DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / May 19, 2000

Lumbering through St. James Parish, the school system’s Mobile LearningCenter makes its rounds in the local neighborhoods, bringing education to your doorstep.

Designed to give children a head start on their education, the large recreational vehicle carries a mini classroom full of computers, books and teachers to 3-year-olds and their parents across the parish.

“We didn’t want a program where the parents simply drop off their kids during their lunch break,” said Title 1 director Frances Troxler, adding parents need to make a commitment, too.

Troxler designed the program, which first began seven years ago, knowing the school system needed something for pre-school kids which involved parents. She decided that bringing the school to the neighborhood would bethe first step.

The center houses two separate rooms, four computers in one and a space for a small classroom in the back. Taking eight kids, and either their parent,grandparent or baby sitter, teachers Pennie Kliebert and Cheryl Creel divide the class between teaching the kids to use the computers and reading and other activities in the back. For an hour Kliebert and Creel work with thechildren and their parents.

As the need for computer skills grows, Troxler designed the program with the intention of providing a beginning point for computers to take school children all the way through their education.

“They begin to build their motor skills and practice math and their ABCs,” said Troxler.

“I enjoy watching them use the computer. At first they have no hand eyecoordination, and in no time they’re moving that mouse around like experts,” said Kliebert. With their parents at their side, the children take to theprogram quickly.

“As soon as we started coming here my daughter, Zoe, right away started recognizing letters and could write her name,” said South Vacherie resident Prudente Folst.

Not only do the children get an early start on their education, they also get a chance to develop their social skills. At the beginning of the school year thechildren are most often stuck to their mothers, said Kliebert. After a whilethey start to interact with the other kids and really begin to open up, she added.

This program gives the children the chance to learn basic skills one often doesn’t consider. By the time the children are ready to enter school theyknow how to line up, how to act with other kids their age and how to respect their teachers, said Creel.

Zoe now has other kids to play with, said her mother. Folst’s oldest sonEthan had a little trouble adjusting to school at first, but Zoe will be prepared for spending a whole day away from home, her mother said. The program”prepares them for going to school all day,” she added.

“At first I wasn’t sure if the program would work” but it has, better than she expected, said Troxler. With no complaint from the parents in theprogram, the Mobile Learning Center has been a success for the school system and Troxler.

So far the program reaches nearly 70 students and parents a week from both sides of the river. The program has become so popular that applicationshave begun to outweigh available space on the bus.

“We take applications from March until the end of May, accepting those that need this early intervention most,” said Troxler. After the applications areexcepted, central locations are chosen to find the best spots for the center to visit. There are four stops on each side of the river.After seven years of running the mobile learning center, “I’m very proud of the program. As far as I know it’s the only one in existence,” said Troxler.”If we can have just one kid and one parent, it’s all worth it,” she added.

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