StoryQUEST

Just before the new year, PICA learned it had been selected to participate in StoryQUEST: Celebrating Beginning Language and Literacy, a national research and training program funded by the U.S. Department of Education as part of the President's Every Child a Reader initiative.

As documented in the press release put together by the StoryQUEST program team, PICA's Early Head Start program was "chosen to participate after showing the ability to work successfully with parents and community members to implement innovations into their program and community..." The press release goes on to quote Dr. Knapp-Philo, StoryQUEST Director, who notes that PICA's EHS program "has shown that they [PICA] can initiate changes in their program as a result of participating in training. Through StoryQUEST, they [PICA] will become part of the vanguard of Early Head Start programs across the nation who will be delivering research-based, high-quality services, designed to build a strong, developmentally appropriate foundation for language and literacy."

PICA will adapt knowledge gained through StoryQUEST to its Head Start program.