Prior to COVID-19, the Little Buccaneers Early Childhood Laboratory Program, shortened as ‘Little Bucs,’ accommodated the children of ETSU students in the basement of Warf Pickel Hall.
With the closing of the Child Study Center, they opened their brand new location at 2101 Signal Drive in the summer of 2020, where they now provide for 54 children. One year later, they strive to spread awareness to their program.
“There are a lot of people on campus who don’t know we are here, so we want them to know who we are here for and what we do,” said Beth Huber, the interim site director of Little Bucs.
Oct. 4-8 is Celebrating Children’s Campus Centers week, which honors campus sites across the country that are home to early childhood daycare centers. This week is remarkably special for the Little Bucs program, as it emphasizes their service to students, staff and all of ETSU.
“During that time, what we really want to do is to bring awareness of our program to the rest of the ETSU community,” said Huber. “We want to show that we are here for students’ children, and show what services we offer.”
Primarily, Huber hopes this week will spotlight the importance of the faculty and staff of the Little Buccaneers Early Childhood Laboratory Program to express gratitude for their hard work.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, operations within the program changed entirely. Previously, they enjoyed regularly working with different ETSU departments, such as speech pathology, dental hygiene, physical therapy and more. After a temporary halt, the Little Bucs are finally on the road back to their normal performance and collaboration.
In the next few years, the Little Bucs aspire to attain larger class sizes and more teachers for their students once COVID-19 hopefully and finally settles down, giving them the space and time to enhance their new location. They look forward to the growth of their flourishing program.
