PRIME TIME Wins Federal Grant for Ouachita Parish Head Start

 
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has selected PRIME TIME, Inc. as Head Start grantee for Ouachita Parish. With this award, PRIME TIME, Inc. will serve 555 children through a diverse set of free, high-quality program options.

"We are excited to become a first-time Head Start grantee, and especially so in Ouachita Parish, where we have a strong track record of partnerships and impact," said Miranda Restovic, President and Executive Director of PRIME TIME. "PRIME TIME's mission emphasizes educational support for vulnerable families. Our programs have served nearly 1,000 Ouachita Parish children and families, and trained nearly 100 educators.  We are ready to build on our robust record and initiate an intensive, direct-service model in this community. Our programs emphasize the importance of starting early, and working closely with parents and children to improve academic outcomes. Becoming a Head Start grantee represents the next step in the continued evolution of our organization and its emphasis on the delivery of high quality education experiences to all."

PRIME TIME will partner with Shine Early Learning (SEL), a national leader for Head Start services, training, and technical assistance. SEL has a highly regarded record of delivering high-impact services in Head Start programs, with the aim of closing the achievement gap.
 
"As a Professor of English at ULM and a Board member of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and PRIME TIME Inc. since 2011, I have long been elated by the tangible impact of PRIME TIME on the lives of families and children in this community. Their goal with this grant moves beyond mere compliance with regulations to the creation of an auspicious launch for otherwise scholastically disadvantaged children," said Janet Haedicke, PhD.

For more on this new initiative, visit here.


Maida Owens - October Humanities Hero
  
Botkin Prize winner Maida Owens is Director of the Louisiana Division of the Arts Folklife Program.
October's Humanities Hero is cultural anthropologist Maida Owens, Folklife Program director for the Louisiana Division of the Arts. 

Specializing in traditional cultures, Owens has worked with organizations and researchers across the state to identify one of Louisiana's most important assets: traditional folk artists - determining the most innovative and effective ways to present Louisiana's folk musicians, storytellers, and craftsmen to the state's citizens and to the world.

Owens' wide-ranging achievements include producing fieldwork surveys, education websites, online and print publications, multimedia visual arts exhibitions, radio and video documentaries, including the Louisiana Voices Educator's Guide , a groundbreaking program which was awarded the 2000 Dorothy Howard Award from the American Folklore Society for the best folk arts in education project.

Owens served as assistant producer and researcher for the video documentary Dance for a Chicken: The Cajun Mardi Gras, recipient of the 1993 American Anthropological Award of Excellence and the 1993 American Association for State and Local History Award of Merit. In 2015, she received the Benjamin A. Botkin Prize for lifetime achievement in public folklore from the American Folklore Society.

She is co-editor of Swapping Stories, Folktales from Louisiana, which won the LEH Humanities Book of the Year award in 1999. Subsequently, she co-produced the Swapping Stories website by Louisiana Public Broadcasting.  

For Maida Owens' full bio, visit here. To read more on Louisiana Folklife, visit here.


Visit the LEH at the Louisiana Book Festival

The LEH will support the 2016 Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge, through a Strategic Partnership grant to the State Library of Louisiana Foundation.  Along with funds for speaker travel and honoraria, the LEH will produce a special edition of the festival program featuring stories from  Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine. 

The LEH and PRIME TIME Family Reading Time exhibition booths will showcase LEH programs and offer  prizes, and all are encouraged to come by and spin the prize whee l to win unique LEH prizes!

The festival takes place Saturday, Oct. 29 in Capitol Park. Featured authors include Erin Greenwald, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Wendy Rodrigue, Tom Piazza, Darrell Bourque, and 2016 Louisiana Writer Award recipient Christina Vella.   

Click here to learn more about Book Festival schedule, authors and events. 



Museum on Main Street's "Hometown Teams" Opens in Long Leaf
 
railroad
The Southern Forest Heritage Museum includes ephemera from the Gulf Railroads that served the Long Leaf sawmill.
"Hometown Teams," the traveling Smithsonian exhibition currently touring Louisiana with LEH support, stops at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum & Research Center in Long Leaf from October 1-November 12. 

The calendar of events includes a sports film festival, hunters' safety course, and a lecture on Civil Conversation Corps baseball teams. 

Click here to learn more. 
 

                           

LEH Offers Emergency Grants to La. Cultural Organizations  

 

In response to the August 2016 floods, the LEH announces 2016 Emergency Grants for organizations located within Louisiana federally declared disaster parishes, whose sites or collections were damaged during the floods. Tax-exempt organizations with a history of cultural programming can apply for up to $1,000 to defray costs for staff, paid workers, and volunteers working on flood related clean-up and restoration efforts.
 
To apply for an Emergency Grant, visit leh.org/Emergency-Grants. 

