Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / From Army Bases to Primrose: Twana Holloway's Educational Adventure | Childcare Series

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From Army Bases to Primrose: Twana Holloway's Educational Adventure | 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 Tawana
0:29
Holloway, Director of Primrose School of Prestonwood, which is
0:34
in the Dallas, TX area. Primrose is a national chain of
0:38
early childhood education centers and Prestonwood is part
0:42
of the Wrigley Group which is owned by Doctor Noel Wrigley,
0:46
who also owns eight other centers now.
0:48
Tawana received her education in child growth and development,
0:51
children with special needs, child development associates,
0:55
and Director certification. She has 26 years of experience
0:59
working with children as a teacher, director and owner.
1:03
She loves to watch children grow and to see their personalities
1:06
blossom. She's excited to help mold their
1:08
futures every day so that they can better lead us in the
1:12
future. And she's a mom of five, two
1:16
sets of twins, and get this, a grandma of three.
1:20
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1:53
Now back to our guest today, the Director of Primrose School of
1:57
Preston with Tawana Holloway. I appreciate you making the time
2:01
to Share your story today. Thank you.
2:03
I appreciate you calling me in. I'm excited.
2:07
All right, let's get into it. So Tawana, tell me, how did you
2:11
first get started in early childhood education?
2:15
I was in the Army and in my downtime I would visit the child
2:20
care centers on base and it was just something fun to do.
2:24
I enjoyed it besides just being just hanging out there.
2:29
It was like play centers. So we just went to go have fun
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and once I left, once I was discharged, it was just
2:37
something that I jumped into. I was like, I liked it there, I
2:39
want to do it again. What were you doing in the army?
2:41
What? Was your.
2:42
I was actually an air traffic control operator, so something
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totally different from childcare.
2:47
So yeah. Is that something you had to go
2:49
to school for or they just? Trained.
2:51
Yeah. Well it was training in there.
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So it's it's called 93 Charlie, which is the MOS that they call
2:56
it and we did all the training there so.
2:59
OK, so you leave there, your time's up there.
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And so you decide, hey, I had so much fun playing with those kids
3:06
in the child care centers on base.
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I want to do more of this. What was the next step?
3:10
Did you just go to work for a child care center?
3:13
Did you go? To school.
3:14
I started at a child care center called the Peanut Gallery and it
3:19
was based here in Dallas, TX. I was married and I was pregnant
3:24
with my first child. And so I was like, let me jump
3:28
into it. They hired and I mean of course
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I always have fun doing it and I just stayed in it and never
3:34
stopped and just started there. I started as a toddler teacher,
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which I always like to tell people if toddlers are my
3:41
favorite age group, I call it my jam.
3:43
Toddlers are my jam. And anywhere I would go, it's
3:47
always that toddler program. So needed me to support at a
3:49
different school. I was like, is it the toddler
3:52
class? Because that's where I'll go.
3:54
So I kind of stuck that out. And then I branched out a little
3:58
bit more to learn about the other age groups to get my CDA
4:02
just so I can learn as much as I possibly could about early
4:05
childhood education. I think one of the big steps for
4:08
me as I was growing, it's just running the minimum standards,
4:12
you know, making sure that we were following minimum
4:15
standards, learning about ratios, because a lot of times I
4:19
just go to have fun. I didn't care how many kids I
4:21
had. I was like, OK, what are we
4:22
doing today? So.
4:25
So what was it about or what is it still today about the toddler
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groups that makes it your jam? Oh my gosh, let me tell you
4:32
something. The best thing about a toddler
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is I know a lot of people won't say the same thing, that it's
4:38
their emotions, they don't have a handle on it, but we get to
4:41
help guide them. We get to help them put the
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handle on it. They don't know the words for
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mad. They're just mad.
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They don't understand that they're overly excited and they
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don't understand the words for that.
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So we help give them the words. We help define it for them so
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they can go, oh, this is what I'm feeling.
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This is what that is. So when they make their next
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steps and growth, they get to use their words.
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I'm upset or I'm so happy or I'm so proud of you.
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And they, they're people. So I respect them and then they
5:11
respect us back by giving those those same words that we taught
5:14
them. So if they are angry and they
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say I'm angry, I love it. I'm OK with you being angry
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because you told me and I'm so proud of you.
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You did this all by yourself, so.
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I like that perspective because I, you know, I've got two boys
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that are 8 and 10. And especially when they were
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younger, right? And they like you're saying they
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didn't have that language, they would get upset.
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My initial reaction is I want them to stop being upset.
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I want them to stop screaming. And so I'm trying to redirect
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that energy, redirect that to something more positive.
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And I've got some coaching along the way from some, you know,
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folks like you who are a lot smarter in this area than I am.
5:52
And, you know, they're like, hey, let them feel that emotion.
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Like let it come out. And I like what you're saying
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too. You added on to that, which is
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name it like, name them, identify it like, put a word to
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it so it helps them sort of frame it the next time it comes
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up. Absolutely.
6:08
And then we find those triggers because once they've started
6:10
defining it themselves, they'll know what's going to make them
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angry. And we can say, oh, we know that
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when you're in this area, something over here makes you
6:18
pretty angry. Do you want me to come sit with
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you? Do you want me to come play with
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you? Let's start trying to find those
6:24
triggers yourselves then where you can self soothe.
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Like, I know that this is going to make me angry.
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Maybe I don't want to do this, or maybe I don't want to play
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next to this friend, or maybe I don't want to be in this center
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or this area. So once they start to define
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what that feeling is, they can start to define out what's
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making them angry. So we see tricks in the
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beginning that they don't see, but then they'll start to figure
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out those triggers on their own. And that's interesting, even at
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that young age, do you see that they're able to sort of put two
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and two together? Like I've noticed, like when my
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kids were younger, they they sometimes they had trouble with
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cause and effect, you know what I mean?
7:03
Yeah, absolutely. But I think what what happened,
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especially when it comes to toddlers, let's just say we know
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that toddlers at a certain age are still, they're not playing
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together, they're playing side by side.
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Well, they'll start to notice their surroundings, they'll
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start to notice their person. They'll see a friend come in.
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And I always call them a friend to see a friend come in,
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especially when their friend notices them, they'll start to
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walk away Now, because I know their friend is coming to me
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because we both want this truck or we both want this toy.
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In the beginning, they don't notice that.
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They just know that they're playing with a truck.
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And it just got taken out of our hands.
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Now we're mad. We don't know this feeling.
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We know that we're angry. We know they're we're mad.
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OK, let's talk about it. Let me give you some words.
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I can tell. I see because you're crying.
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And now they know that it's because of this.
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Next time they get that toy or that truck, they're going to
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look and say, is this person coming back for it?
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That's that trigger. Like, OK, somebody else is going
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to try to come get it. What do I do now?
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So they start to recognize it themselves.
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What can I do? Let me move over here.
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I want to go play with it by myself, that kind of thing.
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OK, Tawana, help us connect the dots from where we hear about
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you getting started at the peanut gallery.
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And what are the points in between and how do you
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eventually end up at Primrose School of Prestonwood?
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So I was at the peanut gallery for about 6 years and then I end
8:21
up working at Deeley Child Care Center at Presbyterian Hospital.
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Again I was with the toddlers and the two year olds.
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I became a support teacher, so I was able to learn about the
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preschool classrooms and their pre-K classrooms from there.
