Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Creating Five-Star Preschools: VDA Inc.'s Approach with Hanadi Rousan | Childcare Series

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Creating Five-Star Preschools: VDA Inc.'s Approach with Hanadi Rousan | Childcare Series · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of Inspired Stories, where leaders
0:07
share their experiences so we can learn from their successes,
0:10
how they've overcome adversity, and explore current challenges
0:13
they're facing. Welcome to another edition of
0:18
the Inspired Stories podcast where leaders share their
0:21
experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired
0:24
by how they've overcome adversity.
0:26
My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and today's guest is Hanadi Rasan,
0:30
Program Director of VDA Inc, which is part of the largest
0:34
state funded preschool program in the country.
0:37
They have six locations in California's Central Valley,
0:40
which is just north of Bakersfield, spread across 3
0:44
counties, Fresno, Telare and Kern.
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The program provides both part day and full day services while
0:51
providing a core class curriculum that is
0:53
developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate for
0:57
the children served. They meet Title 5 regulations
1:01
and community care licensing Title 22.
1:04
Before we get into all the good stuff, today's episode is
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1:33
OK, Now back to our guest today, the Program Director of VDA Inc.
1:37
Nadi, I appreciate you making the time to Share your story
1:40
today. Thank you for having me.
1:41
I appreciate you contacting me. Thank you for having me here.
1:45
Absolutely. OK.
1:46
So, Adi, tell us in your own words, what does the collection
1:50
of your childhood care centers do and how did you first get
1:53
started with it? So I'm, I started out with in
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this field as a, as a teacher assistant back when I was 18.
2:03
I'm 53 today. So I've been in this field since
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I was, since I could really since since high school, I've
2:14
been interested. I love children, I love
2:16
education and I started my journey as ATA and with school
2:22
and experienced I was able to move up in every single position
2:29
as a teacher, lead teacher, site supervisor and now a director
2:34
for about 12 years. So you've held every position
2:38
that there is to be held. You understand what it's like at
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all the different levels. I really do.
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And I think that's one of my one of my perks of being a
2:48
successful program directors. I understand the teachers and I
2:53
understand the classroom because I've personally done it myself.
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I've been in this field for over 30 years and I have been just in
3:02
preschool, so I've been very in tune with all the different
3:06
positions and what it takes, yeah.
3:09
So tell us more about what makes VDA special.
3:13
What what is the the curriculum? What is the school?
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What are the offerings? What age groups paint a picture
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for us? So VDA is is very special and it
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stands out from a lot of other programs because it comes with a
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lot of quality and the quality is very sought out and very
3:31
intentional. All of our sites go through
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quality rating program and they've been going through that
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for the past probably about six years.
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It's an outside agency that comes out to the centers and
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they look at every single aspect of the center and it's in many
3:51
different categories. They look at staff,
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qualifications, curriculum, environments, leadership.
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They look at the different assessments we use, how we rate
4:03
our environment, all kinds of places and they score you from
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from zero to five stars. So all of our sites have been
4:12
going through this program and all of them have a solid five
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stars except two that are two points away from a four.
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And it's really exciting to see the growth.
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I think what stands VDA is from other places is where we're
4:29
very, very intentional with what we do.
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We grow brains every day. We believe that our work is so
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important. I truly personally believe that
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preschools is the the foundation of any, you know, it's a
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foundation for years to come for parents and for students.
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So we instill the love of learning.
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We work a lot with parents to teach them, you know, their
4:55
rights and how to advocate for their kids.
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We look at the child as a whole child.
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You can't, you cannot serve a child when you can't serve his
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family and, and what's going on at home.
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So we're very, very intentional in what we do.
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We believe in equality and we truly believe that our work is
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so, so important. It's no different than a
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doctor's work. That's how I look at it.
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You're building the future of our world here.
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So I'm curious to hear you say more about teaching the rights.
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Are you talking about teaching parents their their rights and
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what what they can sort of how they can place their children in
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schools? It's it's a lot of things.
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So I look at preschool as the the beginning, first stop to
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hopefully a lifelong learning situation for those kids.
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So when a parent comes in, we definitely look at them as an
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advocate. How do you how do you have a
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voice for your child? How do you ask for more services
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for your child? How do you navigate community
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services? What is the next step?
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What are the milestones that your child should know at this
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time? So preschool looks a lot
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different now than it did 10/15/20 years ago.
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We see a lot of a lot of families that come in and they
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are just seeking our program to be able to go to work and do 8
6:30
hours of work and have somebody to care for their children.
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So we rate their children, we assess them.
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We find a lot of situations like for example, a lot of the kids
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come in and they need speech therapy or they have behavioral
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situations. So we do a lot of assessments
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and we try to work with the parent so the parent is able to
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see what we're seeing. And we put children on plans or
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we seek outside help for them. When the parent is buys into
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this process and the same practice happens in school and
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at home, it's a, it's a win win situation.
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So parent education is really, really big and it, it comes and
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it supports the whole child, not just what's happening in school.
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So in our programs, we've hired a Family Services coordinator
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and this person basically is there to create relationships
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with the families. She's there too.
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There's an intake form that once a child is enrolled, you know,
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the parent starts telling us what, what are their needs, what
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areas of need do they want? What it could be as simple as
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I'm looking for extra resources on on, you know, behavior or we
7:53
would like help with our PG&E bill or we don't have
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transportation. So in order to help the child
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fully, you have to look at what's happening at home in
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their life. So that's one way that we
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quality services is by really creating deep relationships with
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our families and starts really at enrollment time.
8:16
I'd like to hear you say more about the assessments that you
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do. My wife is a speech therapist
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for preschool kindergarteners in a low income school district
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where we live here in Columbus, OH.
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And so I know she's getting kids a lot of times at those grade
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levels. That man, it sure would have
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been nice if if somebody had identified areas of need even
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earlier on. And to hear that you're doing
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this in a, in a daycare in a preschool setting even earlier
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on. Tell me more about that.
8:48
Oh. That's that's huge and your wife
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would would totally agree with with what I'm about to say.
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But early deduction is everything, everything for for
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the child, for his best well-being, for his confidence
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level for the mom too. So when whenever we seek help
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right away, we, we see a lot of amazing results.
