We are excited to announce our Cordova STEAM Preschool Teacher is Ms. Trish!
This will be Ms. Trish’s fifth year here in the CRPD preschool program. Ms. Trish has spent countless hours as a volunteer in the local school district and absolutely loves teaching preschool. It is her goal to find what sparks the interest of each child and to use that interest to build a love of learning that she hopes will serve them throughout their lives.
To get to know our Cordova STEAM Team a little better, we asked Ms. Trish a few fun questions!
What is one of your hidden talents?
I can touch my nose with my tongue, but please don’t ask me to demonstrate.
What song do you know all the lyrics to?
Too many to count, I love music in almost all genres. My preschool favorites are mostly counting songs like five little monkeys or five little ducks.
What are your “trapped on a desert island” books or movies?
I really like to learn new things, so mostly I read non-fiction. I tend to get carried away after reading true stories and I will find more info online (does this island have wifi?). I have recently been into this book called The Foundling and the documentaries created around the story. It is about a baby found abandoned who is now an adult and solving all these real-life mysteries about himself and his family. I think what really captured my attention is how it is one of those “stranger than fiction” stories with lots of surprises.
What can you cook to perfection?
I get a lot of requests for bacon and cream cheese stuffed mushrooms around the holidays.
What is your spirit animal?
This is a tough one, but I have to say an alligator. They like water, they are a little misunderstood at times and are pretty much the closest things we have to dinosaurs, what’s not to love?
What inspired you to become a teacher?
I have a really big family and have participated in the upbringing of lots of kids. There is something magical about the preschool age range. The first steps into autonomy and navigating peer relationships, finding their first friendships. The eagerness to learn new things and wanting to do things for themselves. The preschool age range is full of big milestones in a child’s life, which makes the preschool experience very important. Being able to contribute in positive ways and make that first step into education meaningful to children is very rewarding.
What makes a good day at school?
Every day is a good day at preschool, but I especially love a day when the kids are really engaged. I always have a plan for what we are going to teach on any given day, but often we get sidetracked because a student asks a really good question, or a few kids are doing something that we notice and create a lesson out of it. When that happens, lessons resonate more, and kids want to dig deeper. Because it came from them it feels like play, that’s really where the magic happens. Being flexible and having the day go a bit off course is almost always a great day in the classroom.
What is your favorite part about the first day of school?
Getting to know all the kids. We do a lot of activities in the first weeks that are really geared toward creating a community in the classroom. This means we will play games to help the children remember each other’s names and that sort of thing. It also means we will share a lot about ourselves in various ways. Asking even a shy preschooler if they have any pets will often illicit a response. That process of guiding kids through engaging with each other and discovering what they have in common is the best part of beginning a new school year.
Keep an eye out for our next blog post to learn about our new Preschool Aid, Ms. Shayla!