
readiness of preschoolers who
have been exposed to trauma.
The four-year grant from
the Office of Early Learn-
ing is the largest award ever
for OSU-Cascades, the OSU
branch campus in Central
Oregon. A priority of the U.S.
Department of Education is to
enhance learning and develop-
ment for children with high
needs through early learning
programs.
“Research shows the
importance of high quality
early learning experiences for
children’s later success not
only in school but also in other
key aspects of life such as
avoiding criminal behavior,”
said Lipscomb, an assistant
professor in the human devel-
opment and family science
program. “Quality early learn-
ing may be even more impor-
tant for the approximate five
million children in the U.S.
who experience trauma each
year. They tend to have more
difficulties in school, includ-
ing behavioral and academic
problems, and school drop-
out. Giving preschool teach-
ers effective strategies to help
these young children could
significantly change the course
of children’s lives.”
Lipscomb, affiliated with
OSU’s College of Public
Health and Human Sciences,
is an expert on early childhood
development. She focuses on
preschool and early child-care
experiences, and how those
early social experiences help
children prepare for success in
life. Her work focuses on chil-
dren from at-risk backgrounds
including children from low-
income families, those with
genetic risk for behavioral
problems, and those exposed
to trauma. Trauma can be a
result of child abuse, neglect,
domestic violence, parent
mental illness, parent sub-
stance abuse, homelessness or
parent incarceration.
The research project will
focus on teachers in Head
Start, child-care, and pre-
school programs in Central
Oregon. Head Start is a feder-
ally funded program focused
on school readiness for chil-
dren and families living in
poverty. Over 500 children in
Central Oregon attend Head
Start each year and thousands
attend other early learning
programs. Selected teachers
will engage in online classes
to gain knowledge about
childhood trauma and how to
promote learning and develop-
ment in children exposed to
trauma. Regular video coach-
ing sessions will help teachers
take their understanding and
incorporate it into practices in
the classroom with children.
A benefit to the online and
video implementation is its
ability to reach teachers in
rural areas, where professional
development programs may
not be available.
Both the teachers and chil-
dren will be assessed regularly
to determine how well the pro-
gram helps to improve teach-
er’s knowledge and readiness,
and the children’s functioning,
stress, and classroom engage-
ment. The project will run
Celebr ating 40 Years in
Sisters!
through 2019. After this pro-
gram is developed and tested
here in Central Oregon Lip-
scomb’s team hopes to make
it available to early child-
hood teachers throughout the
country.
Giving preschool
teachers effective
strategies to help these
young children could
significantly change the
course of children’s lives.
— Shannon lipscomb
Partners in the grant include
the University of Oregon,
the University of Southern
Maine, NeighborImpact, The
Early Learning Hub of Cen-
tral Oregon, Trauma Informed
Oregon, Oregon Center for
Career Development in Child-
hood Care and Education, and
Chastain & Associates, LLC.
The grant includes fund-
ing for two staff researchers.
Undergraduate and graduate
student workers and volun-
teers will also participate in
the research, assisting faculty
in developing the program and
collecting data to evaluate it.
Human development and
family sciences is one of the
largest degree programs at
OSU-Cascades. Students and
faculty in the program study
how people develop within the
context of families, schools,
work, communities and other
social-cultural environments.
Graduates work in services
sectors including education,
non-profits, counseling, health
care and government agencies.
DROP-IN PUBLIC
YOGA CLASSES
7 DAYS A WEEK!
of former eco-saboteur
PORTLAND (AP) —
The U.S. government has
filed papers to garnish the
wages of a Portland State
University official, to make
him pay more in restitution
for his role in a pair of eco-
anarchist fire-bombings.
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Kathleen Bickers filed a
writ of garnishment against
33-year-old Jacob D.B.
Sherman last week, The
Oregonian reported.
Sherman served nearly
three years in prison after
pleading guilty to firebomb-
ing logging trucks and
equipment at two Oregon
companies in 2001, when
he was 19. He was linked to
the Earth Liberation Front,
which the FBI says is an eco-
terrorist group.
A judge ordered Sherman
and his co-conspirators to
pay restitution for the dam-
age they caused. Sherman’s
share was $55,100, and he
still owes $43,804.
Sherman says he’s paying
regularly, but can’t afford to
pay more.
He was arrested after
confiding to a girlfriend
that he had helped set fire
to some logging trucks and
that the FBI was tailing him.
When she mentioned that
her dad was a deputy state
fire marshal, he warned
her not to tell him. But she
did.
Sherman was arrested at
C
age 20. He got out of prison
in 2006, returned to college,
earning a bachelor’s degree
and then a master’s in lead-
ership and sustainability
education.
Early last year, he was
named the Institute for
Sustainable Solutions coor-
dinator of sustainability
curriculum.
The writ of garnish-
ment filed last week gives
Sherman 10 days to respond.
“I’ve been paying my res-
titution and am committed
to paying my restitution,”
Sherman told The Oregonian
on Friday. “It’s unfortunate
the government has taken
this step. I’ve been told
that two co-defendants are
delinquent.”
Earlier this year, the
P o r t l a n d Tr i b u n e c a r-
ried a feature story about
Sherman’s transformation
from a long-haired vegan,
bumbling eco-arsonist
bent on sabotaging corpo-
rations to a meat-eating,
marathon-running family
man who works within the
system.
Sherman explained that
he has a family now, stu-
dent loan debts, and has
dutifully made the mini-
mum $50-a-month restitu-
tion payments. He said he
would pay more if he could
afford to.
“I’m definitely not living
the high life,” he said.
NING SER VICE
A
E
L
S
Specializing In:
Windows & Screen Cleaning
Houe & Rental Cleaning
Construction & Deep Cleaning
Gutter Cleaning
Free estimates!
I NSURED , L ICENSED & B ONDED
152 E. Main Ave. • 541-549-8771
Old-World Quality, New-World Charm
Hand-forged ironwork that transform your home
Come visit our
showroom in the
Sisters Industrial
Park today!
541-549-9280 | PonderosaForge.com | CCB# 87640
164 N. Elm St., Sisters
541.390.5678 | www.lifeloveyoga.com
JEFF BLAKE • 541-549-0897