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Sometimes the parent is not aware that the child is having,
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so, you know, speech issues or behavioral situations or is not
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focusing or such. So we start out with the first
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assessment and that's done during enrollment time and
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that's called ages and stages. So it's an assessment that is
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very age specific and it talks about milestones and what
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happens is we the parent want coffee and we give ourselves a
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good couple of months to complete one on every single.
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And most time we ask the parent to do the same thing.
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We come together and the assessment is done in a very on
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our end. It's done in a very play based
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way, in a fun way. We don't sit there and go, well,
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can you what color is this and what number is this?
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We create very age appropriate activities to kind of gather
10:07
those findings to look for these things.
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So we give ourselves a couple of months to go over this
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assessment and it's really very age specific.
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So you get you score that at the end and it does give you some
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areas where there's red flags and some areas where like, OK,
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we're doing really good. We're on the same page.
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We come together with the parent and we compare those assessments
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and we realize a few things. One is we're so much on the same
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page. The parents goals are aligned
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with ours. They do see that you know,
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Anthony does need a little bit of speech because you know,
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Anthony's not on speaking like everyone else or is delayed in
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this area and such or the opposite, which is like, Nope,
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he's fine. And I don't, my kid is very OK
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and I don't need anything. And that's also OK because the
11:02
more relationship you create with that family, that parent,
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the more they're going to feel very OK being vulnerable and
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coming up to you and telling you, hey, I'm reconsidering your
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words from week one. It's the second month of school.
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I feel very connected. I feel like you've been
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consistent. Let's go back and look at that
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referral that you have for Anthony.
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So relationships are really huge, but assessments are there.
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So ASQ is one of them. The 2nd and biggest one that we
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do is desire results. That's an assessment that we are
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required to use by at the state. I am one that loves this
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assessment because it is very, it's very inclusive and it's
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huge and it's done through observations.
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So our teachers are trained to observe children and take notes
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on them and share those notes with their families.
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Our note taking is done in a in a very different way.
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We are users of this program called the Learning Genie.
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The Learning Genie is a program and a platform that really
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provides a lot of connection between US and the families.
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Every family gets to log in or create their own, their own
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login information and they're literally able to be with us
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throughout the whole day. They're able to see their
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children doing activities, they're able to read notes about
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a certain observation. They're able to send parents
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notes and whatever it is, it's another way to communicate the
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the notes are taken in in picture format, they're taken in
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writing, they're taken in a video.
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So there's a lot of live documents there.
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The assessment, it's California State assessment and it's huge
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and it talks about different areas of growth and basically
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looking the way you create your Lesson plan.
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And our Lesson plan is or our curriculum is all a play based
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curriculum. So it's written in house and it
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is 100% aligned with the desired results.
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So all of our activities are created in a way to actually
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data from the kids and see where they're at in this area.
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Are they at the beginning? Are they in the middle?
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Are they advanced? And how do we go about their
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their milestones and their growth?
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That information is captured every day of the year and an
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assessment is done at the beginning of the year and
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another one is done at the end of the year.
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And there's a lot of comparison between the first one and the
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second one. What growth did we have, where
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we are, What, what more things do we need to work on?
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That information is shared with the families during a teacher
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parent conference as well. So every child gets to be
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assessed in so many ways. And that's classroom assessment.
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We've also have assessments for our environment to make sure
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that our environment is each is, is kid friendly, it's safe, it's
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appropriate. There's the, it meets the
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purpose. It's another way to communicate
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with families and kids. So we we're not comfortable at
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any time. We're always uncomfortable
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because we're always growing. And I feel like when you get
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comfortable, you stop growing and I don't want that.
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So we're always, there's always something better to do.
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There's always something better to perfect.
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So that's where we're at with those assessments.
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So correct me if I'm wrong, but what you're describing here, the
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assessments, you know, developing curriculum and
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adjusting the curriculum based on what you're finding in those
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assessments for each of the individual kids.
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This is highly unusual in a preschool setting.
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Am I correct? A. 100% it's we're not an easy
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program to work for. I think our expectations are not
15:05
not realistic, but they're they're high and and people meet
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that because we nothing happens in a quick second.
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There's a lot of buy in with our team and people are hand
15:21
selected and, and they, our teams, our people, our, our site
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supervisors, our leaders at the site have the same vision and
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that's how we make things happen.
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We're also very big on giving ourselves time and grace and
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practicing some locks and making it better.
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So there's always a better practice.
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There's always a better way of saying hello.
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Honestly, you practice that every day.
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So, so that's the concept is that those kids are, I don't
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know, that's just, you know, people have gold and they go
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take it to the bank and they pay money to to make sure it's safe
16:06
and it's locked up and people bring us their kids like that's
16:11
like that's, those are the gold Nuggets that I look at.
16:13
So. You're a kid, bank.
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It's a big job and it's a big responsibility.
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So, so because we're vulnerable all the time, because we believe
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in consistency, because we believe in quality, because we
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believe that this job is so important, you just have to keep
16:34
perfecting your practices and easy doesn't always cut it.
16:39
So. Nadia, you touched on something
16:42
I want to revisit because this is something that I've heard
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from my wife quite a bit too, is as parents, it can be really
16:51
hard to hear that maybe our kids are lagging a little bit.
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Maybe there's a deficiency that needs address.
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Maybe they, they need a little extra help.
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You know, it's, it's a reflection of us.
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We feel like, right. And it's here's here's the
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little creation that we're the, you know, we're more proud of
17:11
than anything else in the world. And now you're telling me that
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there's some wrong isn't the right word, but, you know,
17:18
needs. But the way our ears hear it is
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there's something wrong with my kid.
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My kid. What we hear is my kid is
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deficient. What you're saying is we've
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identified areas of need. We've identified ways that we
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can help them. But what I'm hearing is my kids
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broke in and and that's hard. I'm kind of curious to hear how
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you navigate some of those conversations.
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And honestly, they're not easy conversations to have.
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They're not. But again, when you have a
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relationship with someone and we strive really, really hard to
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create those relationships, whether in person, whether
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making our calls and just saying, Hey, how are you,
17:58
whether sending resources, whether the newsletter, whether
18:02
they're communication all day long.
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So you have to have a relationship with anyone,
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especially a parent to, to have those conversations.
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I'm a parent myself. I have three kids.
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My kids are grown, but I was one of those parents that sat in a
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kindergarten classroom with my kid and where a teacher told me
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you're you're your child is not focused.
18:28
Your child might need to repeat kindergarten.
