May 24, 2018 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 3 min read

The author of the children’s book “Hello, Sun” is a teacher in California, but Dayle Ann Douds could very well have been writing about Western Pennsylvania.

As Bethel Park Public Library youth services department head Elaine Volpe described the plot to a group of preschoolers:

“It’s about a little girl who is ready to go outside, but guess what? The weather keeps changing. So she has to keep running back into the house to change her outfit so that she’s prepared for the day’s weather.”

On a May afternoon that alternated between sun, clouds and precipitation, Volpe visited Bethel Park’s Abraham Lincoln Elementary School as a featured guest for “Spring Into Lincoln,” a four-week series of gatherings for children who have registered for kindergarten in the fall.

Volpe’s reading “Hello, Sun” to the children served as a prelude to having students learn more about the day’s topic, the weather, through hands-on activities brought to the school through a new Public Broadcasting Service program based on educational software called PBS Kids Learn and Play Science.

“It’s a program that PBS asked WQED to develop and is now being used nationwide,” Cathy Cook, manager of education projects for Pittsburgh’s PBS member station, explained. “This is the first time in the nation that the program is being offered to families, and it’s here at Lincoln.”

To provide insight about the weather – other weekly science-related topics address movement, shadows and light, and adapting to the environment – five learning stations were set up on tables in the school library.

One of the stations, equipped with dolls and various types of miniature clothing, allowed the preschoolers to pursue the premise of “Hello, Sun,” themselves.

“What you need to do is dress them up in the right kind of clothes for today,” Lincoln librarian Denice Pazuchanics told the youngsters. “You can decide if it’s a scarf day or a hat day or a sandals day.”

She and first-grade teacher Dawn Douds started “Spring Into Lincoln” three years ago based on a similar program they observed in Fox Chapel Area School District. In advance of becoming kindergarten students, children become familiar with their new schools through activities in which they participate with their parents or other caregivers.

“They’re doing it with their kids,” Pazuchanics explained. “We’re just giving them the opportunity and space to do it.”

Another opportunity is socialization.

“Hopefully, it builds a sense of community and that the kids feel comfortable coming to school, and the parents, when they’re sitting here eating and talking, get to know each other,” Cook, a former Lincoln parent, said. “I’m hoping that some of these folks set up play dates over the summer, and so these kids and families come in with a fabulous attitude for the fall.”

Funding for the Play and Learn program is through a PBS Ready to Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education, providing the resources for lunch for participants, supplies for the learning stations and educational materials for families to take home and engage in during the summer.

Jay Johnson, Lincoln principal, complimented WQED’s long-standing support.

“The whole team there does a lot for our school and is willing to provide resources,” he said. “Whenever we have an idea, they tend to support it.”