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After I left Deeley Child Care Center, I went home because we
8:40
moved to a different area and I opened up my own home center,
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which is called Miss Tawana's Kindergarten, and I started out
8:47
with maybe like four friends and it blew up from there.
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I didn't realize how fast it was going to grow.
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So I'm thinking, oh, it's going to take me some time to get kids
8:58
to come in. But word of mouth, I would say
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within the first month I started with four.
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By the end of the month, I had eight.
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So then I started having to, yeah, it just went fast.
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But it was all by word of everybody who came to my home
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center. It was all by word of mouth.
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Once I got too big, my licensing Rep came in and she was like,
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you need a building. And I was like, I need a
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building. So just just blessed around the
9:23
corner there was an open building and I started renting
9:27
it. Miss Tawana's kindergarten, and
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I was doing that for about four years there.
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And we bought some property in Waxahachie, my husband and I,
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and we decided let's just move there, which Waxahachie, from
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where I was, was about maybe an hour away.
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We moved there. I shut down the center.
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I was like, I'm going to take a break for a while.
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I thought I was going to take a break for a while because my
9:52
younger set of twins had started high school in the area.
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And I was like, let's see. And then while while they were
10:00
at school, I got bored and I was like, I got to get back to the
10:03
classroom. I need to get back to the kids.
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Then Covic came. After Covic, it was just like,
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nobody's doing anything. But I was ready to go back to
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work. And I remember putting out
10:17
healers on Indeed. And I got a call back from Bella
10:21
Desai, who is the regional director now.
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But at the time, she was the director at the Primer School at
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Clyde Warren Park. That's downtown Dallas.
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And she gives me a call and I was, I had never heard of
10:33
Primrose before. And I was like, is this a real
10:35
school? This is that.
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I was like, this is a real. She was like, yeah.
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And we did a Zoom meeting. So she said, do you think you
10:40
can come in to fill out some additional paperwork?
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And I was like, sure. And I want to say the rest is
10:45
history, so to speak. I was a toddler teacher there
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for about 6 months and then I got offered the position of
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Director of Education here at the Preston was Center.
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And then I was the director of Education here at Prestonwood
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for about maybe a year and four months and then I got promoted
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to executive director. So that's where I am now and we.
11:06
See, so is the executive director role, is that still
11:10
specifically at Prestonwood or is that set over more of the
11:12
centers? So, right, I'm going to say it's
11:14
specifically at Prestonwood. If anything else comes up, it
11:17
will probably be a regional position.
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But that's not my say, that's somebody else's.
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And my thing is I'm so blessed because I'm sort of a yes man
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wherever you put me. Sure.
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Is that where you want me to? Go team player, just chip in.
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Right Wherever you want me to be, that's me so.
11:34
Well, you probably really like being in the centers still, you
11:38
know, so that you can have a lot of interaction with the kids.
11:40
Oh. My gosh, I've got best friends
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here like my best friends and I love it.
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I mean, I, I can't imagine not being in school.
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I think that will probably be the caveat if any type of
11:53
growth. If I can't be in the school, I
11:55
don't know if I want that job. You know what I mean?
11:57
If I can't be able to go into the classrooms and maybe go talk
12:02
to some of the pre-K friends I have or some of the babies, can
12:05
I go hold a baby? Can I go feedback?
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If I can't do any of that, I'm not sure if I want to.
12:09
I don't. I'm not corporate.
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I am a worker bee. I'm not corporate, so.
12:14
It's good to know who you are. Yeah.
12:16
And who you're not, Yeah, yeah. And So what are the main duties
12:21
of the executive director there at?
12:24
Primrose Well, in general, we want to make sure, I want to
12:26
make sure my school is safe, not just for the students, but for
12:29
the parents and the teachers. We have a curriculum here, so I
12:32
want to make sure that curriculum is maintained.
12:34
Even though I have a director of Education, I support her and
12:38
making sure that the curriculum is being implemented.
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I manage, I have about maybe 35 staff members and that's just
12:47
teachers. And then I have other
12:48
membership, members of leadership team.
12:50
So I want to make sure that I'm supporting them and guiding them
12:53
however they need me. I have fantastic ladies that I
12:56
work with. I make sure that the children
13:00
are eating healthy. I make sure that our grounds are
13:02
safe and make sure that I'm interacting with families,
13:05
parents even doing tours, marketing, helping families come
13:10
in to Prestonwood. But one of the things I'm so I'm
13:15
family focused that even if Prestonwood is not suitable for
13:19
your family, maybe it's distance or something like that, I want
13:22
to help support families everywhere.
13:23
So hey, maybe we're not the choice.
13:26
I have another school. Let's try that, you know, let's
13:28
see what we can do to help you because I want to make sure
13:30
you're part of the Primrose family.
13:32
So it's nice. So with 35 just teachers there
13:36
in the building, this is for a childcare facility.
13:39
This is pretty good size. How many students can you
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accommodate there? We can accommodate 212 students.
13:44
OK. That's a pretty good size
13:45
center. Yeah, yeah.
13:48
And I'm curious, kind of going back a little bit, let's rewind
13:52
to when you had your own business.
13:54
It sounds like it was really taking off.
13:56
And then one day you're like, hey, I'm going to just take a
13:58
break and shut it down and move an hour away.
14:01
Like we kind of glossed over that.
14:02
Was that kind of a hard decision, like a hard transition
14:05
for you it? Was a hard decision.
14:07
It was a hard decision just because I thought, how can I
14:11
make it back and forth? How can I travel and be able to
14:17
get the kids to school, come open up my school?
14:19
Because again, I'm hands on in my own school.
14:22
I'm opening up, I'm making breakfast.
14:24
I even did transportation, so I want to.
14:27
I just kept trying to figure out what's the best way.
14:30
It was a hard decision, but before I even made the decision
14:34
to go ahead and close, I went around to other schools to see
14:40
what their prices were for whatever their age groups were.
14:43
So that when I had to tell my families that I was going to
14:46
close, I put up a poster and a list to say these schools in the
14:50
area charge this amount. They have openings for this age
14:54
group. These are home centers, these
14:56
are center based. These are, you know, schools.
15:00
These have transportations, these have this, they open here,
15:03
they close. At this time, I wanted to make
15:05
sure that the families that I had didn't have a hard time
15:08
finding care. And then I was blessed because
15:11
while doing that, I let those centers know that I was closing.
15:15
So I had, of course, a bunch of equipment tables, all that kind
15:18
of stuff like that. If there was something that they
15:21
wanted, I know how hard it is to get started.
15:24
And when you're new, it's hard to find those things.
15:27
So I didn't sell it. And I was like, hey, I'll have
15:31
these things. So once the school is closed,
15:34
have at it right then one of the home centers that I went to, it
15:40
was a young lady by the name of Miss Teeley and she was looking
15:44
for a center herself and she asked me to come visit before I
15:50
close and I said sure. She talked to the landlord I
15:53
introduced them to and she just ended up taking over.
15:56
I didn't even have to cancel the lease.
15:58
She ended up taking over the lease and changed it out and it
16:01
just worked out best for her. But it took me about six months
16:04
to come up with a decision that OK, I know it's not going to be
16:08
doable for me to do transportations, get to this
16:11
side of town within an hour and cover and still be able to be
16:15
home for my younger set of twins because they were starting high
16:19
school. My older three had already
16:20
graduated high school. So my younger twins, I was just
16:23
starting high school so I was like, I need to be able to be
16:26
home with them in this new town. So I said this is best to sell.