18:32
But I remember looking at that teacher and telling her, well,
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does she come and say hi to you? She says yes.
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I said, does she is she respectful of like now it's time
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to transition from here to here and she transitions.
18:45
Yes. Does she look you in the eye?
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Yes. Does she smile?
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Yes, I'm not worried. Her social skills are there.
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Personally, as a mother, I'm not worried about it, but I did want
18:59
her to see all these other things about my child that also
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make her who she is. So the first thing that I would
19:05
do when talking to a parent about any kind of situation or
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when I'm asked, you know, from a site level, how do we navigate
19:14
through that? My first question is who has the
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most strongest relationship with this parent?
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That's number one. A stranger cannot come to me and
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say, oh, Mr. San, your kid is 123.
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There's hardly any kind of I don't know you.
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I'm not going to take anything you say at heart, but when I
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know you, I'm going to pay attention.
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So there's an art to speaking to a parent.
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There's a ton of things that are positive about your child.
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Say a couple of things and be genuine.
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What that teacher told me is your child has and thought for a
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minute and my, I thought, you don't know anything about her.
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It's just there's so much more to her than a nice smile, you
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know? So I try to get to know the
20:00
children well. Anthony's a listener.
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Anthony loves Snoopy. Anthony smells really big when I
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bring in dinosaurs. Anthony feels really sad when I
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do that or when this happens. So I talk to the parent, let
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them know that I care about Anthony and I'm a voice of hope.
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I'm not the opposite. I'm safe.
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I want, I want what's best for Anthony.
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And overtime and being consistent, the parent will
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definitely understand that I am one on Anthony's side, meaning
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that I want nothing, what's only what's best for him.
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And then I would explain the process and I would explain what
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it means to to go and get speech therapy.
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What does that mean? It's very scary to have a
20:48
stranger come out and pick up my kid from my class and take them
20:52
somewhere else and do so. Maybe mom needs to be part of
20:56
this practice for the first couple of times.
20:59
Maybe mom needs to create that relationship with the speech
21:02
therapist. There's a lot of built in work
21:04
before that happens. A parent is not going to be OK
21:09
giving you their child when they don't know you and they don't
21:11
trust you. Plus there's data.
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So I'm a big research person. I believe in research.
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I would pull out research and show moms, you know, from
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experience, I started here. This happens from research tells
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us early detection can do this and that.
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So I'm sharing resources. I'm I'm doing all of that.
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I'm sharing videos of the child I'm talking about, you know,
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confidence. What happens when a child speaks
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without any speech delays versus having some.
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I bring the brain and how the brain works at this age and what
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we're and it's not so much a delay or it's it's just
21:50
something that could be perfected.
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So when there's a relationship, a lot of things can happen.
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And when you are genuine and sincere, a lot of good things
21:59
can happen. You know, I don't give up on,
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I've never given up on a student because to me, it's those
22:10
parents that hardly said hello back, nor did they care to come
22:15
into my parent meetings. Those are the ones that I or
22:19
they were extremely quiet, very, very quiet, same as students.
22:23
Those are the parents that for me personally, I worked a little
22:27
bit harder to get their attention because they needed
22:31
that the most, but they didn't know how to ask for it.
22:33
So a lot of patience and a lot of respect and a lot of giving
22:38
space too, and a lot of advocating.
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That's what it is. It's literally, I am literally
22:46
advocating for your child in the best way I can.
22:49
And that happens when behavior that happens with speech that
22:52
happens like right now and especially after COVID, our
22:56
sites are not looking the same. You know, there's a lot of,
23:00
there's not a lot of parenting going on.
23:02
There's a lot of here's my phone look at it or, you know, kids
23:06
are just like always fidgeting, wanting something to look at and
23:10
see. So we do try to create things in
23:13
our sights that can grab their attention.
23:15
Whether we have APE program, we are big believers and kids need
23:20
to play outside physically feel good, you know, get that energy
23:27
out in the best way possible. So we have this program called
23:30
Keith and it's kids enjoying PE exercise PE program where a
23:36
coach comes out and creates all these games that are age
23:39
appropriate and they're doing PE, They're learning how to do
23:43
physical activity and getting that energy out.
23:46
So we there's a lot of buy in processes for a lot of things,
23:51
assessments and behaviors and delays.
23:54
They're all connected. They're all connected in so many
23:58
ways. So we start with that
24:00
relationship and we build on that.
24:03
So with all of the, what I'm going to call extras that you
24:08
seem to be providing with these assessments and the parent
24:11
teacher conferences and adjusting the curriculum for the
24:14
kids in need, are you able to deliver all of this using the
24:19
traditional student teacher ratios or have you had to adjust
24:23
that? So that's an area great
24:26
question. And one thing amazing about
24:30
COVID was the the ratios. So we were able to like our
24:35
normal ratio in a normal classroom is 24 students.
24:39
The way we work with that because of their age groups is
24:42
we break them into groups of eight and we would have a lead
24:45
teacher work with each one. So it's not this many students
24:50
and we have outdoor play and indoor play and outside time and
24:53
indoor time. We get very creative with our
24:55
schedules and our environments. You asked again that how do we
25:03
make this all happen? Are you able to do it using
25:07
traditional student teacher ratios or have you had to
25:10
adjust? So the ratios are adjusted.
25:12
We now aren't working with 16 instead of 24.
25:17
And the way we were able to do that is to really look at
25:20
environment and make our outside inside, our inside outside.
25:24
We utilize every inch of the classroom to, to make up for,
25:28
for those. To me they're, they're larger
25:31
ratios, but at 16 we're able, I think that's been a good number
25:37
and we're able to get through what we need to get through.
25:39
Yes, 100%. I'm curious with everything that
25:43
you're describing to me, you know, this kind of business,
25:48
like many others, word of mouth is huge, right?
25:51
Parents know somebody who's got kids in daycare.
25:54
They're looking for a daycare. They're asking for
25:55
recommendations. I would guess that with all the
25:58
extras that you're describing, people probably speak very
26:01
highly of you to, you know, their friends and family.
26:05
Do you have capacity to add more families?
26:08
Do you have waiting lists at your locations?
26:10
What's the situation? List pretty much everywhere you
26:15
know, our program is we, we follow the state qualifications
26:21
as far as need and eligibility. So it's it's not an E like I
26:28
said we set up appointments with families and go through their
26:32
need and eligibility and make that happen.
