Mya Gonzales Foundation provides $60,000 to Rise Program in the College of Human Environmental Sciences

Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Rise program in the OSU Center for Early Childhood Teaching and Learning Laboratories in the College of Human Environmental Sciences received a gift recently of $60,000 from the Mya Gonzales Foundation that will provide specialized therapies for children living with developmental delays.

Scott Jones, president of the foundation’s board of directors, presented the check to CHES Dean Stephan Wilson, Linda Sheeran, director of the CECTL, and Dianna Ross, director of the Rise program and the Cleo Craig Child Development Lab in the human development and family science department. 

“The board was pleased to be able to add funds from the foundation to the $34,000 that was raised from the Performers on the Rise Concert in April,” Jones said. “This gift will allow the Rise program to offer special therapies that have made such a difference for those children who are living with delays.”

Dean Wilson expressed appreciation for the foundation’s support. “The Mya Gonzales Foundation has been an extraordinary partner in making the dreams of so many parents and teachers come true,” he said.  “Their leadership and support have been instrumental in making the expansion of the original Rise program a reality.”

The Mya Gonzales Foundation was formed by Jimmy and Mary Gonzales in 2006 to help with fundraising campaigns for a school for children living with developmental delays.  Efforts by the Gonzales’, CHES and a host of community volunteers allowed the Rise School of Stillwater to begin operation in 2007 in two classrooms of the Stillwater Head Start. The goal was to provide an appropriate learning environment for children ages 18 months to 3 ∏ years who are living with developmental delays along with children who are typically developing. 

As the program grew, a need for more appropriate facilities arose. This summer, the Rise program was moved to the Center for Early Childhood Teaching and Learning’s Child Development Lab on campus. Renovations expanded the CDL space to four classrooms making room for the integrated programs.  The new unified program provides innovative, inclusive early childhood education programs for 66 children from 12 months through 5 years of age.

“We are so grateful to the Mya Gonzales Foundation for this gift,” Dianna Ross said. “The special therapies are so important to the children’s development, but they are very expensive. With this additional assistance we will be able to provide them more frequently.”

The CDL-Rise program is licensed by the Department of Human Services and recognized as a Three-Star facility. In addition, the CDL-Rise Program adheres to the rigorous stands set forth by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.  Established in 1924, the CDL is one of the oldest child study centers in the United States. 

Not only does the CDL-Rise program provide exemplary early education to children in the community, but it also offers a unique opportunity for future educators.  OSU students majoring in early childhood education receive an interactive experience that prepares them for the professional world. 

Not only does the CDL-Rise program provide exemplary early education to children in the community, but it also offers a unique opportunity for future educators.  OSU students majoring in early childhood education receive an interactive experience that prepares them for the professional world.

“The CDL-Rise program provides our early childhood education majors with a unique opportunity for hands-on and observation experiences,” said Sheeran, who also coordinates the ECE professional program. “They will be better prepared to go into Oklahoma’s pre-schools and elementary schools and benefit the wide variety of students they will encounter.”