Molly Shafer
Molly Shafer, who has a B.A. in Psychology and Elementary Education from St. John Fischer College, began teaching at WRNS ten 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.