Meet Our Quality Educators

Ms. Cookie

Hello my name is Ms. Cookie and I love being a positive quality educator. In order to start my path as a teacher 1st I’m proud to say I am a product of Chicago Public School and I had to attend a junior college majoring in Early Childhood.

The best part about being a teacher is being able to take care of and nurture our babies.

As a young child, school was rough sometimes, because some of the teachers were not as caring. Although school was rough sometimes I was happy. I really liked school and my favorite subject was History.

Ms. Renee HaydenHello, my name is Renee H. To become a teacher the special thing that I had to do is to first have patience and understanding while having an open mind to children and their different learning patterns.

I love being a teacher because I get great fulfillment from the children’s wide smiles and their energy. I see their kindness as being very cute. Loving being a teacher makes being a teacher the best part but at times being a teacher has its challenges. The most challenging part is making sure no child is left out: creating an all-inclusive environment for all children so that their growth and development is not stopped.

School to me as a young child was huge, busy and fun. I did not like school in the beginning but by the time I was in my junior year of high school things changed. I loved school even though it was not so lovable in the beginning.

Ms. Lillian SergentonHello my name is Lillian S. If I am asked the question if I like being a teacher my answer would be “YES, I LOVE working with children they are funny and unpredictable. The special things I did to become a teacher was attend teacher training school. 1st I attended junior college and then I attended teacher school. I graduated from Chicago State University with a Bachelor Applied Science (BAS) in special and regular education and became certified with the State of Illinois.

The best part about being a teacher is the responses of the children from learning. The fun and creative things that the little people do is exciting. The most fun part is when they get it, whatever their mind focus on.

Working with peers to bring back and implement new approaches learned from workshops and seminars can be sometimes the challenging part to teaching for me.

Overall I did well in school, knew the answers but was afraid to speak. However, I liked school.

Ms. ByarsHello my name is Elizabeth B. To become a teacher the special thing that I had to do is go to college, then figure out is this field something I will enjoy doing 5 years from now. When I realized it was I began to work on my degree.

I love teaching. The best part about teaching is watching the children take in what you have taught them or implement what they have learned from me. I don’t find teaching to be challenging but one challenge is using different approaches sometimes. If one way doesn’t work for you then you have to go back to the drawing board and approach the situation from a different angle.

Overall I loved school. I liked learning new things and applying the new things I’ve learned to my everyday life. School was cool; teachers always encouraged a lot of interactions along with debates so everyone can see peoples’ logic along with their point of view.

Ms. VillarHello my name is Christina V. and I am a teacher in the infant Classroom. In order for me to become a teacher I had to 1st take Child Development Classes, obtain my associate degree. In addition to mastering the child development classes I attended some trainings and workshops provided by my job on an ongoing basis.

I definitely like being a teacher. The best part of being a teacher is being able to bond and form a trusting relationship with the children. Being an infant teacher requires that I complete a lot of documentation, that to me is the most challenging part of being a teacher, which is why I put systems in place to work and master.

I really liked school when I was a child I felt it was a good place for socializing however, there were also a lot of rules to follow. As a child I attended a Catholic School which made going to school seem long because of the long hours.

Hello my name is Beverley D., and I am the teacher of Classroom 4. I have a love for children and a passion for working with them. I volunteered at a day care center for about 2 years before I decided to go to school for Early Childhood, I then went to college and earned my A.A. Degree in Early Childhood Education, then continued to take workshops and trainings to stay abreast of the field. Another thing that helps me is the staying involved in various community functions involving children.

I LOVE being a teacher. The best part is showing LOVE and reaching out to the children to help meet their needs. I love exposing children to positive things that they may not have been exposed to that will help increase independence and gain the ability to cope in society when they are older.

Although I LOVE being a teacher there can be some challenging moments such as dealing with different behaviors. Another thing that is difficult to me is understanding the background of some of the children in order to reach them, which is why my observations are vital.

School to me as a young child was enjoyable and exciting. I still remember some of the things the teachers invested in me. I had great teachers that I still remember some of the things they taught me. When I was younger everyone helped raise children regardless to whose they were.

Ms. DixonHello my name is Queen D., and I am a teacher. The special things I had to do to become a teacher was to attend school and successfully complete many child development courses which included a practicum. Which lead to completion of my Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood, HOORAY!

If asked do I like being a teacher my response would always be YES. The best part about being a teacher would be the challenges faced when teaching children new things and their outcomes afterwards.

As a young child school was okay, it was good it was no problem. I was an honor role student. I liked school.

Mrs. Lisa Hello Parents and Little Angels Team,

My name is Lisa L. and I am a mother of 5 and a grandmother of one. I consider myself to be a newlywed hence only being married 4 years. I love to travel and enjoy spending time with family and friends. I have several hobbies, one being swimming and bicycle riding. Some of my other hobbies are walking and driving in my car listening to gospel music very loud while singing to the top of my lungs. I enjoy singing in the choir and also to young children as they fall asleep or even to help in regulation.

