The speech language pathology (SLP) department at Saint Mary’s held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the College’s new Language and Literacy Lab from 1:30-2 p.m. on Monday in room 18 of Havican Hall. The lab aims to help SLP students gain holistic skills while benefiting the children at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC), who will receive specialized attention in the space designed for them.
During the ceremony, various faculty associated with the department shared remarks while students discussed the importance of the new lab. College President Katie Conboy spoke at the ceremony and was joined by Susan Calandra ‘72, the donor of the lab. Calandra discussed her personal experiences with her son in SLP services and explained why she believes a space like this was needed at Saint Mary’s.
Susan Latham, associate professor and founding chair of the department of speech language pathology, spoke to the purpose of the lab as an innovative opportunity for SLP students to work directly and closely with children and aid in educating them on verbal and written communication skills.
“There are several purposes to this room. Primarily, it’s to help our students both in speech language pathology and education know how to be the teacher of the classroom,” Latham said, discussing students’ role in building connections with the students. “So the different things that will happen in this lab first is a language and literacy-based classroom for three and four-year-olds. We will also extend our services for literacy after school program to help children who are struggling with written language.”
Four graduate students will work in the lab with eight children per semester. Latham hopes to grow the number of children using the lab to 16 in the following academic year. One of the graduate students in the program, second-year master’s student Olivia Herbst, provided insight on the development process of the lab itself.
“I know it’s been in the works for four or five years now, since they first got the funding for it and started brainstorming what it would look like exactly. It’s the product of a lot of really hard work and a lot of planning before the students even really came into the picture. I know Dr. Latham has been working really closely with Kari Alford, the director of ECDC, as well as with donors and the planning committee,” Herbst said.
Latham shared that the lab is unique to the state of Indiana, for it allows students to have a direct space to communicate with children and develop their learning at their own pace.
Students utilize a pull-out model, removing children from their typical classroom to go learn in the lab space instead. SLP students also have the opportunity to learn how to develop a curriculum for a whole classroom and observe what a learning environment should look like.
The lab is beginning to collaborate with the College’s education department. Latham is further hoping to collaborate with educators and students across the community to make the lab an accessible educational setting.
“It’s just the very beginning of us being able to work together and figure out how can more people benefit from this space than just the speech language pathology students. I hope that we have more education students here, but we’re also going to have educators from the community that we want them. We want to be face to face with them,” Latham said.
Different areas of the lab include a dramatic play area, a quiet reading area, a construction manipulative area where children play with building blocks, an art area and a writing area. Latham aims to expose children to language through functional and meaningful activities, rather than being taught language in a structured and constricted manner.
“Maybe one week, the dramatic play area becomes the post office. Well, you can imagine the wonderful writing that’s going to happen in the writing center around writing to important people in their lives and sticking them in the mailbox and just knowing, ‘Oh, this is where you put a stamp on an envelope,’” Latham explained.
Following the donor’s remarks thanking the Saint Mary’s Development Office and the blessing of the space by Rev. Felipe Campos, the ribbon-cutting took place with the help of children from the ECDC, along with Latham, Calandra and Conboy.
Lupita Luna-Tovar, a second year master’s SLP student, wrote in an email that the ceremony symbolizes a new path for the College in creating new avenues for the community. She also elaborated on how it relates to her personal identity.
“As a first-generation Latina college student, it carried even greater significance because I recognize that I am in spaces and receiving opportunities that many in my community have not always had access to. I am truly grateful to Saint Mary’s College, my clinical supervisors, professors, and the community for their constant support and encouragement. To me, the ribbon-cutting symbolizes not only the growth of our program, but also the doors being opened for students like myself to thrive and make a difference in the lives of others,” she wrote.
