Acting With Distinction

Hamilton Learning Center
Room 109 - Early Head Start
Leanna McGuire - Hired 10/2011, AA-ECE (pictured)
Trinity Bajaras - Hired 10/2012, AA-ECE

Morning meetings put me in the classroom in the afternoon. I had decided early in the week to go into Room 109. So it was truly coincidence that just prior to my leaving a management meeting to go spend time in an Early Head Start room our Early Head Start manager was gushing about her staff. She was also explaining the differences between teaching elementary, pre-K, and infants/toddlers. Her point was that acting on the distinctions makes for more effective programming.

Our Early Head Start program is fully enrolled with a waiting list. We are funded for 40 children in the Early program. Twenty-four children are center-based and 16 are home-based. Each center class has two teachers and eight children. There were five sleeping “friends” when I arrived, the others having already been picked up.

You know when you are in an Early room. The cribs and high chairs are your first clue. It looks a little like an old re-run of John and Kate Plus 8 with multiples of everything-only there wasn't any bickering going on and no film crew. The teachers in Room 109 know their “little friends” and “bigger friends” and adeptly tag-team everything to meet the children’s needs and foster their development.

By the time Leanna opened the curtains to let the children begin to rouse gently and quietly, I was apprised of the waking preferences of each child. We did get to have floor time with the room’s youngest friend as she woke up well before the others. She is nine months old. Floor time involved board books, rolling over and getting up on little knees to inch forward. Leanna is encouraging her to crawl by placing toys tantalizing close. Pushing forward resulted in a victorious fistful of something fun and colorful and a pretty big, self-satisfied grin. It was happiness as defined by a baby.

I was able to stay until all of the children were picked up. All the bedding had to be stripped for laundering. The teachers do the laundry on site. We sanitized the tables, high chairs and cribs. In between, they caught up with email and other computer work.

MEMORABLE MOMENT

I love watching children sleep. You appreciate them differently. All three little friends in cribs had partially kicked off their blankets, so their small hands and feet were free. Thankfully, the room was comfortably warm and there was no need to disturb them by fixing blankets. The two bigger friends on cots were on their stomachs and were clearly in deep, restful slumber.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM LEANNA:

Leanna is an anticipator. Much of what she said involved sharing her thoughts about what would likely happen with each child from whether diapers would be wet to which child would be hungry for snack upon waking. On a deeper level, she was clearly engaged in each child’s physical, social-emotional and cognitive development. Her actions were deliberate with each child in terms of reaching new milestones. Plus, she shared what she is doing and why it matters. It makes working with her super easy. I could see her vision and readily figure out how to be part of her plan.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM TRINITY:

I witnessed Trinity showing people how much she cares about them by doing for them. She checked a Frozen chapter book out of the library for a two-year old who knows and adores almost every character. In fact, that bigger friend identified most of them in the book while eating his snack. Clearly Sven and Olaf were two of his favorites. Trinity was always in motion making sure supplies were at the ready and that favored things were in the places the children liked to play with them. It is a different form of anticipation. Trinity seems to anticipate the joy she brings others with her acts of kindness.

LINKING IT TOGETHER

What Leanna and Trinity are doing is what management is focusing on, too. At that meeting the extended management team was reviewing quarterly and year-to-date outcomes. The quarterly meetings are also used for the professional development of the team. One theme that has been reoccurring in management training is “how are you setting your staff up to succeed?” Managers and supervisors are striving to be in front of needs and issues, anticipating as much as possible. They are also considering what is important to each staff member and working with staff to make changes that will be appreciated.

There is a welcoming vibe at Hamilton Center. It starts with Tammy at the front door and works its way through every office and classroom. For all the hustle and bustle that goes on, it is still a place you are glad to be. When I see staff working together as well as they do at the Hamilton Center, I take heart that managers and staff alike are overcoming challenges by drawing on each other’s abilities.

When you look at the sleeping face of a very young child, you are quickly reminded why we are here. If you are like me, you also feel gratitude to be able to make a difference and you get re-energized to keep doing more.