Faye Flanagan
Co-Director
504.620.2485
flanagan@leh.org
Miranda Restovic
Co-Director
504.620.2486
Dianne Brady
Senior Consultant
318.728.0026
bountifulw@aol.com
Shantrell Adams
Assistant Director
504.620.2625
adams@leh.org
Christopher Robert
Program Assistant
504.620.2639
Michael Sartisky, PhD
President
504.620.2480
sartisky@leh.org
National Partners:
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| BP America Supports PRIME TIME Family Reading Time |
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 LEH Director of Institutional Advancement, Dr. Jeff A. Hale, is pleased to announce a recently signed agreement with BP America, to support 15 PRIME TIME Family Reading Time programs across Louisiana in 2010. The $188,000 donation is the largest individual corporate donation in the LEH's 39-year history. BP's total project support will exceed $225,000. "The importance of BP America's gift cannot be overstated," commented Dr. Hale. "BP America's visionary philanthropy will supplement core State of Louisiana funding and ensure that, despite the current atmosphere of economic malaise, the LEH's marquee family literacy program will continue unabated - improving and changing the lives of Louisiana families throughout 2010."
"BP America is proud to partner with the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and to extend the reach and longevity of the PRIME TIME program," said Marti Powers, BP senior external affairs manager. "PRIME TIME goes back to basics, and addresses the fundamentals. With this financial contribution, BP will play an active role in impacting the lives of students who have typically struggled with reading, which is the foundation for all classroom learning, including math and science. PRIME TIME provides an interactive, fun and exciting experience for families, and we are excited to make a statewide commitment in support of our employees, and the Louisiana educational system."
A joint LEH-BP America press conference was held in the Louisiana Humanities Center at Turners' Hall, Patrick F. Taylor Auditorium on Thursday February 4, 2010. Speakers at the event included: Dr. Michael Sartisky, LEH president and executive director; Patrick L. King, BP vice president, global operations remediation management; and Irvin Mayfield, nationally-renowned musician and chairman, New Orleans Public Library. Numerous LEH board members, as well as community, political, and private sector leaders from across the state were in attendance. The announcement coincided with the initiation of a statewide radio and print visibility campaign for the PRIME TIME program. For additional information on the LEH-BP America partnership, please contact Dr. Jeff Hale at (504) 606-4628 |
| PRIME TIME Partners with the Mahalia Jackson Center |
On March 1, 2010, LEH/PRIME TIME entered into an exciting new partnership with the Early Childhood & Family Learning Foundation's Mahalia Jackson Center in Central City. This new partnership will offer an opportunity for sustained, year round, neighborhood-specific, and collaborative approach to delivering LEH's PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME and methodology. This partnership outlines the following elements of the envisioned partnership:
· a full-time project coordinator dedicated to program implementation
and coordination
· professional development and classroom support via PRIME TIME teacher workshops
· award-winning family literacy programming via PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME
· on-going parent/child literacy support via monthly PRIME TIME book clubs
Through this partnership, PRIME TIME will focus on targeting several specific groups of audiences including more than 2,600 low-literacy children and their families, and the more than 200 teachers and educators of the partner schools and childcare centers. The identified children and families include the 171-200 children and families attending the Mahalia Jackson Early Head Start and LA-4 programs; the Mahalia Jackson Center member families (membership will begin upon opening of the facility); the 2,052 children and their families of the 8 identified partner elementary schools; and approximately 400 children and their families of the 10 identified partner childcare centers.
Learn more about the Early Childhood & Family Learning Foundation here. |
| Partner Spotlight: Georgia Public Library Service |
 The Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS) is continuing its commitment to transforming Georgia's families into active readers and library users with PRIME TIME! Employing its growing cadre of trained program coordinators, scholars, and storytellers, GPLS plans to implement 8 programs in 2010. Continuing to build its PRIME TIME infrastructure, GPLS sent 7 professionals to New Orleans for training at the January 2010 workshop.
The basis for this dynamic partnership began in 2000 with the the implementation of PRIME TIME in Atlanta-Fulton public libraries by the Georgia Humanities Council and an NEH National Expansion Grant to the Satilla Regional Library in Douglas. An active PRIME TIME affiliate state since 2006, GPLS has successfully completed almost 30 programs; successfully exposing over 1,200 participants to the PRIME TIME methodology using Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding. "PRIME TIME is an incredible program," said Elaine Black, director of Youth Services for GPLS. "It brings together families to share meals and stories, and it enables them to have meaningful discussions on universal topics like compassion, happiness, coping and greed."
The LEH and PRIME TIME greatly appreciate the Georgia Public Library Service, its supporters (the Georgia Humanities Council and the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services), and partners for their commitment to literacy and the humanities on behalf of Georgia families. |
| PRIME TIME "Goes Global" in Northeast Louisiana |
 Dr. Ruth Smith, head of the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and PRIME TIME scholar, has enjoyed her role as discussion leader for several bilingual PRIME TIME programs. Having managed PRIME TIME discussions for some of the most diverse audiences in Louisiana, Dr. Smith has gained great insight into the many ways PRIME TIME benefits its target population; particularly when engaging families of varying cultures and even languages.
In an essay entitled "PRIME TIME Goes Global in the Piney Woods of Louisiana," Dr. Smith shares the details of her experiences with PRIME TIME and multicultural audiences. |
| Getting Involved: The Value of Audience Participation in
PRIME TIME |
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 Every PRIME TIME storyteller adds his or her own personal flair to the telling of stories. Whether they are incorporated to add excitement, comedy, or drama to a story, these slight exaggerations of an author's words sometimes add a welcome break from the familiar. For PRIME TIME families, it seems the most stimulating moments are when audience members are given an opportunity to join in the storytelling.
PRIME TIME storyteller Holly Bell, who is an instructor of Developmental Studies & Education at Louisiana State University at Eunice, fully understands the power of audience participation. In her essay entitled, "
Let's Get Personal: Stories and Audience Participation," Ms. Bell discusses favorite audience participation strategies and how employing those techniques help enrich the PRIME TIME experience for all. |
| PRIME TIME at Annual Library Conferences |
 2010 Louisiana Library Association in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
On Friday, March 12, PRIME TIME Assistant Director Shantrell Adams, will participate in a session at the 2010 Louisiana Library Association Annual Conference in Baton Rouge. The session entitled: "Literature, Outreach and Research: The Circulatory System of Your Library and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities" will also feature Catherine Corder, Ph. D., editor of KnowLA, and Jim Segreto, director of RELIC. This program will introduce participants to the LEH and the grants and programs that are available to public and school libraries.
 2010 Public Library Association Conference in Portland, Oregon
Miranda Restovic, PRIME TIME co-director, will lead a "talk table" session at the 2010 Public Library Association Conference in Portland, Oregon during the week of March 23-27. The session will focus on the outcomes of the 2008 analysis of twenty-one bilingual PRIME TIME programs throughout the country. The discussion will explore significant findings that are relevant to various libraries and communities. |
| PRIME TIME Training Workshop Dates Announced |
 The next PRIME TIME training workshop has been tentatively scheduled for July 24 - 25. Additional information will be provided as necessary. The workshop will be hosted at the Louisiana Humanities Center at Turners' Hall in New Orleans. Please contact Shantrell Adams with any questions or concerns regarding the July Training Workshop. | |
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