16:31
But my families, we were always so close that they kind of knew
16:35
what was happening. They knew my heart, they knew
16:39
that I wanted to keep it going, but I was very open with them,
16:43
especially with that journey. So when I gave them the list of
16:46
here, these schools, this is what they have and this is where
16:49
you guys could go and make your choice.
16:51
Because I kind of gave them price points and areas and all
16:54
of that. It wasn't hard for them because
16:57
those schools were expecting phone calls from them.
16:59
So it worked out for that. I just never want to leave
17:03
anyone in the lurch, especially those families who supported me
17:07
from my home to the center. I think that says a lot about
17:10
your personality and your value set that you spent so much time
17:13
and energy to not only make sure that the families are going to
17:16
be taken care of, but then you've got this equipment,
17:19
you've got this lease. Like who else in this space can
17:22
I help out? We're charging for anything.
17:26
I mean just giving stuff away that you know you spent a lot of
17:28
your own hard earned money on. Yeah, because I, I know how hard
17:32
it was to to get those things. But I still do that even to this
17:37
day. If I come across something that
17:38
I know someone needs, I'm hey, I have this.
17:41
Do you need this? I found this.
17:43
Do you have this? My daughters, they're all grown
17:46
like I have my oldest daughters. She'll be 30 years old in
17:49
January. And she said, Mama, why are you
17:51
still giving this stuff away? Why are you still buying stuff
17:53
and giving? I said, because you never know
17:55
who needs it. You never know.
17:57
Here, take it to your church. Somebody may need it.
18:00
I know this person here. So they're like, you're always
18:03
going to find something. So now they do this thing.
18:04
They call me the find it. Mama, can you find me this?
18:07
And I go, yeah, I got it. I get it for you.
18:10
You've got a big heart, Tuana. I got my.
18:14
Baby, has there ever been any thought to go back to owning
18:17
your own center since you you left?
18:19
Yeah. There has been I Here's the
18:22
thing. Now that my children are all
18:23
grown up, I actually live. I live an hour and a half away
18:28
from where I work. Oh.
18:29
My goodness. Yeah, so I'm thinking like maybe
18:33
I want to find something and do something closer to home.
18:36
But again, I enjoy Primrose. It's a great school.
18:41
The curriculum is fantastic. As a matter of fact, all my
18:45
teachers are looking at me right now and doing this.
18:49
They're fantastic. I love these ladies and I'm
18:52
thinking, I think this camaraderie I wouldn't have
18:55
immediately when I move and I would feel lonely without all
18:58
of. Them, can you turn it around?
18:59
Can we see them? Yeah, hold on one second.
19:01
Say hi. Oh, that's great.
19:08
I love it. I love it.
19:11
So, So tell me a little bit about Primrose, because you've
19:14
got an interesting perspective, right?
19:16
You, you've worked for some different child care centers,
19:18
you've owned your own and now you're part of a, a national
19:22
chain that you know, has these franchise opportunities.
19:26
So with, with all those kind of different experiences, what can
19:30
you look at and say, wow, this is, this is the tremendous value
19:34
that Primrose offers us like being part of this, this family,
19:38
this group, this network, like here are some of the advantages
19:41
that we get. Oh, absolutely.
19:43
So one of the things that I always like to tell people,
19:45
especially if I'm hiring, there's daycare.
19:50
Primrose is a private school. So, but even though it's early
19:53
childhood education, I think having this, the extensive
19:57
curriculum that we have from infants all the way to our
20:00
kindergarten program is amazing. The training programs that I
20:04
have, I think it's wonderful. I think how it's guided, but
20:08
also I think, and I like to call it Wrigley Primrose with Doctor
20:11
Wrigley, he promotes from within.
20:14
So not every school can say that they can do that, with Primrose
20:19
especially being the corporation that it is.
20:23
I think there's so much more that they have to offer.
20:26
There's so much more learning that they have to offer.
20:28
There's so much more growth that you can get involved in.
20:32
And I don't think there's a limit yet.
20:34
I think it's still growing. I know that childcare is still
20:37
changing. It's still evolving just because
20:40
there are families that are deciding, do I want early
20:43
childhood education and what does it look like for our
20:46
family? What does it look like for
20:47
teachers that are coming into early childhood education?
20:50
Because it's totally different for them now than it was from
20:53
when I first started. But I can say coming into a
20:56
school like Primrose, there are so many more advantages because
21:00
the education process is there for you.
21:02
You can absolutely. There's so much more to learn in
21:06
an early childhood setting, like the way the Primrose sets up
21:09
for. When you say that there's so
21:10
much more to learn, are you talking about from a staff like
21:12
an employee perspective? There's more for you to learn or
21:15
the curriculum that's set up for the students.
21:18
For both, For both, I think it's an employee, the teamwork that's
21:22
offered that we get to learn from each other.
21:24
I think sometimes when you go into, I want to say just a
21:27
normal daycare setting, a lot of the stuff is hands on that you
21:32
have to do by yourself. But as an employee with
21:34
Primrose, the way that they learn, there's so many people
21:37
that are back that's behind it that you're cross trained so
21:42
well from other teachers. It is my goal to make sure my
21:45
teachers, even if you come in as an infant teacher, I want you to
21:49
visit another classroom. I want you to see how pre-K runs
21:53
a wonder time. I want you to see what the
21:56
outside time looks like for toddlers.
21:57
I want you to see what the cook is doing.
22:00
And let's take a look at the menu.
22:02
What would you like different on the menu so that we can kind of
22:05
bring it up to our regionals so they can so we can get some
22:07
changes. I want them to have a voice and
22:09
in certain cases, when something a center is individually owned,
22:14
a lot of teachers don't have voices, but here they do.
22:17
They get to say, Hey, can we do this?
22:18
And it's one of the things that I want to foster with teachers
22:21
like tell me what you like. I want to hear it.
22:23
I'm I'm not the end all be all. You know, we work together.
22:27
I'm even when I tell them and I go in the classroom to help
22:30
support. I even tell them I'm you're my
22:32
boss. When I come in there, you you
22:35
tell me this is your classroom. What do you what you want me to
22:37
do? I'll change diapers.
22:38
You want me to do circle time? I got you.
22:40
You are my boss, I'm not coming in as your director.
22:44
And they get to see that. They don't just see me sitting
22:47
behind the desk because for me, that's not the fun part.
22:50
The fun part for me, it's getting my hands and clothes
22:53
dirty going in there with them on.
22:55
On the curriculum standpoint with Primrose, it's so easy for
23:00
the teachers to follow, but it's also so extensive for the
23:03
children to learn, and I love it.
23:05
And the teachers get to challenge kids with the
23:08
curriculum. So the curriculum leaves it open
23:10
to where it's not just open and close, it's so open-ended.
23:14
And that's the best part about the curriculum.
23:16
It's so easy for them to do. So you said something there that
23:20
was counterintuitive to me. I would have assumed being part
23:24
of a larger organization that the teachers would have less
23:27
input than they would at like a single owner facility.
23:31
But and you've been an owner of a single member facility and you
23:34
you have friends who who are as well.
23:36
So you have a good perspective to speak from saying that's not
23:39
the case, like they've got more input.
23:41
It's not the case. Yeah, 'cause we want their info.
23:44
It's you can't build a team if no, no members of the team have
23:48
anything to say towards it. That's, that's the teamwork.
23:51
That's the teamwork. I want to hear from them.
23:53
They do have a say. They, they, I want to hear their
23:56
opinions. I want to hear their thoughts.
