New staff at Head Start Preschool

The Thermopolis Head Start center has been busy this year, welcoming new staff members including teacher Jill Van Heule, teacher aide John Martinez and cook Laura Dockter. These three share a love for children and roots in the community.

Dockter said she was becoming bored with retirement and the job was open. Van Heule said her husband has lived in this community for 16 years and supported the program, and the two want to raise their children in the county. Martinez started in February as the cook, then began working in the classroom with some influence from Van Heule.

"I was the most familiar with the kids, because I had been there the longest," Martinez said. "I think it was just trying to help the families in this community. I'm very rooted in the community, and we know a lot of the families and their histories. We're just trying to give them a head start."

There's been a lot of transition with staff, Martinez added, so the big goal for this year is consistency and working together well, which all three agree they do.

Dockter enjoys working with the children, as she loves kids. Van Heule likes the aspects Head Start provides for families, such as information on foods and nutrition, and providing information as to other resources available to them in the community. Martinez's favorite parts of the day are the free play time in the classroom and outside time, those times when he can watch the students work and play together, and learn concepts such as sharing and taking turns.

"Head Start has a very specific goal," Van Heule said. "When the children are here, we're engaged with the children and what they want. It's a child-directed curriculum so it amazing to enter into a conversation with a child where they are then watch it expand."

Martinez said his and Van Heule's entire focus is on the children, though Dockter has plenty opportunity to interact with the youngsters as well - particularly when they come to the gate separating the classroom from the kitchen and ask what's for lunch. Dockter said she enjoys the family style of the meals, where students learn skills such as taking some food and passing the plate.

"I've learned they can do way more than you think they can do," Marinez said. "And a lot of that is we're their example. We don't just sit there and say 'do this.' We show them." Van Heule noted this model encourages responsibility, independence and community.

The kids even have their own lunchtime verse to say before their meals - "Let's try to be polite in everything we do. Remember to say 'Please pass,' and not forget 'thank you.'"

There is a lot of structure in the day, Martinez noted, so the students know what to expect during different times of the day. "We're very consistent and they know this is a very safe place for them to be." He added he's seen a huge positive difference in the students, even with the staff changes.

Dockter said she sees differences in each child, such as changes in the way they react to given situations. Van Heule noted they follow a set academic curriculum, as well as one for nutrition and for social and emotional needs. Among the tools they have are pictures students can point to show how they are feeling, if they are having trouble vocalizing.

"Even if they don't have the language to say how they're feeling,' Van Heule said it does a great deal to tell a student how you think they might be feeling. "It's a good way to build strong relationships in the classroom. . . You're able to use where the child is at, then if they can't express how they're feeling, if we're able to talk about our feelings and what solutions we could have it helps them to be able to be in the classroom."

Martinez said the staff learn as much from the kids as they do from their training. "You can learn a ton just by sitting and listening to them, asking them how they're feeling, how their day's going and what their favorite part of the day is."

For many students, this is their first classroom environment and some haven't been around so many other kids, Martinez said. Speaking to roots in the community, he noted he attended Head Start in the same building the center is now, and many kids have parents and grandparents who have attended there as well.