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until December 1, 2016. Notifications will be made within 2 weeks. Organizations can email questions to [email protected] or call 504.620.2639.
 
These grants were made possible by a Chairman's Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. To augment and extend these funds, the LEH is accepting donations to support this effort. Click here to help rebuild Louisiana culture. 


Oct. 16 - "Restoration Roadshow"  for Flood Damaged Items
 

The Historic New Orleans Collection, in collaboration the West Baton Rouge Museum, the Office of Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, and area conservators will present a "Restoration Roadshow" to provide the public with free consultations for flood-damaged belongings on Sunday, October 16, 2016, from noon-4 p.m. The Roadshow will take place at the Mall of Louisiana, inside near the Dillards entrance, at 6401 Bluebonnet Boulevard in Baton Rouge.

Experts in conservation and preservation will be on hand to examine a variety of items - including books and paper documents, frames and mirrors, furniture, glass and ceramics, jewelry and metals, paintings, photographs, and textiles - and provide practical advice on the preservation those flood-damaged items.

Admission is free. Visitors can bring their items or photographs of their items - or simply their questions - to the event. Attendees will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis. For more, visit here.


See "Purchased Lives" on Tour Throughout Louisiana

entergy Beginning this fall, The Historic New Orleans Collection and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities will bring a portable version of THNOC's award-winning exhibition on the domestic slave trade to ten sites in Louisiana. The initiative is presented by Entergy Corporation, with additional support provided by the National Park Service, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Kabacoff Family Foundation. 
 
Based on THNOC's exhibition "Purchased Lives: The American Slave Trade from 1808 to 1865," the portable panel display will visit libraries, parks and community centers in the following Louisiana sites. Each site will host for approximately six weeks: 
  • Ellender Memorial Library at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux: Sept. 1-Oct. 13, 2017
  • Pointe Coupee Parish Library in New Roads: Oct. 17-Nov. 28, 2017
  • St. Tammany Parish Library in Slidell: Dec. 1, 2016-Jan. 12, 2018
  • Calcasieu Parish Library in Lake Charles: Jan. 16-Feb. 27, 2018
In addition to managing transportation and logistics, the LEH will issue grants to support programs during the tour stops and coordinate with THNOC to train staff from each host site on content and educational aspects. Click here for more info. 
 
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PRIME TIME Pilots Nutrition Initiative

PT Plus
PRIME TIME Family Reading Time (PT), in partnership with BHP-Billiton Petroleum, has wrapped up an 18-month pilot of the PRIME TIME Plus Healthy Eating program. The literacy project's nutrition component is designed to strengthen healthy living skills that lead to self-sustainable communities. Results from the pilot program demonstrated its potential to do just that.

In addition to family literacy activities, the Plus program offers an extended dinner, nutrition demonstration, and take-home food items. Market Umbrella provided nutrition material and support, and PT staff created the program model that blended the nutrition information with literacy best practices.

Early evaluation results suggest that the program was successful in improving attitudes and behaviors toward both reading and healthy lifestyles, improving knowledge of healthy eating practices, and increased family bonding--including daily reading and healthy eating. 

PT implemented twelve Plus programs in Greater New Orleans, and Caddo/Bossier and Terrebonne/Lafourche parishes. 

The LEH and PT are greatly honored to have the opportunity through BHP Billiton's generous support to offer enhanced literacy activities and the enjoyment of healthy eating e to the PT families.

                                            



 PRIME TIME Grant Applications Are Open

PRIME TIME Family Reading Time program applications are now open for eligible organizations, such as schools, libraries, museums, churches, and other community-based agencies that serve diverse and economically vulnerable families. 
 
October 15, 2016 is the deadline to apply for programs to be scheduled between February 18 and May 15, 2017.

April 15, 2017 is the deadline to apply for programs to be scheduled between August 18 and November 15, 2017. Applicants must have a valid EIN (employment identification number) to apply.
 
For more information on PRIME TIME, eligibility requirements and how to apply, visit http://www.primetimefamily.org/applications/.


Valentino Hotels Offer Autumn Discounts 

The Lafayette Hotel on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans

Autumn in New Orleans is a perfect time to enjoy the milder climate and take in the sights.  LEH partner Valentino Hotels is offering a special rate of 15% from their lowest published rates, with accompanying further contribution to the LEH.  Visit valentinohotels.com .






 New Incubator Space for Cultural Creatives 

The LEH and Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation (LCEF) continue a  partnership to offer entrepreneurial creatives a new business incubator at Turners' Hall in New Orleans.

The incubator offers offices and amenities with access to business training, mentors and resources for $250 per month. LCEF will operate the incubator, providing access to their new  Louisiana Culturepreneur microloan program,  the Catapult Fund, and other programs that support innovation.