26:34
But in general we do have a wait list and we enroll right away.
26:41
So our programs are always full and full to to the capacity.
26:46
And yes, word of mouth is amazing.
26:49
Like a site here in Fresno, my own daughter that I was talking
26:54
to you about went was a preschooler there.
26:56
She's 23 today. And that site we hardly ever, we
27:03
hardly ever really do any type of how do you say like get
27:10
people to. Advertising or promotion?
27:12
That's the word because parents are, you know, and I'm one of
27:17
those people. If I, if I've seen a good spot,
27:19
I'll, I'll tell parents about it, you know, So parents tell
27:22
their, I have grandparents that are now bringing their
27:27
grandkids, that they brought their own children there.
27:29
So it's continuous and people believe in something they tell
27:34
their family and their friends and their churches and their
27:38
mosques and all that. So it does happen honestly.
27:41
And, and that's one of the biggest blessings is that it, it
27:46
does pay to put in extra work. It does pay to be transparent.
27:50
It does pay to be absolutely consistent.
27:53
If you're not going to be consistent, don't even do it,
27:55
you know? So yeah, it's, it's, it's pretty
27:58
nice. What?
28:00
How would people go about getting on the waiting list?
28:03
So we have a website, they can go onto the website and they can
28:10
click on enrollment. Now this year we've also done
28:13
something really cool where we've changed our whole system,
28:17
our data management system, where now families can enroll
28:21
using their app on their phone to make it a little bit more
28:25
easier. So there's a lot of different
28:27
platforms where they can go. Our best thing is may, you know,
28:31
call us, we love to do a face to face where we sit down and talk
28:37
to our families about the program, give them a tour and
28:41
all the forms it, it just feels like they're buying a house when
28:44
they're coming because they have to fill out all these forms and,
28:48
and get all these, you know, make sure that they're qualified
28:51
and such, but. So I'm looking at your website
28:54
now. The website isvdainc.net and the
29:00
phone number for people listening is 559, 228-321-0559,
29:06
228-3210. And the website isvdainc.net for
29:11
anybody who's interested. Hanadi, I'm kind of curious to
29:16
dive into what's probably a series of painful memories here.
29:21
COVID, you know, this, this was tough on everybody.
29:25
Daycares in particular, you know, had to close your doors
29:29
for certain period of times when you were allowed to reopen.
29:32
There were changes in the student teacher ratios.
29:36
There were changes in class sizes, dividers.
29:39
You had to change the layout of the building.
29:42
People were afraid to bring their kids back.
29:44
Some employees were afraid to come back to work.
29:47
Just so much chaos that I, I have to imagine you're, you
29:51
know, everyday you're just sort of white knuckling it like what?
29:54
What's going to happen next? I, I like you, painted a great
29:58
picture and you know, it was, I call it the dark times and they
30:03
were dark times because there was a lot of unknown and COVID
30:10
was interesting because COVID taught me a lot of good things.
30:14
I was one to honestly, I worked throughout the whole time and I
30:18
didn't stop a minute. I was shocked, shocked to Mark
30:23
Core to learn that schools were going to be shut down.
30:27
I thought Walmart is open, but our preschools have to shut
30:32
down. What's going on?
30:33
So I understood that it was a scary time and we needed to
30:37
figure out how to be safe. We shut down for about believe
30:42
three months and we were the very first sites to open and we
30:48
opened it felt very, very, very comfortable with our practices.
30:55
We actually in Fresno, the newspaper came out and did a
31:00
little segment on our preschool that we opened.
31:06
We were one of the first ones to open.
31:07
And it's it's actually still available if you'd like to view
31:10
it. But what we did is we, first of
31:14
all, we prepped our people, our staff, we talked about what it's
31:19
how to be safe. We did the mask, We did the
31:22
whole 6 feet distancing. I very, very difficult to
31:28
distance preschoolers inside the classroom, nor are you going to
31:33
monitor that. We did our best to tell you the
31:37
very truth, Anthony. I just was not one of those
31:40
people that I, I'm a big believer if you're a healthy
31:45
person and you, you practice good health, you eat right, you
31:49
sleep right, you, you exercise, that your body should be able to
31:55
fight anything that it needs to fight.
31:57
So I was not scared during this time.
32:00
I don't know how to live my life scared.
32:02
And so I was really big on encouraging staff to do what you
32:07
need to do to feel safe. So we invested in the mask.
32:11
I didn't like the mask and we ended up doing the face shield
32:15
where children are able to see your facial expressions of the
32:18
teacher. Your, you know, some of the kids
32:20
were struggling with language. So that helped out a little bit.
32:24
We really utilized our classrooms.
32:26
We shrunk our ratios. We the, the, the, the, the
32:35
biggest change for us also was that how do we receive children?
32:39
So it was very painful to have parents sit in line forever.
32:44
And we asked all these questions and we did the temperature and
32:48
we took the temperature of the parent and the grandparent
32:51
because if something's happening with the parent, most likely
32:53
happening at home, We did our very best with every, with
32:57
whatever information we have to navigate through this time.
33:02
And we did. We got through it.
33:06
I'm so glad we got through it. It was not a normal time.
33:09
It was not that. That's not natural.
33:11
We are not meant, I'm not meant to be in a mask.
33:14
I was a horrible mask wearer and but we got through it and and we
33:21
did what we needed to do and we got through it.
33:24
I hope it never comes back again.
33:27
Amen to that. You know you made a comment
33:30
earlier that I want to revisit. I've heard my wife say some
33:34
similar things. You've noticed things are
33:36
different now after COVID. Kids are different.
33:39
They're more when I heard you say is they're more fidgety.
33:42
They're they're on screens more. I'm kind of curious to hear more
33:45
about that, as well as maybe other differences that you've
33:48
noticed. Sure, you know we see it right
33:52
at the enrollment time. So a child walks in on given a
33:56
phone just to get busy instead of, you know, there's not a lot
34:03
of talking. A lot of you know, there's not a
34:06
lot of talking. Children are being they were
34:10
they they had we had to do school online with preschoolers.
34:14
Imagine that where we had to turn on the cameras and you
34:19
know, it was not comfortable for a lot of parents.
34:21
It was, you know, very uncomfortable situations where
34:26
the child is saying things that they, you know, their children,
34:29
they're going to say whatever they say and the parents not
34:31
feeling comfortable with what being said or showing their
34:35
environments and where they live and what they do.
