11/2/2009 5:30:00 AM
Getting to Know a Day Care Director
| |
|
BY ED GEBERT
Times Bulletin News Writer
egebert@timesbulletin.com
It was 30 years ago that Faith Fabian was asked to be a teacher's assistant for a new preschool class at Calvary United Methodist Church on Maple St.
"They had called me wanting to interview because the teacher and I, Brenda Rhodes, had worked together before. when I was in high school, I did some student teaching with her," Fabian remembered. "I was the classroom assistant for her. She was the only teacher we had! We had one room - it was her!"
Today, Fabian is overseeing that same day care center, but it is far more than one room, one teacher, and seven children. Wee Care Learning Center now teaches and looks after 270 children with a staff of 31 in a much larger facility on Van Wert Decatur Rd. Fabian took over as director at Wee Care when Maureen Dunn became ill. Dunn had served in that role since the beginning of the program, but Fabian served with her after she moved out of the preschool classroom.
"The next year we had enough children to start a second classroom, so I started teaching that room. I taught for years, then I went to help Maureen in the office because it took more than one of us," she explained.
Wee Care has filled a need in Van Wert County, offering preschool instruction as well as taking care of children before and after school hours. The program runs year-round for children from birth to 12 years of age. The new facility, being on one floor rather than a three-story building made it possible for the program to reach more children and meet more needs.
"In the old building, we were not allowed to take infants because we had too many stairs," said Fabian. "But when we moved out there and built, we were nervous thinking we would never be able to fill all that space! And we all started to panic! But now we have a waiting list, and could add another room."
The program has always focused not only on teaching children, but also the improvement in each child's character and development of the child's character. Providing the atmosphere that makes a child feel secure, happy and accepted is the foundation that can be built upon. From that foundation, the building blocks at Wee Care are learning social skills, learning to share, listening to others, showing kindness, and laughing and having fun.
In the years since classes began, changes in culture have forced the administration team at Wee Care to reexamine which needs can be met. "I think the whole family dynamic has changed," Fabian shared. "When we first started, we didn't have a lot of single-parent households. We had the kids of nurses and school teachers and that kind of thing. Then as more women started to work full-time, we had a lot more kids. Then as things happened, we had a lot of single-parent families. Now it seems like we have a lot of blended families."
Even with those types of changes in the community, Fabian stressed that the relationship between the Wee Care staff and the families is instrumental in the center's success. She noted, "If there's one thing about day care that really works good, it's because it's family-oriented. It's not a school and it's not a babysitter. We know all of our families, and I think that's what makes it work so well, because we are really connected to every one of them."
Fabian shared that with 30 years of history, there are 30 years of former students who still feel a connection with the center.
"They go to school all over the place, and they come back during the holidays just to see what we are doing. I think that's the best part, getting to be a part of their lives. You get to see them grow up. And they still want to be a part of all the good things that go on here."
Operating a day care facility in 2009 is much more complicated than when the center first opened on Oct. 29, 1979. State and Federal regulations, meant to insure proper safety and good learning conditions for children, too many times can be an increased burden on teachers and staff.
"It's a job to keep up with everything new. They change the rules so often," Fabian admitted. "That's hard. That's the most frustrating part. You just want to get in there and do your job and then there's 19 pages to go through before you can get it done. I think that's the most frustrating part for anybody who tries to run a non-profit agency. Other than that, I can't think of anything I don't like about this job."
With a large, new facility already filled and a staff six times larger than when the center first began, the future has many possibilities for Wee Care Learning Center. Van Wert City Schools may soon begin to feature a preschool program if voters approve a levy allowing a new elementary school to be built with state funding.
If that happens, Fabian thinks Wee Care may focus more on infant programming.
"If they are going to provide preschool, then we might switch our option to a little bit younger and focus on infants and toddlers a little more," she stated. "But we really like to do the whole range. We like to have the babies and still be able to do the before and after school thing because that's a big need in our community, I think."
Fabian has been able to watch as a small preschool with child care has grown to an educational experience for all ages, with preschool as well as a program for school-age children before and after school. But more importantly than the day care growing, so have all the childre0n that she has been associated with over the years.
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
