Faculty

West Edmonds Coop preschool has, beginning in the 2011-2012 year, two teachers.  Back this year is Connie Harkleroad, to teach the 2's class. This is her 20th year with WECP, where she taught all 3 classes through the end of the 2010-11 year, and her 30th year overall as a preschool teacher. She attends monthly training sessions at FLED (Family Life Education Department) on the Edmonds Community College campus. In addition, she continues to attend seminars periodically and she also has an extensive library of Early Childhood books so she can reference information when needed. Over the years, she has also earned credits in Early Childhood Education from Edmonds Community College.

Connie was a member of a coop when her children were young and believes in the system and idea of the coop program as a whole. Throughout her children's elementary school years she was on the Parent Facility Board for 9 years and the middle school board for 4 years.

She has been married for 39 years and has two grown children, a son and a daughter. She also has two wonderful grandchildren, Jacob-12 and Alyssa-10. When she is not our Teacher Connie, in her spare time she enjoys sewing and various crafting projects-card making, scrap booking and simple knitting.

Connie's statement: "I love what I do. It gives me so much joy to watch the children's excitement as they learn or do something new. It can be really simple, like waving goodbye to mom at preschool for the first time or standing in front of the class and showing classmates the book they can "read" or writing the letters of their name! Children make such innocent friendships at this age. Watching these form is amazing! I thank each and every one of you for sharing time with your children with me."

New to WECP this year is Margo Radovich, aka "Miss Margo," who will be teaching the 3's and 4's classes.  We are very excited to have Miss Margo. While her daughter attended Edmonds Cooperative Preschool, Margo discovered her interest in teaching.  She is currently working on her certificate in Early Childhood Education through Edmonds Community College.

But let Margo introduce herself and her teaching philosophy in her own words: "I am so excited to be teaching at WECP!  My teaching philosophy: I am passionate about play!  Children do an amazing amount of work while playing. Especially during dramatic play; children often are playing at a higher level than they usually function.  It is so amazing!  I'm working on adding more open-ended materials to the classroom that will enhance this play. You can expect to see outside stuff . . . inside the classroom.  Items from nature are great open-ended materials to work and play with.  It's how most of us probably remember playing when we were growing up! 

The curriculum will be project-based and generated from the children's own interests.  We all learn best when our natural curiosity has been sparked and kids are no exception.  This project will be translated into most, but not all areas of the classroom.  I'm organized and a planner, so all areas of the classroom will be laid-out with a plan each day.  We will display pictures of previous creations to help spark new ideas and / or help continue play from the previous day.  While working on our projects, I will still be working through and incorporating our specific learning objectives, (Developmentally Appropriate Practice). 

Also,  I'm passionate about books!  We will read books cover to cover.  We will discuss the characters, settings, story and art.  We will act out stories we have read.  We will draw and act out our own stories.  In the art area we will create our own art using mediums the children are used to using, (crayons, markers, paint), and we will explore new ones, (oil pastels, soft pastels, liquid watercolors).  And finally, we will sing, dance and play instruments.  It's fun and translates into language, math and self-regulation!  Overall, I'm looking at the potential each child has and what amazing things they are capable of doing.  We will record these moments in an on-going picture journal each week for the children and families to enjoy.  I'm looking forward to an exciting school year!"