34:38
That was very uncomfortable for a lot of families.
34:41
So, so we did a lot of what we did is to ease that up is we
34:46
created a platform where families can can we can send
34:52
them a lot of work home. So we created like backpacks for
34:57
kids and put gave them homework and not homework like fun things
35:03
to do activities and activities. And you could look, we have a
35:06
Facebook for our VDAVDA program that also was highly utilized
35:14
during that time where, you know, I would put it, we had
35:17
teachers put in an activity and we would take it on a different
35:20
level. So we tried to do what we can to
35:23
keep the students busy and to also keep the parents busy and
35:28
let them know if we have any questions.
35:30
We did parent meetings. We tried to give resources for
35:35
families, anything that has to do with health and safety too.
35:40
So we utilized any platform we can to keep that relationship
35:45
alive and going and for the kids to see their teachers and for
35:49
the teachers to see their kids. It was really not an easy time
35:54
at all for me as a program director.
35:56
It was crazy because I work in the future, My team works mostly
36:02
in the past. So it was like I had to undo so
36:05
much planning and it was like, whoa, you know, how do we go
36:10
about that? You know, we have to be creative
36:11
with this. So COVID taught me as a human
36:15
being how to be a lot more flexible.
36:18
And that rigid is is whatever. And if you plan A, you can have
36:23
a plan BC and D and it's OK. It's more than OK.
36:28
Say more about what you mean about you worked in the future
36:30
and your staff worked in the past.
36:32
What does that mean? So like reporting, planning,
36:34
I'm, I'm, I'm the vision, I'm the goal.
36:37
So I would sit there and put a calendar out for a year in
36:40
advance and we would literally have our conferences this time,
36:46
planning, this site supervisor meeting, all these trainings,
36:51
all these things and and a lot of community, you know, I sit on
36:57
a lot of different boards that, you know, you have things do for
37:01
them. It was just all put on hold.
37:04
It was just all like, how do we walk without vision?
37:07
How do I go? I don't know how to do that.
37:09
There has to be goals and pre planning.
37:12
So in my mind I was stuck on a lot of things and I was it just
37:19
was a different time. Never seen this, you know, I've
37:21
never seen a school Our our sites are always open 24/7.
37:26
I mean all year round. We serve families that need our
37:30
service that work at Walmart, that work, you know, at a
37:34
doctor's office. They would they need those
37:37
services. They need to have their children
37:39
in a safe place. So it was very evident for me
37:42
that we needed to open ASAP, even though the state called it
37:45
hold harmless year, meaning you can spend your contract.
37:49
But if you don't feel that like lot of sites didn't open up
37:53
really fast, a lot of sites had a lot of struggles with
37:57
staffing. Like I was, you know, I had to
38:00
cancel a few classrooms because teachers got sick and I could
38:04
not find anybody to come in. But you know, we, we just did
38:09
what we can and we became a lot more adaptable, a lot more
38:15
adaptable. The time for the students was
38:19
you could see the change in their behavior there.
38:22
They, they were indoors, they were locked up in so many ways.
38:27
A lot of kids still came to me with masks and I'm like, why are
38:30
you a three-year old? I don't want my grandma to die.
38:34
And it was really hard for me to to have a lot of empathy.
38:41
And it was very, very, very hard for me for the, for those 3 year
38:45
olds. I mean, some of them still until
38:46
today wear them because they do not want to go home and make
38:50
their grandma sick or their a somebody in their household
38:54
sick. And it was some of them are just
38:56
very, very comfortable in it. I've had some teachers that they
39:00
said this is a way of life, the masks.
39:02
And it was like, you know, people are different and you
39:08
just have to work with everyone and make sure that everybody's
39:12
is comfortable some way, somehow.
39:15
You know, you mentioned staffing being a real challenge as you
39:18
started to open up and I know for a lot of businesses out
39:21
there, staffing is still a challenge.
39:23
It's still a a really competitive job market.
39:27
I'm kind of curious to hear if there are particular things that
39:31
you have tried and found successful found have been
39:35
working for you to either recruit or retain good
39:39
employees. Sure.
39:41
You know, this is one of your questions that you sent and I
39:43
pondered on it for a minute. But one of those challenges,
39:47
definitely my answer would be staff retention.
39:51
We work in a field that asks a lot of teachers as far as
39:57
qualification, as far as you know that you're asked to have
40:02
ABA to be a lead teacher. Years of experience, you need a
40:06
teacher permit you need to keep up with your professional
40:09
development, CPR first aid mandated reporter and your pays
40:16
at that of a minimum wage. You know McDonald's is paying a
40:20
lot more than than preschool teachers field.
40:24
The world has not is not seeing the work we do.
40:29
That's something that is always upset me as a as a educator, as
40:33
a mother. Society's not placing the
40:36
appropriate value on that service.
40:38
You look at AK through 12 teacher, she's valued a lot more
40:43
than a preschool teacher and I don't understand that They look
40:48
at doctors and doctors are a lot more valued than a teacher.
40:52
I really wonder why I don't I don't personally understand it.
40:56
I come from a household where both of my parents are
41:00
educators. My mom was a kindergarten
41:02
teacher and my dad taught for a long time and, and then became,
41:06
went into law. But there was a lot of like
41:09
pondering and thinking why? Why is something the way it is?
41:13
I don't understand. I, I, I still don't understand
41:16
it. Teachers make lawyers and
41:18
doctors and and everybody, it starts with a teacher.
41:24
A lot of people that do well in life always remember a favorite
41:28
teacher in a very young age. There's a reason for that, you
41:32
know. So when you don't appreciate
41:36
someone, a OK, let me let me step back.
41:42
When I appreciate you, I'm going to you're going to know I
41:44
appreciate you. I'm going to tell you all the
41:46
time, Anthony, I truly appreciate one through 3 about
41:50
you. And to to make that a little bit
41:53
more real, I'm going to back it up with the right pay.
42:00
I'm going to back it up with a way for you to feel secure
42:03
because you also have a family and you have children and you
42:08
need to be OK. So benefits would help 100%.
42:16
If a staff, if a teacher feels appreciated and her basic needs
42:23
are not, she's not going to go away because she's in it for the
42:27
right reasons. I'm in this field because I love
42:31
what I do every single day. I love how it makes me feel.
42:35
I love how it made me as a mother.
