“What Comes After was inspired by an article he read about a girl who was placed in foster care after an assault. ‘I recognized her –and others like her–through my work as an investigator and advocate in the juvenile justice system’ he says. ‘I knew her story deserved to be told.”
–book jacket/Candlewick Press
UMW Professor Steve Watkins latest young adult novel is now available in the University owned and operated bookstore on campus.
University of Mary Washington hosted a second UMW Play Lab this semester. At UMW Play Lab, current and pre-service teachers (both undergraduate and graduate) take an elective course where they learn disability characteristics, teaching strategies, and research-based supports for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and related disabilities. Halfway through the semester, UMW students run the Play Lab which meets for about 7 weeks. UMW students work 1:1 with the children with disabilities under faculty and community agency supervision. This semester we had 21 children (with and without disabilities-some are typically developing peers serving as role models) and 19 UMW students running Play Lab. Our focus this semester has been on the TEACCH program, Handwriting without Tears, and the Model Me Kids Social Skills. At the end of each session, UMW students train the families in the strategies that have been helpful in working with the children and parents receive resources at the training to help them support their child at home, school, and in the community.Reactions to the Play Lab have been overwhelmingly supportive and positive. Play Lab will start again this coming fall after taking a break for summer. UMW Play Lab is a non-profit organization managed through the UMW Foundation and is coordinated by Dr. Nicole Myers at UMW and Heather DeCou, M.Ed., LPC, of Exceptional Support Services of Fredericksburg. It currently meets at Helping Hands Pediatric Occupational Therapy. For more information about the course or to receive an application for a child to participate in Play lab, send an email to nmyers@umw.edu.
The annual luncheon was held at the Jepson Alumni Executive Center on Saturday, April 2, 2011, with more than 200 guests in attendance. Students took the opportunity to thank their donors for their generosity, and donors enjoyed hearing about their recipients’ plans for the future.
Here is a slideshow of the day’s events.
Beginning with the Summer 2011 Sessions, the UMW bookstore will offer textbook rentals. Visit our website or the Campus Store for more information . 
umw.edu/bookstore
UMW Professor Steve Watkins’ first book for young readers, Down Sand Mountain, is now available in paperback at the University owned and operated UMW Bookstore.
“It’s the fall of 1966, and twelve-year-old Dewey Turner is determined to start the school year right. No more being the butt of every joke. He’ll be cool–a Lone Wolf like his older brother, Wayne. But an accident with shoe polish dashes these hopes–and earns Dewey his worst nickname yet. He finds an unlikely friend in Darla Turkel, the only person at Sand Mountain High who is more of an outcast than he is. Through their friendship, Dewey comes to learn a whole lot about his small town, and about the world outside it, too: things about racism and segregation, secrets, and standing up for what’s right.”
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