23:58
I want to hear their input because I want to use them.
24:01
I can honestly say that even with my teamwork here, my
24:04
leadership team that's here, before I can make a decision,
24:08
you guys tell me what you want. I'm not making that decision by
24:11
myself. I want us to make it because I
24:13
want you to be comfortable with it.
24:15
When teachers are doing something in the classroom, if
24:17
there's something special that they want to do, tell me what
24:19
you want to do. Let's make sure it's safe.
24:21
Let's make sure it's healthy. Let's make sure it's guided by
24:24
children. And then you let me know and you
24:26
can do it. Let's go for it.
24:27
Why not? Teamwork makes the dream work,
24:29
right? Yes it does.
24:31
I agree. That was one of my kids favorite
24:34
preschool teachers saying that he used all the time.
24:36
Mr. Jared, teamwork makes the dream work, and that's.
24:39
I love it. I love it, yeah.
24:41
Tell me a little bit about Doctor Wrigley.
24:43
What what is he like as a person?
24:45
What's it like to work for him? OK, let me tell you something.
24:48
I. You just lit up there.
24:52
You know, he's super cool. Like I call him the Super cool
24:54
every time he comes in, like he comes into our schools a couple
24:56
of times a week and he walks through the he walks through the
24:59
building, says hi to the teachers like they know he's
25:01
owner, but he's not like like untouchable, right?
25:05
And he we just call him super cool, but he's really good
25:08
because he hears us too. But the same thing we have
25:12
input, the same thing that he allows for us.
25:15
I want to allow for the teachers because we all have to be heard.
25:19
I'm blessed because he has this thing that he says inspect what
25:23
you expect. So that means if I have
25:27
expectations for my school, to make sure that those
25:30
expectations are still being followed through, I need to go
25:32
back and check. So that's one of the things
25:34
where I ask teachers, give me your input, let's talk about it
25:37
because then I'm going to go back to make sure that that's
25:40
what we did. He is.
25:43
I can say he's intelligent and smart and all that stuff like
25:47
that, but he's personable. He's not above hearing us and
25:53
this is for all of his schools. Even if we have something going
25:57
on. Personally, I would say maybe it
25:59
was a year ago, one of my daughter's was in the hospital
26:03
and I was with her and he called.
26:05
He was like, hey, does she need anything?
26:07
Where you guys at? That's him and it's he's a
26:10
blessing. He is a blessing.
26:11
But he doesn't just do it for me.
26:14
He would do it for the teachers. He would do it for any of his
26:16
other schools. So he's but he's hands on, he's
26:20
hands on. He's really.
26:21
Involved and is there growth plans for his for the Wrigley
26:25
group do you know like. I mean, I will say there are, I
26:28
just can't say what they are. I he, I, I don't think he knows
26:32
how to sit still yet. He hasn't.
26:34
He hasn't. He hasn't met a cloud he can't
26:39
touch yet. That's what I'm going to say.
26:41
Yeah, that's great. Common entrepreneur's dilemma.
26:45
Absolutely. Can't, Can't sit still.
26:48
Exactly. It's the what's next.
26:49
OK, now that this is done, what's next?
26:51
Yep, that's him. That's how we're OK.
26:52
That's what I'm going to call him.
26:53
Mr. What's Next? Mr. What's Next?
26:56
Mr. Cool and Mr. What's Next? Yeah, those are pretty good
26:59
nicknames. So Tuana, tell me, what is a
27:02
typical day look like for one of your students?
27:06
For one of my students, let's see, I want to pick 1.
27:10
So I have a best friend. I'm going to call her my best
27:12
friend and it depends on any day.
27:14
If it's a morning while I open, she'll come in at the door and
27:19
she says bye daddy, that's it because I'm there.
27:23
So we hang out. I want to tell her she helps me
27:25
answer phones. She just grabs the phone for me
27:28
so that I can answer it. We have conversations about our
27:31
cats, and then after my second person comes in, I walk her to
27:35
class. Parents come in, they sign in.
27:38
Sometimes they let the little ones help them sign in.
27:41
They go to class, pass the little one off to the teachers.
27:44
Time to wash your hands. And this isn't every classroom.
27:48
Then there's children's choice breakfast, and then it's time
27:52
for Harmony and Heart, which is the music time in the morning.
27:55
This is throughout the whole entire school.
27:58
So at 8:15, Harmony and Heart is going on throughout the whole
28:02
entire school. After that, the schedules become
28:05
a little break broken up because then there's outside time,
28:08
there's wonder times, there's circle times, and each classroom
28:12
is doing something different. So depending on the age group,
28:16
in my older classrooms, when they come in to wash their
28:18
hands, they have to sign in. It's the way they do their
28:21
attendance. With the younger classrooms,
28:23
like the toddlers, when they're doing their attendance, there's
28:25
a basket where we try to help them find their name so they'll
28:28
learn to recognize what their name looks like.
28:30
As they grow and go into the next age group, The next age
28:33
group, they get backpacks. They have to come in, find your
28:36
name, hang it on your backpack, find your name on the attendance
28:40
board. They'll put it on the part where
28:41
we're here today and then let's get started.
28:44
Let's get started with the day. Then there's the curriculum that
28:48
they're going to follow through, the wonder times that they're
28:50
going to do, the thumbs up activities that they're going to
28:54
do. So it's different in every age
28:57
group, those particular activities, but topics are
28:59
pretty much the same. It's just scaled with their age.
29:02
What are the different age groups that you service there?
29:06
I'm sorry, say that again. What are the different age
29:07
groups that you service? We go from infants to pre-K
29:11
here. OK.
29:13
Yeah, and there were a few things I wanted to ask about.
29:16
What is children's choice? Children's choice is they have
29:19
different centers in the classroom, so in the mornings
29:22
they get to their choice. But also within children's
29:24
choice, there's writing centers, there's art centers, there's
29:28
math and science centers. This is where they get to choose
29:31
what they want to do when they first come in.
29:33
It's their choice. So they have that time in the
29:35
beginning of the day until after breakfast is over, so.
29:39
And how about Wonder Time? What is that?
29:41
Wonder time is a learning time, so whatever the topic for the
29:43
day. So one of the things we're
29:45
talking about is Culture week. So we're just talking about
29:47
multiple cultures. We're talking to families about
29:50
their cultures. Children's have brought in
29:51
posters, they brought in foods, but we want to talk about what
29:55
they're doing. Tell us about yourself.
29:57
So we're talking about the many cultures that we see babies from
30:00
all over the world, especially depending on which age group
30:03
that we're talking to or the that the teachers are with.
30:07
And then the next wonder time is an art project, which is, which
30:11
is wonder time too about that culture.
30:14
Let's do this art project. This is what it looks like here.
30:17
So it's different art projects. And right now we're getting
30:20
ready because next week we're having a museum gala for all the
30:25
paintings that those classrooms done.
30:27
So it's going to be a night time activity where parents get to
30:30
come in and get dressed up and come bid on art.
30:33
So in the proceeds go to the Dallas Casa.
30:36
So it's a charity event. So the parents get to buy their
30:39
kids paintings for charity. That's terrific.
30:42
And what is Dallas Casa? Dallas Casa is a program for
30:47
children who are being adopted. It's pretty cool.
30:50
I love it. Nice.
30:52
And then the last one that I want to know about is Thumbs up.
30:54
What's that? OK, so a lot of kids like to
30:58
call it go outside, but it's more than that.