I decided to pursue the field of early childhood because as a young child I always liked to play school; being the teacher of course was always my role. Child seem to have a magnet to me as they would always flock to me. I used to think it was because I was so short and closer to their height, but as I got older I discovered it was my warm caring personality. In high school I was asked the route I would take after high school and my response was “I’m going to be a teacher”. Well my plan initially changed, I did start in the field of child development but wound up attending medical school as an EKG Phlebotomist, however the challenge that I had was being able to draw blood from a child. I knew then that the field of child development was definitely my passion. I dropped everything and went back to taking child development courses until I successfully completed my AAS in Child Development from City Colleges of Chicago.

I have been in the early childhood industry for over 29 years. I started in this field as a teenager and have worked my way up the early childhood arena holding many positions from home child care provider to center director.

I have a Master of Arts in Psychology from National Louis University, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Roosevelt University, an Associate of Arts in Child Development from Olive Harvey College, and an Infant Studies Certification in the Masters area from Erikson Institute. I expanded my education with a Psychological Assessment Certification from National Louis University. My educational goal is to go back to school to obtain a Ph.D. in Psychology.

I have vast knowledge of both Head Start and Licensing standards. I enjoy helping others as I share the wealth of knowledge obtained throughout my career. I have a great rapport with my colleagues, children, and their parents. I work easily under pressure and have a fine working relationship with my peers. I have excellent written, computer/ typing and verbal communications skills. I am always interested in widening my degree of experience by holding challenging positions that add to the experience which I already have achieved.

Ms. HundleyHello my name is Julia H. To become a teacher the special thing that I had to do is to take lots of classes in child development, educational philosophy. I gained experience by learning how to teach in 3 states. I did lots of research at home and took responsibility. I practice positive language and gained knowledge by attending in-service learning workshops.

I love teaching. The best part about teaching is getting to know the kids by hearing their perspectives and ideas. Another great part about teaching is figuring out how to motivate them while making learning fun, by getting them to share and celebrate their gifts.

I liked school. I attended a Montessori preschool so lots of choices and hands on projects were given. I know I gave my teachers a hard time at naptime and with pre-reading. I think the biggest difference back then was that it was recognized normal for kids to develop into reading at their own pace, now the earlier and earlier push is hard.

Ms. HayesHello my name is Lillie H. The 1st special thing I had to do to become a teacher was to volunteer at my child’s school. Volunteering was what motivated me to go back to school to become a full time teacher.

I like being a teacher. The best part is bonding and interacting with the children. It excites me to know that I was able to teach children new things. I have learned new things along the way as I teach children. Teaching on the other hand can also have a challenging part, which is the struggle of helping some children that have behavior issues and being able to relate to them in order to assist them with problem solving.

When I was a young child I liked school. Teachers during my time are known as “good old fashion teachers”.

Ms. SharonHello my name is Sharon M. The special things I had to do to become a teacher was to first and for most was to LOVE the children. Loving children is what started my journey as a teacher by volunteering and showing my warm and loving personality.

I like being a teacher. The best part of being a teacher is being able to nurture children; showing them extra love while watching them grow. The love that I have for teaching gives me the strength to endure the challenge of teaching which is when I can’t figure out what is wrong with a child when they are having difficulty.

I loved school as a young child. Overall school was well.

Ms. BainesHello my name is Sherri B. In order to become a teacher there were several things I had to do, the main one was to go to school and get the proper education necessary to become a teacher.

I like being a teacher. Being a teacher gives me the educational help for my children and other children. The best part is watching the development and knowing education never ends. I like the fact that each day as a teacher there is something new to learn, however, that could be somewhat of a challenge at times. Learning new things could be a good challenge and not necessarily a bad one.

In school as a child myself I felt there was no critical thinking. Children did what the teacher said do and it was done and over with. I liked school.

Ms. TurnerHello my name is Shameka T. There were several special things I had to do in order to become a teacher, the 1st thing was to volunteer. I volunteered for about 3 months then I decided that I wanted to be a teacher. When I became a teacher I was introduced to different classes through Chicago Public School (CPS).

I enjoy being a teacher. Although I enjoy being a teacher, teachings has good parts and sometimes challenging parts. The best part is being able to see the children grow. I’m happy to be one of their 1st teachers along with their parents. It’s a happy feeling to be around children that have been in the program from infancy to preschool. The only challenge to me is dealing with my own special needs child within the school.

School for me when I was a young child was easy. I loved school. I was very sociable. I was known as the teacher’s pet. My grades always stayed up to par. I was never one of those children that wanted to rush to grow up.

Ms. Ebony

Hello my name is Ebony P. To become a teacher the special thing that I had to do is to first attend and stay in school myself. After high school I attended Harold Washington College taking Early Childhood classes. The child care field was like second nature to me, being raised in a field surrounded by educators. I just knew and felt this was a great fit for me.

I love being a teacher because it is rewarding to see our children grow up and come back and share their story about how I and the Day Care made an impact on them. The most challenging part is observing the conditions that some of my children live in and hearing how the other children talk about or tease the child(ren).

School to me as a young child was challenging sometimes having to deal with all of the different negative teacher’s personalities, however overall I liked school, because of my home life I liked school.