The Louisiana Alpha Theta Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honor society for women educators, hosted a Christmas party with a twist and collected five cases of school supplies that were donated to the Cradle to College initiative spearheaded by early childhood education students and faculty at Northwestern State University. Members brought school supplies as their ticket to the party that will be used to create literacy bags for underserved preschool and kindergarten students.

Dr. Michelle Fazio Brunson, professor of early childhood education, and her husband Brett began the Cradle to College project to help children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds keep up with their peers in the classroom.

“Although Christmas is a time for giving, we believe early literacy is vital, as children are the future of our society, and our sorority eagerly gives to early literacy programs a couple times a year,” said Dr. Christy L. Hornsby, NSU alumna and adjunct instructor in early childhood education.

For more information on Cradle to College or to donate to the project, contact Brunson at faziom@nsula.edu.

Pictured above: Members of Alpha Delta Kappa collected schools supplies as the ticket to their Christmas party. Items will go to the Cradle to College initiative, which provides family literacy bags to underserved children. Seated in front is Dr. Christy Hornsby. On the middle row are Shirley Johnson, Linda Renegar and Susan Walker. On the back row are Nancy Brown, Susie Palermo, Denise Edmondson, Tracy Kuhnell, Tracie Ham, Gay Dezendorf and Dana Renegar