42:38
I love that it it. I truly get up every day and go
42:43
I'm going to change the world. One teacher had it.
42:46
I literally do Anthony. I don't look at my job as I,
42:51
there's a lot of challenges in it, but I cannot forget why I'm
42:55
here. And I remind myself why I'm here
42:58
every single day before I come in.
43:01
Big, big, big, big, huge drop for me because the decisions I
43:06
make can affect those teachers, the children, their parents for
43:12
years to come. And this is a huge deal, right?
43:15
So I value what I do and therefore I value all my
43:20
teachers. We are a team.
43:23
I am nothing without them and they could use my support.
43:27
I'm a teacher at heart. I understand the struggles.
43:30
I understand what it's like to go home crying because I could
43:34
not help Anthony today or Anthony was a little too much
43:37
for me today, like way too much. And I I don't have the right
43:40
tool. There are a lot of people who
43:42
have said that, by the way. It's true.
43:44
It's that. That Anthony was too much for
43:46
them today. Ask my wife.
43:49
I bet. So the the idea here is to truly
43:53
connect, like connect with yourself and know why are you
43:56
doing this? I'm not doing it for the money.
43:58
I'm doing it because I truly believe in it.
44:00
There's a a big value in what I do, therefore I'm going to make
44:05
the most out of it. So in my world, I spent two
44:09
hours of my first time as a director just looking at people
44:14
come and people go and people come and people go, and all I'm
44:17
doing is hiring and firing and hiring and firing and like, why
44:22
do you leave? Why do you have to leave?
44:24
I learned very, very quickly to let people go when they need to
44:27
go. And I started observing, why are
44:30
we doing this? Why is this happening?
44:32
Why can I not have consistency? And you can't have consistency
44:37
when you have teachers coming and going and kids are like, oh,
44:40
well, who's Anthony today? Where's Anthony?
44:42
Where? Why is he not here today?
44:44
So I looked at our budget and I really started looking so
44:51
closely on our budget. There has to be some major
44:54
changes here. I started looking at main
44:57
players like the site supervisors.
44:59
Those people were already in a full time position with
45:02
benefits. Fabulous.
45:03
Great. Then I started looking at the
45:06
classroom. Kid, we need lead teachers all
45:08
day, 8 hours a day. They are everything in this
45:11
classroom and we need to support them and let them know this is
45:14
important. Give them some security.
45:17
So save money here. Put it there though.
45:21
Flip those positions in the full time with benefits, waited a
45:25
couple of more years and then added another one where that
45:29
lead teacher has a support staff, a teacher that's there
45:32
all day too. But the whole value changed.
45:37
The people, when they know they're valued and I'm here and
45:40
I'm comfortable, I'm going to bring a lot more to the table.
45:44
And they just, I've had people stay with me for 12 years.
45:48
I have not had issues of people coming and going because people
45:53
know they're valued. Find different ways to show them
45:57
your value. If I don't have the money to do
45:58
it, there's there's so many other ways to do it.
46:01
So appreciating people by letting them know that you are
46:05
important, what you do every day is so important.
46:08
Pay them right, Be nice to them and understand, like I'm a big
46:14
believer that your family comes first.
46:18
And I tell my staff this all day long.
46:20
If, if, if I'm sitting home, if I'm sitting at work and I'm
46:23
worried about Anthony, Anthony has a big fever and I'm sitting
46:27
here worried and Anthony might get, I'm not going to do what I
46:30
need to do. So when you value that and
46:35
people understand that and, and you meet halfway, it's very
46:40
difficult for people to leave because they know that you will
46:42
always do what's right. So we are a team of of a bunch
46:48
of ladies and a couple of men and we all support one another
46:55
and respect one another and build.
46:58
It's just no other way. I'm going to go back to sort of
47:03
the dark days of COVID for just a moment because I'm kind of
47:05
curious to hear, is there any kind of a support system in
47:08
place for you that you were able to lean on during this time?
47:12
Or was this just like I'm just reacting everyday like and I'm
47:17
and I'm alone on an island? My family, my husband, my
47:22
children, my dog, Oh my gosh, my dog.
47:25
I lost a a very sweet pups and this is not work related.
47:29
Seven years old suddenly right before COVID.
47:32
And that was my pal. That was my seriously, that was
47:36
my pal. And right around right when
47:39
COVID happened, my husband surprised me with this little
47:42
cute thing that has become my world and that has just done a
47:47
lot to me. My, my husband is a very huge
47:52
part of my world. He's a, he's a very solid human
47:58
being. My dad, who's 88, my sisters, I,
48:03
I come from a family that's very close and that is really my
48:08
tribe. The ladies here in the office,
48:10
they're my sisters. I love all of them.
48:12
My are, I call her my HR queen, my physical manager.
48:17
She's we're partners. Honestly, everybody here has
48:22
been an amazing asset to everything that we do and I
48:27
count on everyone. That's great.
48:33
I'm kind of curious to hear maybe you know, and tell me if
48:37
this is within the purview of your role or not.
48:40
You know, as business leaders, we're we're always, you know, in
48:43
addition to trying to provide all these services to the
48:45
families and to the kids, you know, somebody's also got to be
48:48
keeping an eye on the bottom line.
48:49
You know, we we've got to make sure that costs are held in
48:52
check. We got to make sure that, you
48:53
know, enrollment numbers are up and sales are, are good.
48:56
I'm kind of curious as you think about those two different levels
48:59
that levers that you can sales coming up or expenses going
49:04
down, are there creative things that you have tried in the past
49:08
that have been successful in moving either one of those
49:10
levers? So definitely stuff retention,
49:15
it starts with the team. So that part creating systems in
49:21
place that meet the need, asking for parent testimonials.
49:26
I'm really big on how serving like doing a lot of survey.
49:31
I survey our families all day long.
49:33
What can we do to be better parent meetings, talking to a
49:38
lot of different people in the community.
49:39
There's like I said, I'm not I don't get comfortable easily.
49:45
Like there's always something to do knowing that like being super
49:55
transparent and consistent. You can't be a champion one day
50:00
and not a champion the next day. You just can't.
