Donna Parker has spent 14 years teaching at WRNS. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Nazareth College and is certified to teach elementary school.

Like some of our other teachers, Mrs. Parker’s first experience at WRNS was as the parent of a preschool student. She liked the school’s philosophy, the structure of the daily program, and the teachers. When a teaching position became available at the school, she “jumped” at the chance.

To explain what she likes best about working with children, Mrs. Parker provided the following quote: “Working with children has a miraculous affect on your soul.” Every day brings an opportunity to share in the children’s enthusiasm, innocence, humor and energy. And, as we are all aware, children are often very honest about their feelings, which can lead to some very entertaining moments throughout the day.

Mrs. Parker enjoys the flexibility inherent in the preschool setting. She begins each morning with a definite plan regarding what she will work on with the children – but on any given day, the children may show greater interest in a tangential subject. Without a mandatory curriculum, Mrs. Parker has the freedom to revise her lesson plans on the spot and to explore those topics of greatest interest to the children.

Mrs. Parker finds working at the play dough table to be one of her favorite activities in class. It stimulates the imagination, promotes conversation, improves the kids’ fine motor skills and has an all-around soothing quality that can be welcome on days that are especially hectic.

When asked about a special moment working at WRNS, Mrs. Parker cites the times when a child, engrossed in an activity, turns to her with a question or comment and mistakenly begins the sentence with “Mom . . . .” The child quickly realizes his or her mistake, blushes a little, laughs and finishes his or her thought. The fact that a child can make that sort of innocent mistake tells Mrs. Parker that the little one is feeling safe and is happy to be at school – so much so that it may feel like a home away from home in many ways.

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Jeannette Paul has over ten years teaching experience. Mrs. Paul chose to pursue early childhood education after she received her B.S. degree in Elementary Education Arts for Children from SUNY Brockport. She found that the learning and discovery through play that takes place at the preschool level was the most interesting to her (not to mention the fact that she loves the “sweetness,” hugs, joy and wonder that our preschoolers bring to the classroom).

Mrs. Paul’s two children attended the WRNS preschool program. She and her family were so impressed by the warm and caring staff, she decided to stay on. She joined our staff five years ago, and now teaches on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

As is the case with many of our teachers, Mrs. Paul’s favorite daily activity is circle time or group time. She says that the reading, sharing and singing that goes on during circle time is the highlight of her day. On the other hand, the most challenging aspect of being a preschool educator is helping those children who have difficulty transitioning to a class. She finds that smiles, patience and a bit of silliness help those little ones get through the rough patches.

One of Mrs. Paul’s favorite memories at WRNS happened during her first year teaching here. One student would greet her with a beaming smile, arms open wide, and announce, “I’m here and ready to start the fun!”

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Patti Schwarz has been teaching for 14 years and is in her fifth year of teaching at WRNS. She is in the unique position of teaching two levels of children – the little ones in the Young Nursery and the older children in the afternoon program. She enjoys the contrast between those two age groups. While the two-year olds are still trying to figure out how they fit into the world, the four-year olds want to learn everything they possibly can about the world around them.

That enthusiasm and love of learning is what drew Patti to working with young children. After receiving a B.S. in Business and Early Childhood Education from Old Dominion University she earned a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education at Nazareth College. The philosophy of teaching here at WRNS is what attracted her to working at this school.

Circle time is her favorite classroom activity, and she loves the unexpected comedic moments that arise throughout the day. For example, a Young Nursery student once decided to try using the toilet. He sat on the toilet for about five minutes, and then looked up at Patti and declared, “My pee is taking a nap!”

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Molly Shafer, who has a B.A. in Psychology and Elementary Education from St. John Fischer College, began teaching at WRNS six years ago, but she has been connected to the school much longer than that. All four of her children attended WRNS. She was drawn to teach at WRNS because of its warm and nurturing environment and because she loves working at a school in which the parent involvement is so high.

Mrs. Shafer was attracted to preschool education in part because of her firm belief in the importance of a happy and positive introduction to school. In addition, she knows that as her own children grow and eventually leave home, she won’t ever really feel like she has an “empty nest.”

Mrs. Shafer loves observing the varied personalities of the children in her classes and watching their first friendships develop. Working with play dough is one of her favorite classroom activities—she loves the social interaction with the children as they discuss what they are making (e.g., snowmen, worms, letters, cookies, pizza), and, in her own words, “Who doesn’t love play dough?”

She finds the biggest challenge working with preschoolers to be the fact that you simply can’t have an “off” day. Preschool teachers can’t close their office door and enjoy a few minutes of peace and quiet. When the preschoolers arrive, they are ready to go and a preschool teacher has to be completely present for those kids.

Molly Shafer says that it’s hard to share just one special story about teaching at WRNS because finds special moments each and every week. In general, she is most touched by the genuine care and concern that the children have for one another—they always seem to notice when one of their classmates is feeling sad or is missing school, and they take the time to express their concern.

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Leslie Ziegler, afternoon teacher, has been teaching for 25 years. She has been teaching at WRNS since 1999. Mrs. Ziegler earned both a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursery/Kindergarten Education and a Master’s Degree in Special Education from the University of Connecticut. She chose to teach at WRNS because she shares the school’s preschool education philosophy of basing its curriculum on age-appropriate activities.

Another aspect of WRNS that appealed to Mrs. Ziegler is what she described as the “warm and giving community” from which our students come. Mrs. Ziegler believes that the quality of WRNS’s program is a direct result of parent/caregiver involvement in, and support for, the school.

Mrs. Ziegler loves preschoolers’ enthusiasm, motivation to learn and sense of wonder. She notes that one of the biggest challenges for preschoolers is separation anxiety. Mrs. Ziegler taps into her many years of experience to reach out to those children and help them feel comfortable in a new and different environment.

When asked to share a special story about WRNS, Mrs. Ziegler recounted a week when her students were playing post office.  She gave them the opportunity to dress up like postal workers and to “write” and mail letters.  One child wrote letters all week to cheer up his Papa, who was sick, and talked to Mrs. Ziegler about how scared and sad he was.  Mrs. Ziegler was touched by the boy’s concern for his Papa, and was grateful that the boy had an opportunity to express himself.