31:00
There is a physical activity that we do for thumbs up.
31:03
We're monitoring and we're doing an assessment just to make sure
31:06
those gross motor skills are where they need to be.
31:08
So what a child would think, it's pretty fun to jump from
31:11
hoop to hoop. The teachers are checking to see
31:13
if they can jump off 2 feet. They're checking to see if they
31:16
can throw the ball this way and underhanded.
31:19
They're just watching their mobility.
31:21
And if they can do that, it's something that the teachers
31:23
would work out. Yeah, I can see that they can do
31:25
that. But the parents or the kids, I
31:27
think they're just having fun. What if you had to pick one
31:33
thing, Tawana? What do you think sets your
31:37
center apart from other traditional child care centers?
31:43
The atmosphere, what's the atmosphere for sure.
31:49
Not only are we like family oriented here and I think we're
31:53
very open, I think the atmosphere for us sets it apart
31:57
because families know what to accept, you know, and they know
32:01
what to expect from us. And we try to make sure we keep
32:06
that communication open so that there is no, there are no
32:10
questions. There are no questions that need
32:12
to be asked, that they don't have to wonder what's next.
32:16
The communication is there. What what are some of the most
32:22
common concerns that parents have when starting their kids in
32:25
a new child care environment like yours, and what can you
32:29
tell them to put their their minds at ease?
32:33
1st I want to know if this is the child's first time in child
32:37
care and how old they are. If it's a little tiny baby, I
32:43
worry about the parent and not the child because there are many
32:47
times when mom's dropping off baby for the first time and then
32:49
mom's crying. Our goal is to make sure mom is
32:52
OK, mom and dad are OK. So we give hugs.
32:55
I'm going to hug Mama. Come on, baby girl, let's go
32:57
right here. And do you want to stand at the
32:59
door? You can stand at the door and
33:00
watch for as long as you want to.
33:02
The one thing that you don't want to do is let and not let
33:04
them know that they have access to their baby.
33:06
Yeah, you dropped your baby off, but you want to run back in
33:09
there. Go get that baby.
33:09
Go ahead. That's your child.
33:11
But we want you to be comfortable and knowing that
33:13
they're OK. Stand at the door as long as you
33:16
want to. But we do that for the moms,
33:19
especially if it's a little baby and it's the first time.
33:22
If it's an older child and they've never been in childcare
33:25
before, moms are going to cry. I like to bring them to the
33:28
office, sit down if they have extra time.
33:32
You want some coffee? How about we order coffee?
33:34
Let's just chat and then we're going to go back down just to go
33:37
see how baby is doing. Let's see what the teacher is
33:39
doing with baby and we'll go from there.
33:42
If the child has been in childcare before, we just want
33:44
to see how they transition. Why are you doing that?
33:47
He knows you guys are here. Look.
33:52
This is the atmosphere now she's trying to hide, cowering away.
33:59
We want to make sure, OK, if they've been in childcare before
34:06
and they're coming to us and the child is new to us, we want to
34:10
know how they transition. But before any child starts, we
34:14
do a parent teacher orientation just so we can get to know the
34:17
family, just so we can get to know the child, just so they can
34:20
get to know the teacher in the classroom so that there's any
34:23
tips mom and dad got for us, especially if the child is
34:27
transitioning from one school to another, Let us know.
34:30
Maybe it's a favorite toy. I have one friend here who is
34:34
her first time in childcare because she stayed home with
34:38
grandparents. She came to the do the tour with
34:41
us. She liked looking in the window
34:42
at the classroom. But mom says I don't know how
34:46
I'm going to get her to go into the class.
34:48
Well, she wears Princess dresses every day.
34:50
I said you look so brave in that Princess dress.
34:53
Every day there's a different Princess dress she's wearing.
34:57
I said if that's going to make her feel brave to go through the
34:59
classroom, she can do it. And every day she's wearing a
35:03
Princess dress because that's what makes her feel brave.
35:05
Mom and dad were concerned. I was like, that Princess, just,
35:08
she looks beautiful. She looks like she's ready for
35:10
the day. And we call her out on it and
35:13
she's so proud and she does really well.
35:15
I love that. Whatever we could do to help
35:16
that child feel comfortable, that's what we're going to do.
35:19
But we're also going to do that for mom and dad.
35:20
Bye, Princess. So we're also going to do it for
35:24
mom and dad. My youngest son wore pajamas to
35:28
preschool every day. Every day.
35:30
Every day. Yeah, he had other kids saying,
35:33
hey, Valentino gets to wear pajamas.
35:35
Why can't I wear pajamas? And for us, it was just the
35:38
easiest way to get him out the door.
35:40
He gets comfortable in on them. But that's a great story about
35:43
one of your friends there just being brave and confident in
35:46
her, her prince's outfit. She does so well every day she
35:50
comes in her grandmothers and she comes in with both
35:52
grandmothers and they're so happy because they were The
35:55
grandmas were having the hard time.
35:56
Mom and dad were good. It was the grandmas who were
35:58
having a hard time letting go and they felt great about it.
36:03
And she does so well in classroom now.
36:05
She speaks to everybody, she waves by, she says hello.
36:09
You get those friends that where transitioning is hard even at
36:14
every age. So I always want to let teachers
36:16
know just because maybe this kid is a 5 year old and they're
36:20
crying at drop off, it's OK. Transition is still hard for
36:23
that five year old. We respect them.
36:26
These are still people. Despite them being younger
36:28
people, they're still people. It's hard for us as adults to
36:31
transition. We don't like people to see our
36:34
nervousness. If we start a new job, if we go
36:37
into a new place, that's a transitional moment.
36:39
That's a transitional emotion. Now, we might not scream and
36:42
grab hold to somebody, but we're still feeling those feelings.
36:46
They are feeling those feelings too, and it is OK for them to
36:49
feel those feelings. That particular transition,
36:52
those emotions are natural, normal, and they're wonderful
36:56
feelings because they're being hurt.
36:58
Hey, I'm scared, I'm nervous. Hey, I can tell you're scared
37:01
and nervous. Let's go try and find some
37:03
things that will help you feel less scared and nervous.
37:05
And if you just don't want to play, that's OK.
37:08
If you just want to stand right here, you let me know when
37:10
you're ready. We got you.
37:12
Just being patient. But understanding that just
37:14
because they're those feelings are big for them, that doesn't
37:18
mean we all don't feel those feelings.
37:20
We all feel those. That's a good reminder.
37:22
Yeah. You know, I'm curious when when
37:25
parents are sort of shopping around, trying to find a new
37:28
child care Center for their families, it's a big decision,
37:32
right? Like, where do we feel
37:33
comfortable? Where do we trust people?
37:35
Like, where's the where's the best option for us?
37:38
What advice can you give to people who are are searching and
37:42
trying to make this important decision?
37:45
Oh, absolutely. OK, so one of the things I get
37:47
to say, I love doing tours. I always ask a family, is this
37:52
the first stop? Are we the first stop that they
37:54
stopped or are you still looking?
37:56
How did you hear about us? That kind of thing.
37:58
This is how I would do a tour when we are getting the phone
38:02
calls for tours or emails for tours.
38:04
What we ask is what's the most important thing that you look
38:08
for in early childhood education or what is the most important
38:12
thing that you look for in early childcare?
38:15
We want to hear that. We want to make sure that we
38:17
offer that we kind of go through that process.
38:20
Once they come in, they're asking their questions, they're
38:23
asking about curriculum, they're asking about all these things.
