Profile Story

Deanna Barclay

Claim to fame:  Lead Preschool Teacher

Harriet Hedgcoth

Preschool Teacher/Driver

Periwinkle Child Development Center, located on the LBCC Campus, is now a full Headstart Program.  The merge of LBCC and Headstart is a wonderful combination. A majority of LBCC students' children qualify for the Headstart program, so having day care on campus is highly beneficial to the students and the children.   

The center is available from 9am to 3pm, Monday through Friday.  There is now cost for the Headstart program, it's not a traditional day care that you pay monthly dues.  However, your family has to meet certain income guidelines for your child to qualify.

The college actually called Headstart and invited them. The Headstart Program merged with Periwinkle to make it into a Lab School, which is when the students with education majors do observations from the observation room and also work with the children in the classroom. They’re here to learn how to get along with the kids, how to be a teacher, things that work and don’t work, and they also do activities with the children.  The teachers, aids and students are constantly interacting with the kids, getting down to their level, playing and reading on the floor together.
 
Although Deanna is the head teacher, they have never really had “titles” in the classroom, "just teachers". Ultimately, Deanna takes care of the supervisor duties.

Q.  Where did you attend college? 

A.  Harriet:  I started here at LBCC then became dually enrolled with OSU, so I graduated from OSU.  A.  Deanna:  Chemeketa Community College. 

Q.  Why did you choose to teach at LBCC or is it through the Headstart program? 

A.  Deanna:  Through Headstart, I had gotten a job with them for the first time. 

A.  Harriet:  Ya, the same for me.

Q.  How long have you been in the field? 

A.  Harriet:  I’ve been doing this professionally for about three years,  then I’ve had my own kids and ran my own day care in my home.  So, I’ve done it  professionally within Headstart for about three years, actually two years, sorry.  Then, I worked at this particular center before, at the Periwinkle Center.  So I did my practicants here and I worked as a substitute teacher for about three years and then at home I, gosh, ten to 15 years at home while my kids were young when I ran my own day care.  A.  Deanna:  I’m going on my 21^st year.  I started up in Salem , I worked at Chemeketa Community College, I did Headstrart up in Salem, then I worked at South Albany Child Development Center, then here!

Q.  What inspired you to work with young children? 

A.  Harriet:  I’ve always had a passion to help  young children, especially in the early years, the formidable years.  So they would have a good foundation, a solid foundation that would help them throughout their years and to just help kids to grow and be strong and to have a good outcome. 

A.  Deanna:  It’s something that I’ve always done.  When I was a teenager my parents adopted my nephew and so I’ve always been taking care of someone.  It just came natural and easy for me.  It was fun!  It was something that I always had interest in learning.  Every time I take one class it gets me interested in what is coming next; like how the brain functions and how this is our future.  This is the most important thing that someone could do, taking care of someone else's children.

Q.  What is your favorite thing about being a preschool teacher? 

A.  Deanna:  Every day is different.  You never know what each day is going to bring, so every day is exciting and it is fun!  If you’re not having fun then your kids see it, it’s really important always have fun in everything. 

A.  Harriet:  That’s it too, the fun aspect, having fun.  And like what you said, the challenges that comes with it, for me, it’s exciting to watch the kids learn and grow and how much they change over the course of the year.  Where they start at this level (holding hand low) and then they end up at this level (raising hand up high)  and it’s so amazing to watch them learn and grow.  Deanna:  The looks on their faces when they do something new and they actually did it by themselves for the first time and just the shock and the surprise and are so happy.  They can’t help but to make us happy. 

At a glance:

Who:  Deanna Barklay and Harriet Hedgcoth

What:  Preschool Teacher
When:  Weekdays from 9am-3pm
Where:  Periwinkle at LBCC (Kidco Headstart)
Why:  Daycare to help students
How:  State and Federal funding, volunteers and fund raisers

Links:

www.kidcoheadstart.org

www.naeyc.org

www.nhsa.org