50:03
So to me, if you're going to do something, do it every day and
50:06
then do it better in our world. What made a difference in my
50:10
world was being vulnerable. I was very OK being vulnerable
50:16
and putting 7 sites in a program where they can come out and say
50:22
you've got issues here, you have issues there and you need to
50:25
improve that and those systems. And being vulnerable and being
50:31
open to change and being open to having someone that is really
50:35
good coming out and observing us and saying, you know, you are
50:40
great here, but you got to do a little bit more here and
50:43
understand that, that that place of vulnerability or like, I'm
50:48
here, that's only a reason to just push a little bit harder,
50:54
try a little bit harder. I don't get mad at mistakes at
50:58
all. I actually get excited when
51:01
people get do mistakes because it tells me they're trying and
51:04
they're, they're not afraid to do it.
51:07
I get really sad when those mistakes keep happening.
51:09
Then there's something, something off here like we, we
51:12
should learn. And I think the last thing is to
51:16
me as a as a leader, as a human being, you know, I'm, I, I look
51:21
at me all day long at the end of the day, and I try to be as
51:24
honest as possible and I try to be one to also match the energy.
51:30
So for example, when we went through these quality rating
51:35
programs, one of the areas was to assess the director's
51:41
qualifications. And for 2-3 years, my, my part
51:46
was only at four points because I had the BA and the, and the
51:51
director permit and all these things.
51:53
But if you get your master's, you get a 55 point.
51:57
So I thought, OK, well, we're, I have this was something I wanted
52:01
to do 10 years ago. You know what, face your fears
52:05
and just do it. And, you know, match that energy
52:08
that your sites are doing. And if you can get one point to
52:11
every site by getting your leadership, by getting your
52:15
masters, then you've also, you're like the, the I love when
52:20
the team sees that I'm also, I'm running like you.
52:23
I'm not just sitting here. I'm, I'm also cleaning the
52:25
bathrooms. I'm also like, there is, I don't
52:27
believe in titles. I think that you need to humble
52:31
yourself and do everything and anything to do what you need to
52:34
do and to provide the service that you want to provide.
52:37
So I went back to school and I'm, I went back and did it in a
52:42
platform that I was terrified to do it in, which was online, but
52:47
I did it and I was able to gain it.
52:49
And I did my whole research on preschools.
52:53
It was a finding. The thing was an organizational
52:59
leadership. That's what the masters is.
53:01
But I wrote my thesis on leadership in ECE.
53:06
What does that look like? And I had the best time creating
53:11
this research because it was very personal to me.
53:14
And I learned a lot as a human being of like, of, of my
53:18
shortcoming as a leader. And, and, and I set so many
53:22
goals for myself. And I continued to do that
53:24
because, like I said, there's just always something to learn
53:27
and always something to be better.
53:29
So I think it's, it's a bunch of different things that there's
53:33
not one or two things that can can make it or, or break it, but
53:39
definitely consistency is such a big thing and lots of
53:43
transparency and honesty and, and knowing between you and
53:47
yourself. When I, when I go to bed at
53:49
night, I literally go, OK, let's, let's look at you and
53:55
let's see what we've done today and who do you need to apologize
53:58
for and who do you need to do? Like there's a lot of open
54:02
dialogue and it's happening all day long and it's as honest as
54:06
honest gets so we can get to where we need to go.
54:09
I'm not afraid to be vulnerable at all.
54:12
And sometimes people see that as a weakness.
54:16
I truly see it as a very honest thing and.
54:21
It's a powerful part of who you are.
54:23
It's just, it's honest. Hamadi, what is something you
54:26
wish you could teach a younger version of yourself?
54:29
A. Whole lot of things, honestly,
54:33
but one thing if I could pick the value of feeling centered,
54:39
the value of being calm. Calmness is such a beautiful
54:44
thing. I, I, I have always looked at
54:47
life as a circle. I love circles.
54:50
I love to sit in a circle. I love circles because circles
54:55
are are cool that you could see what's going on and I want to be
54:58
in the middle. And I've always taught my kids
55:01
about balance. And when you're balanced and
55:04
when you're centered, you're able to see what's around you
55:08
and you're able to pick priorities and where to be.
55:12
And when you're calm, you make better decisions and you help
55:17
others and you help yourself. I'm a super patient person, but
55:25
sometimes I'm not. Very common.
55:26
Side like I I want to do things, I want to get there.
55:32
I am very ambitious but. Calmness is a beautiful.
55:37
Thing and one other thing that that I have really learned the
55:40
hard way is when someone wants to leave, let them go.
55:46
That that was it. That is still a big lesson.
55:48
For me, that I'm learning, I'm I, it's hard because you take it
55:54
personally, right? I do and I'm such a peoples.
55:57
Person and I, if I it takes a lot for me to to like I, I keep
56:03
up a relationship. I'll check on you.
56:07
It takes a lot for me to I can work with everything, anything
56:10
as long as you're able to work through it.
56:12
But sometimes if a person wants to leave, let them.
56:17
I've inexperienced. When you do let them go, it's
56:23
not the. End of the world, good things
56:25
still. Happen and better energies
56:27
happen and and it's OK. So I am learning that the hard
56:31
way and not and I'm meeting like a staff or a parent or a lady
56:37
that used to clean. My house like.
56:39
Literally stuff like that, like that's, I just hold on to things
56:43
to people and how they make me feel and how I make them feel.
56:48
Like a lot I, I don't do well with losses.
56:50
So those are the things that I think I would definitely talk to
56:54
myself about. It's tough to break those
56:55
attachments. I get that, yeah.
56:58
Are there any? Specific mentors.
57:00
Or books or podcasts that have been particularly helpful for
57:05
you either in your personal development or your professional
57:08
development. Yeah, a whole bunch.
57:11
So. Definitely my dad.
57:13
My dad is a huge, huge part of who I am.
57:17
He's so such a wonderful friend. He's 88 today and he's super
57:22
vulnerable right now, but dad is 1.
57:24
My parents for sure. I lost my mom a while back, but
57:29
my husband as far as work goes, OK, work for me.
57:35
I have a mentor that I lost about two years ago.
57:39
Her name is Diana Decker and she was the most petite lady you'll
57:45
me but the most powerful human being I have ever known.
57:49
She was my Superman, Superwoman, whatever you want to call it.
57:53
She was the most genuine, intentional teacher I have ever
57:58
met. And I went out of my way for her
58:01
to remember my name because you either remember my name or you
58:05
don't. And it's not a very easy name to
58:07
remember. But I would, I would ask her a
58:10
ton of questions. I would make sure I go to every
58:13
single training she put out. I just respected her in ways
58:18
that she was just so genuine and like she spoke my to my heart
58:23
directly into my soul and and she's somebody that I kept up
58:28
with and took her out to lunches when she retired and until
58:36
today. Believe it or not, I I think.