38:27
If we don't fit, and sometimes I can tell if we're not the best
38:31
fit for them. Even during that tour process, I
38:35
still want them to feel welcomed.
38:37
I still want them to say, hey, I still have questions.
38:40
Can I call Tuana back? I still want them to know that
38:43
even though we may not be your choice, I want you to find the
38:47
best choice for your little one. How can we do that?
38:50
How can I support you and still finding your best choice?
38:53
It may not be us. I'm OK with it if it's not us.
38:57
But that doesn't mean I love your child any less because it's
39:00
not us. It doesn't mean that I love your
39:01
family any less because it's not us.
39:04
That means that you need something specific and maybe I
39:09
can help you find that. What I will do before you leave,
39:12
if it's in the area, I might tell you, hey, I think Primrose
39:15
is a great school. So let me find a Primrose in the
39:17
area that you need. If it's not Primrose, let me
39:20
give you this website to go to so you can find the school that
39:24
best fits your family. Because before I, for me, before
39:28
you leave, I want you to find what you need for your family as
39:32
a whole, because that's what we're here for.
39:34
I mean, I and I will tell families I'm like, I mean even
39:37
although I think we're the best, but if we still don't fit your
39:41
family, how can I help you find that?
39:43
Cuz it we may not be that it could be this one little twig,
39:47
it could be anything. Doesn't matter.
39:49
How can I help? You well, I see your heart
39:51
coming through again, Tawana, it's clear you're you're very
39:53
much a relationship person and I I stopped that.
39:56
Thank you. Can you think of maybe a
39:59
particular success story for one of your friends that's come
40:02
through the center? Let me see.
40:05
OK, let me be specific. I, I hate to, it's more than the
40:10
success story from a friend. It's my grandson.
40:14
So my grandson had never been in childcare prior to this.
40:18
He was always either home with mom or he was with an auntie.
40:23
So it was if it wasn't mom, he was with one of his aunties.
40:26
And I remember when he turned 4 and I told my daughter, I said
40:31
he really needs interaction, He really needs socialization.
40:35
He really needs to be around children his own age.
40:37
And I said, we have space available where I am, you know,
40:41
I will just cover the tuition because I really need for him to
40:44
be ready for school. And so she was a little nervous.
40:47
Hold on one second. And so she she was a little
40:55
nervous, but she was OK because she was like, OK, if he goes to
40:58
school, I know he's where you are, mom, he'll be fine.
41:01
And I said, great, he started here.
41:04
He used to meet kids at the park before.
41:07
He wouldn't go to school and he wouldn't say hi, my name is Kai.
41:10
He would just walk up to a kindergarten.
41:12
And. He was like, that's hold on,
41:14
kid, that's not how we meet friends and he came to school
41:18
and Miss Grace, my admin, she was there that morning to open
41:23
and I was like, hey, Kai's first day.
41:25
She walked in the class. He was so excited.
41:27
Now he didn't have a hard time transitioning.
41:30
He was because he just said he and he asked her and he he asked
41:33
her. He said, is this the class where
41:35
my, when's it going to be? So she was like, yeah.
41:39
Now, mind you, we, I know he's a smart kid.
41:42
I know he's really intelligent, but just no socialization.
41:45
So one of the things he did, he just tried to find a friend,
41:48
just kept trying to find who's going to be my friend.
41:50
So he went through the whole classroom for friends.
41:53
I think maybe three months later, the teacher at the time
41:56
is Jennifer. She went through and she was
41:59
talking about letter sounds and reading and she says, Oh my
42:03
gosh, he knows all of his letters.
42:05
He can write his name, at least his first name because his last
42:08
name was really, really long. She's like, he can write his
42:11
name and he understands letter sounds.
42:14
I said great. You know, I said, however you do
42:16
it, I'm just, hey, tell him, let his mom know because I wanted to
42:21
to set a precedence that even though grandma is the director,
42:24
that does not mean that, you know, I want you to have that
42:27
conversation with her. But that kind of, and I want to
42:31
say maybe even a couple of months after that, she had the
42:34
kids separated at tables. And so I thought, what are they
42:36
doing? She said, they're reading
42:37
because I was doing classroom observation.
42:40
And I kid you not, I don't know why I didn't have the faith.
42:42
I was like, Kai is reading. And she was like, yeah, Kai is
42:46
reading. I said, no, I go over it.
42:49
And he said, look, Nana, so he's reading this little tiny book.
42:51
And I said, oh, my gosh, I'm so proud of you.
42:54
And he graduated our kindergarten program, went off
42:58
to school. And I say three months in school
43:02
in the ISD. His teacher called his mom and
43:06
she's like, can I talk to you about Kai?
43:08
First thing my daughter says is, is he in trouble?
43:11
And so teacher says no, but he's in kindergarten.
43:14
He's reading on a third grade level.
43:16
Whoa. She called me here at the job.
43:21
She said, can you tell his teacher?
43:23
I told his teacher. I texted Grace.
43:25
We were so proud of him. I was so proud of him.
43:29
And then when I called him the night when I got off work, I was
43:32
like, hey, I said, I hear the teacher call.
43:35
And so he goes, yeah, she says I'm smart.
43:38
And I was like, I think you are. For me, that is first hand
43:44
success story because he did not have any of that stuff before
43:48
starting. But he did so well and I'm so
43:51
proud of him. And I said, we still have some
43:53
of the friends here who used to go to the school that still
43:57
comes in and see us, and I see how they've grown.
44:01
And they tell me about school and they're so happy and their
44:03
parents are so happy. One of my family's, her son just
44:09
got, he was accepted into one of the private schools in the area.
44:13
She was so nervous. He got accepted to four private
44:16
schools. So she had her picked.
44:18
So she came in crying. She brought the teacher gifts.
44:21
She was like, he got accepted into four of them.
44:24
And I was like, yeah, I can say first hand, it feels good to
44:29
hear that kind. Of that's really rewarding and
44:31
that tells me that either you're putting something in the water
44:34
there, you've got a really good curriculum or you've got
44:38
fantastic teachers. What, what?
44:39
What is? It I'm going to, I'm going to
44:41
say definitely a good curriculum, but the teachers who
44:45
I I swear by these teachers, I swear I will.
44:49
Yeah. These are these are my ladies.
44:52
So let me ask you, it's a tight labor market, Tawana.
44:54
What are you doing that's working so well to attract and
44:58
then retain these great teachers?
45:01
I will say I think for because of the labor market, I can't say
45:05
that it's just something I do it.
45:07
I want to find people with the passion for it.
45:10
If you have the passion for it, I'm going to support you.
45:13
I'm going to support you. And I think that's what teachers
45:14
need to know that hey, I want to do this, I want to learn more
45:19
about this. I want to be into this.
45:21
So it's my job to take that and cultivate it.
45:25
OK, let's talk about it. What do you want to do?
45:27
Show me. Let's see this.
45:30
I will say having goals, giving have, having them come up with
45:34
goals for themselves. I don't want teachers to come in
45:38
and just say this is just a job. It can be more.
45:41
Where do you see yourself in three years?
45:43
How can I get you there? Because even if in three years,
45:46
if Primrose or even early childhood education is not for
45:50
you, where do you see yourself? How can I support that?
45:53
Because then if you know that you, I have your back here and I
45:57
can support you here. I know that that word would
46:00
spread to say, you know what, Miss Tawana, Miss Lindsay, Miss
46:04
Grace, Miss Anna, they had my back.
46:07
They got me. They support me, whatever it is,
46:10
and then we get to see those teachers come back or we get to
46:13
see them grow. I am blessed to say, like four
46:15
of the teachers that we've had here have already been promoted
46:19
and transitioned into leadership positions at other schools.
46:23
I want teachers to grow. I even tell them, hey, Doctor
46:25
Wrigley promotes from within, so tell me what I can do to get you
46:29
there because I want you to go there.
46:30
I want you to grow. I don't want you to stay in one
46:33
place. If you don't want to stay in one
46:35
place, I don't want you to stay in one place either.
46:37
Tell me what you want to. Do there's your heart coming
46:39
through again, Tuana I. Love it.
46:41
I'm sorry. It's great.
46:42
No, it's great. I mean, there's a lot to be said
46:44
for just doing the right thing and, you know, treating people
46:48
the way that you would want to be treated.
46:49
You know, you're talking about helping these families out that
46:51
might not be a good fit for your for your child care center, You
46:56
know, helping the the teachers that that work with you if they
46:59
want to, you know, move along in their career and like, how can I
47:02
help them? There's a lot to be said for
47:04
that. I think those are those are
47:05
wonderful qualities to have in anybody.
47:07
But, you know, terrific in an executive director spot like
47:10
that. Absolutely.
47:13
I think sometimes early childhood care is not for
47:16
everybody, right? You get those people who see
47:19
children and want to work with children because they're so
47:21
cute. Oh my gosh, I want to work with
47:23
these kids. They're so adorable.
47:26
Look at them, look at, oh, look at her little face and you get
47:29
into the classroom and cute only takes you so far.
47:33
Cute only takes you so far. I have tons of cute little kids.
47:37
But when they get mad, do you know how to get through?
47:40
Can you get through to them? They just threw that truck.
47:43
Do you know how to get through to them to to fix that?
47:46
And they're like, I don't, I don't know what to do.
47:48
Why are they doing this? Yeah, because now they're not
47:51
that cute anymore, right? And the cute just went out the
47:53
door. Now you've got this little kid
47:55
who's just throwing trucks now it's got blocks.
47:58
How do you keep them from doing this?
48:00
So it's you have to have the passion for it.
48:03
You have to have the understanding for it.
48:05
You have to be able to know how to give them words.
48:08
Maybe it's an older child that you have in maybe a pre-K
48:12
classroom that you say, hey, you left your toys out, can you go
48:16
pick them up? And they look at you and say,
48:17
no, I'm not going to go pick them up.
48:18
You do it. How do you get through to that?
48:22
Everything is not going to be sunshine and rainbows.
48:25
Can you work through that? Can you not take it personally
48:28
and just take it professionally? That's two different things.
48:31
Some people take those things personally and not
48:34
professionally because the professional person in you is
48:37
going to look at the child and say, you know what, OK, let's
48:40
start over. We got to clean the room because
48:43
we have to do this. I'd like your help.
48:46
I know that you picked it up, but maybe you think it's a lot
48:49
of work to do. Would you like for me to help
48:50
you do that? Sometimes you got to come with a
48:53
different plan, but that's thinking professionally and
48:55
that's taking it professionally because if we take it
48:58
personally, we miss the point. We miss the window of
49:01
opportunity to teach. We miss those teaching moments.
49:04
And everything is a teachable moment in early childhood
49:06
education, even for teachers, so.
49:10
What's a serious challenge that you've had to overcome either in
49:14
business or in your personal life, and what are some of the
49:17
lessons that you learned coming through the other side?
49:18
Tawna. OK.
49:21
I would say for me, I think it's just a couple.
49:24
I'm going to say in business, when I had my own child care
49:28
center, it was just me. There was no assistant
49:30
directors, there was nobody else.
49:32
So I was doing all of it. I was doing the paperwork, I was
49:34
in classrooms, I was doing the cook, I was doing the driving.
49:37
So I was able to, I take it all. One of the things that I had to
49:42
learn here and still learning while I'm here is I have a team,
49:47
use them because sometimes I have a tendency.
49:50
And then my director of education, who you saw behind
49:54
me, she'll tell me, stop. You don't have to do all of that
49:56
by yourself. So it's one of those things that
49:58
I'm still learning, but I'm blessed that I do have a team to
50:02
support me in that. That's still professional growth
50:06
that I'm still learning. It's also still something
50:08
personal for me that I'm going to say that I need to say when I
50:12
need help. I got to say if I can tell the
50:15
kids, let me know when you need help.
50:16
I got to learn to do that too. I'm learning.
50:19
It's still it's still a progress, but I'm getting.
50:21
There it's, it's a tough transition to make.
50:23
You know, I talked with a lot of business owners who you know,
50:26
are, they're the start, You know, they're where everything
50:29
began. So they're used to wearing all
50:31
the hats and then over time, as they grow, right, they add
50:35
staff, maybe they add a couple of centers.
50:37
It's really challenging to make that transition.
50:40
And you've got a somewhat similar path, right?
50:42
You had your own small center. You did everything yourself.
50:45
You, you wore all the hats. And now you're in a much
50:48
different environment. And it, it takes an adjustment
50:51
of changing your approach, changing, levelling up your
50:55
skill sets into something new. And and that growth can be
50:59
uncomfortable. Yeah, it and it can be, but I
51:02
think that if we sit in our comfort, we won't grow.
51:06
So got to move it. It is a challenge, it truly is.
51:10
But I I try to be a better communicator and I like when
51:15
people communicate. I'm one of those I can hold
51:17
myself accountable. And I also want someone to him
51:20
say, hey, hey, I really need you to do this because of this.
51:23
And I'm like, and my word is bet.
51:25
I'll go bet. You know, I think my ladies, if
51:29
I say something, I don't say, OK, yeah, sure.
51:32
My word is bet. It means I'm going to do it.
51:34
Bet I got you. Whatever it is, if that's what
51:36
you tell I, I receive it, bet. So that's how I know I'm I'm
51:42
going to meet that challenge. Yeah, and I like what you said
51:44
about if we sit still and we're comfortable, we don't grow.
51:48
One of the things I tell my kids is growth happens at the
51:51
uncomfortable edges of life. Yes, yes.
51:54
And it and it's hard to be in that spot whether you're a kid
51:58
or you're an adult, but that that's where the true growth
52:01
comes from it. Is it?
52:03
Is Etwana What's a fun fact most people wouldn't know about you?
52:09
Fun fact? Something interesting.
52:16
Gosh, I'm I'm a pretty open book.
52:20
I can't say most people, but I'm trying to think of something.
52:22
A fun fact that most people. What?
52:25
What would I find interesting about you that that I haven't
52:28
already found out here today? As an air traffic controller, I
52:32
had the opportunity to repel and jump out of a helicopter.
52:40
Jump out of a helicopter. I didn't realize that was
52:42
things, people. Did.
52:43
Yeah. I know it wasn't part of my job,
52:47
but I did do some support in detail at jump school and I was
52:52
one of the lucky ones, lucky they got a chance to do that.
52:57
It's an experience, I will say that.
53:00
Now, sorry, jumping out of a helicopter, are you, are you
53:03
wearing a parachute? Because you've got like the is
53:05
that right? OK, because you've got the wind
53:06
sort of like pushing down from the.
53:08
Absolutely yeah, a parachute. So we all we all parachuted out.
53:12
I I was lucky. I was I in it was I want to say
53:16
it was fun way afterwards. Like I can laugh about it now,
53:19
but at the time I was I was you can God bless me.