58:37
About her and I pray for her. I love her so much.
58:42
My kids, my babies are everything in my world.
58:47
My daughter's 29. She actually works for us.
58:49
She's the director of special education.
58:51
Her name is Zaina. She's the light of my life.
58:54
My son is named Zammer and he works for Lakeshore and we also
58:59
he's he works indirectly with me.
59:03
Beautiful heart and my little one Cookie love.
59:05
She's a little bit farther from me in, in Long Beach, but those
59:10
people have been a reason for me to be a very transparent.
59:16
They they have taught me so much about who I am until today.
59:21
And one of them is going to make me a grandma's pretty soon.
59:25
Oh, congratulations. Yeah.
59:27
What's the due date? The due date is October 11th.
59:31
OK, I am super that's awesome. I did so and my staff.
59:35
I love my people. You know, Anthony, everybody you
59:38
meet, I'm I I love people. I love talking to people, I love
59:42
talking to strangers, and I'm open to learning something from
59:47
everyone. And you do if you're open to
59:49
that. Yeah, I think it's a good way to
59:51
move through life. And I think what's a fun fact
59:54
that most people wouldn't know about you?
59:56
How sensitive I am. I'm a very sensitive person and
1:00:02
sensitive. My feelings get hurt sometimes
1:00:06
and I'm in a position where. You know, it's a leadership
1:00:13
position and people you know, and I'm very black and white
1:00:16
where I need to be. But I have a big heart.
1:00:20
I work with everyone and sometimes my feelings get hurt
1:00:24
and that's something most people don't know about me.
1:00:30
I think that's an important thing to touch upon.
1:00:33
Not just for you, but in general.
1:00:34
I, I think a lot of people, they, they look at folks like
1:00:37
you, they, they view you sort of this the, the person at the top.
1:00:39
You're, you know, you're leading this operation of, you know,
1:00:42
quite a few employees, several centers and they think, well,
1:00:46
you know, she's, she's just built for that.
1:00:48
She's got, you know, a, a strong constitution.
1:00:51
You know, nothing gets to her. She was Born This Way.
1:00:53
She's got the fortitude for it, right.
1:00:56
And, you know, like, and I appreciate you being, you know,
1:00:58
transparent and vulnerable here and, you know, being willing to
1:01:01
share that. It's like, you know, I'm a
1:01:02
person, I've got a heart, I've got feelings.
1:01:05
I hurt, I have so many feelings and.
1:01:08
My family call me a little drama queen sometimes because I do
1:01:12
have feelings like children. And I think that part is so
1:01:15
beautiful because, again, you know, it's just what makes you a
1:01:20
human being and getting older and have a lot of feelings about
1:01:25
that, too. But, you know, it's just, you're
1:01:30
right. You're viewed in a certain way
1:01:32
and you see yourself in a certain way.
1:01:35
Yeah, Hanani, I just have one more question for you, but.
1:01:38
Before I do it, I want to ask, I want to do 2 things.
1:01:41
I want to ask the our listeners today.
1:01:43
If you enjoy today's content, please hit the subscribe, like
1:01:47
or share button on your favorite podcast app so you'll hear more
1:01:49
episodes like this. I also want to let people know
1:01:52
how to get in touch with you. They're listening to this.
1:01:54
They they're interested in your center.
1:01:56
They want to talk to you directly.
1:01:57
What's the best way for them to reach out to you?
1:01:59
You can literally give. Me a call, I mean my number.
1:02:03
Do you want to just give it out? Go ahead if you're comfortable.
1:02:06
I don't. It's 559. 978-3532 that's
1:02:13
literally my cell phone number and you can look me up.
1:02:18
You'll find me on on VDAS information too vdainc.net.
1:02:24
OK. Last question for you, Hanadi.
1:02:26
I'm curious in the next five years, what are the big changes
1:02:30
that are coming in your industry or your business?
1:02:32
Where do you see things going? A lot of changes are already.
1:02:36
Happening with like I'm with a lot of the school districts
1:02:40
adopting an A whole new grade level.
1:02:44
So the whole transitional kindergarten TK thing that's
1:02:49
happening. Personally for me, what I would
1:02:52
love to see is a having making preschool a little bit more
1:02:59
easier to navigate and get into. This should not be up.
1:03:04
Education in general does not need is not a like a privilege
1:03:08
like everybody needs to have access to it and it needs to be
1:03:13
universal and easy and quality. There are so many different
1:03:19
rules and expectations on parents and a lot of, you know,
1:03:24
a lot of different, like every program has their own little
1:03:27
thing of how do you get in? How do you qualify?
1:03:30
Make that a little bit more easier.
1:03:32
Let's make this a universal thing like we do with the others
1:03:36
other systems and let's highlight the work of an early
1:03:42
education teacher and let's teach the world how important
1:03:48
that is and, and how we should shift our energies to make sure
1:03:53
that the the the whole world understands.
1:03:57
Preschool is the start for a lot of years to come.
1:04:02
And when we do a fine job with introducing a parent and a child
1:04:08
to a healthy environment where the child feels safe, loved,
1:04:12
appreciated, they're going to learn and they're going to
1:04:16
they're going to do it in a very happy way.
1:04:18
And they're going to love kindergarten.
1:04:19
They're going to excel in 3rd grade.
1:04:22
And mom is going to know how to ask for help.
1:04:24
And mom's going to going to say things like, well, I know my
1:04:28
rights and I know that this is not OK and this is not.
1:04:31
So these are the things that I pray for.
1:04:34
I pray to see the world really recognizing our platforms in a
1:04:39
way where they should be recognized and appreciated.
1:04:44
That's terrific. Hanani, I want to be the first.
1:04:46
One to thank you for sharing both your time and your story
1:04:49
with us today. I really appreciate it.
1:04:50
I appreciate you. Thank you so much.
1:04:52
For finding me and for giving me an opportunity.
1:04:56
I've never had to do this, but this was fun.
1:04:59
I liked it. Terrific.
1:05:01
I'm so happy to hear that. Folks, that's a wrap on another
1:05:04
episode of the Inspired Stories podcast.
1:05:07
Thanks for learning with us today.