53:24
I was crying. I was that person.
53:27
So but I did it. It's I, I did it.
53:30
I can say that and I was supposed to say that I did it.
53:34
Let's see. I not a lot.
53:37
I mean, I'm pretty, like I said, I'm pretty.
53:38
I'm a pretty open bug. I love dad jokes.
53:41
I think they're funny. I don't I'm corny that way.
53:44
But again, my ladies know this. Another thing is I love to sing
53:51
and dance. It's my favorite thing.
53:54
I don't know why. I can go into a classroom, I can
53:56
make up a song. I'm gonna fly with the kids in
53:58
the classroom if I need them to do something, if I'm about to do
54:02
something. It's just my favorite thing to
54:04
do is to sing and dance with the kids.
54:06
Can we get a little impromptu performance here?
54:09
Kid songs. I do have a favorite song
54:11
though, and I was taught this song a long time ago and it's
54:14
about the butterfly and it's the fuzzy Caterpillar.
54:17
He wiggled up the tree, he wiggled short, he wiggled long.
54:21
He wiggled back at me. I put him in a box and don't go
54:25
away, I said, But when I opened up the box, he was a butterfly
54:30
instead. I know I could not make one, not
54:33
even if I tried, because only God in heaven could make a
54:36
butterfly. And that is my favorite song and
54:40
I've sang it to all of my children and I've sang it to all
54:42
of my grandbabies and I love it. It is my favorite.
54:46
Song thank you for sharing that with me and and the rest of the
54:49
audience today. I I enjoyed that very much.
54:51
Thank. You.
54:53
Tawana, any specific books or mentors, podcasts, other
54:57
experiences that have been helpful in kind of shaping you
54:59
and your career? You know what?
55:02
It's funny. It's not a lot of books or
55:04
podcasts that I do. I really don't.
55:06
One of the things that shaped me is just people.
55:09
It's other teachers, it's other leadership members, it's
55:14
anybody, anybody who's in a position where it's something
55:18
that I don't know, I want to hear from them.
55:21
I think from it's people that I want to learn from.
55:24
I would love to be one of those people who like to read a lot.
55:27
And the things that I've read prior in early childhood is
55:31
things that we kind of learn as we go in there.
55:33
And it's like those little advices.
55:35
But when it comes to the deeper stuff, the interpersonal things,
55:39
those are my favorite things to learn from people who are
55:41
actually in it. And it doesn't even have to be
55:44
childcare. It could be in the medical
55:46
field. It can be just the person on the
55:48
street. I remember I met this lady when
55:53
I was pregnant with my oldest daughter.
55:55
And one thing that I've learned, she said this, she asked me, she
55:58
said, is this your first child? And I said yes.
56:01
And she goes, the one piece of advice that I could give you is
56:04
you're going to be repeating yourself for the rest of their
56:07
lives. And then I didn't know that.
56:10
And now, Oh my God, it's and my daughter again, my oldest
56:16
daughter is going to be 30. And I'm still saying the same
56:20
thing. And that's like, if I could find
56:22
this lady right now, it's the best piece of advice that you
56:27
just be, just be prepared. You're going to be repeating
56:30
yourself all the time as a parent.
56:33
And then you could say, but I, you know, I thought we talked
56:35
about that. And they will say, I don't
56:37
remember this same thing I did with my brother, my sister, my
56:40
cousins. And I was like, this lady said
56:42
this and I remember, But I think that was my favorite piece of
56:45
advice because it still holds true.
56:47
And I'll now give it to every parent.
56:49
Just understand you're going to be repeating yourself for the
56:51
rest of their lives. Well, that was a good reminder
56:53
for me to hear again today. Yeah.
56:55
I feel like especially in our morning routines and our, our
56:59
bedtime routines, like I, I feel like I am saying the same thing
57:03
10 times every morning, every evening.
57:06
And so it's not unusual. My kids aren't broken.
57:10
I'm not broken. This is just human nature.
57:12
So, and it's just human nature and you can't get mad about it
57:15
because now that I've given this advice, now you know, I don't
57:18
have to. I hope I don't have to tell it
57:20
to you again. It it is what it is like, OK,
57:24
let's move on. I'll tell you again.
57:25
Twan, I just have one more question for you today.
57:28
But before I ask it, I want to do 2 things.
57:30
First of all, if you're listening today and you like
57:31
today's content, please hit the subscribe, like or share button
57:34
on your favorite podcast app. Twan, I also want to tell people
57:38
the best way to get in touch with you.
57:39
What would that be? So I am here every day at the
57:43
school. My schedule varies, but if you
57:46
want to get in touch with me, you can call our school,
57:48
Primrose School of Prestonwood at 469-791-9131 and my e-mail
57:55
address is Director at Primrose School at Primrose,
57:58
prestonwood.com. And the website
58:02
isprimroseschools.com/schools/prestonwood. Yes.
58:07
OK. Last question for you, Tawana.
58:09
I'm curious, how do you see the childcare industry evolving in
58:13
the next few years? What do you think the big
58:15
changes are that are coming? You know what I will say, I
58:20
think a change that I would like to see because one of the things
58:23
that's happening is we see a lot of grandparents come in.
58:26
I would love to see older teachers coming in.
58:30
I would love to see more parents being involved in childcare and
58:34
not just the aspect of what is my child doing in childcare.
58:38
I would love for them to come into the classrooms just to see
58:41
what that's like for teachers in the classroom.
58:43
Because I think that although parenting is a job within
58:49
itself, I think parents having the understanding of what
58:52
teachers go through with multiple child children their
58:55
child's age to be able to see that.
58:57
And I think childcare should open it up for parents to be
59:00
able to experience those things too.
59:03
I think it works better when we all understand each other's job.
59:06
I think where teachers can understand what parents are
59:08
dealing with. I want parents to be able to
59:11
have advice. I would love for there to be a
59:14
connection between parenting and teaching that's not just the
59:20
basic communication, hey, your child did this today or my child
59:25
didn't sleep well last night. I would love more of this, more
59:28
hands on communication, more hands on interaction with
59:31
parents and teachers to where it's an understand goal that we
59:36
are bringing this child up together.
59:38
What do you think that could look like?
59:40
Yeah, I wanted to look like where?
59:43
Let's see the best way I can say it.
59:45
If the parents are in the classroom, hey, it's your day,
59:48
come on in. How about you come do this
59:50
wonder time with us today. It's your day.
59:52
You get to see what this looks like.
59:54
That interaction. That's what I want to see.
59:56
I want to see more parents doing that involvement.
59:58
Hey, why don't you go do small group with small group math with
1:00:02
these pre-K friends. That's your day today.
1:00:05
And having parents volunteer more, I think it's easy for
1:00:08
parents to want it. And not see how it's actually
1:00:12
happening. And I would really like for them
1:00:14
to see how it actually happens. I think it's a great idea.
1:00:17
Is there any chance of trying to implement this like on a pilot
1:00:20
program or? Let me talk to Doctor Wrigley,
1:00:22
OK? See what he says?
1:00:23
All right. We'll have him watch at least
1:00:25
the very end of this episode. So it's planting that seed in
1:00:28
his mind. Well, Tawana, I want to thank
1:00:31
you for being such a wonderful guest today.
1:00:33
I really appreciate you sharing your time and story today.
1:00:35
Awesome, thank you so much for inviting me.
1:00:38
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
1:00:41
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
1:00:43
today.