May 2016 Teacher of the Month – Teaching Team Kathleen Coffey and Victoria Soule at NTUMC Preshool
This month we had something cool happened where parents and the community voted for a teaching team – and I mean each vote said both teacher’s names! Congrats to both Kathleen Coffey and Victoria Soule who are a teaching team at New Town United Methodist Preschool. They were voted Teacher of the Month for May 2016. Victoria Soule and Kathleen Coffey are pictured accepting their gift card and certificates from School Crossing Owner Sherry Phipps. Teacher of the Month is a partnership between School Crossing, The Virginia Gazette and WilliamsburgFamilies.com. Please take a minute to read about this great teaching duo below and then vote for Teacher of the Month – which will resume next Sept and the winner picked for Oct 2016!
1) How long have you been teaching and teaching at New Town United Methodist Church Preschool as a teaching team?
Kathleen Coffey: I have been teaching at NTUMC Preschool for 9 years and with Victoria for 4 of those years.
Victoria Soule: I have worked at NTUMC Preschool for over 9 years and have had the privilege of teaching with Kathy for 4 of them.
2)What drew you to teaching and teaching at NTUMC Preschool?
Kathleen Coffey: I have always loved children and worked with them in my previous career. My youngest children had just started kindergarten and I knew I wanted to rejoin the workforce. Teaching had always been something I felt drawn to and a teacher friend introduced me to our director, Gretchen Tisone. She was almost done staffing her new preschool program when we met. I loved her energy, the vision and Christian philosophy the school was built on and I was very fortunate that she took me under her wing. Teaching has been a wonderful gift.
Victoria Soule: When I started working at NTUMC I was just doing childcare and Moms Morning Out classes. I soon realized how much I loved to be around young children and watch them grow. However, it was because of my director’s faith in me that I agreed to start working with the preschool. With the help of some of the most amazing teachers, who have become my extended family, and through the Early Childhood Education classes that I have taken, I am now confident that I am where God wants me to be.
3) Can you mention a project where you were able to engage the kids outside of the classroom or stories that you heard where they bought their learning home?
Kathleen Coffey: Working in a Christian preschool has been a privilege, especially when parents have relayed stories of how their child shares the love of God at home. Whether it is teaching their family a prayer or seeing a rainbow and saying, “that’s God’s promise,” you know a seed has been planted.
Victoria Soule: It is always great to hear stories from our parents about how our students are recognizing letters as they drive around town or how their fine motor skills are improving but it is the stories of how I impact their thinking skills that makes my heart melt. A few years ago I was talking to a mom who told me how her daughter was misbehaving at home so she was put on time out. When this mom went in to talk to her about what she had done, her daughter had a surprising perspective on her situation. She told her mom that it was okay that she was on time out because even in the bible, Jonah was put on time out and he had to do it in the belly of a whale and God still loved him. It is the life lessons that I teach our students that mean the most to me. I am not here to just facilitate their academic growth but their spiritual and emotional growth as well.
4) What perspective have you gained from being around Preschool children all day?
Kathleen Coffey: Preschoolers are all about enjoying the moment. Embracing their joy and curiosity when exploring things makes learning fun, and why shouldn’t it be fun?
Victoria Soule: I have learned that you have to seize the moments before they pass you by. You have to be flexible and know that whatever is on a child’s mind, at that moment, is the most important thing to them. You have to learn how to adapt what you need to teach in a way that they can hear you.
5) What do you want your students to be able to do when they leave your classroom – that you know will prepare them for further education and life in general?
Kathleen Coffey: I would love it if the children have learned to have some self-resilience. We give a lot of support and encouragement in hopes that the children will be self-motivated and willing to take a risk or try something new without concern about what others may think or say.
Victoria Soule: I want them to be excited to learn, able to work well with others and secure enough to express their opinions and feelings. All children can and will learn but I also want to give them skills so they can learn from and with others. As you get older, social skills are not taught but they are expected. I want to give them tools that will make learning and life more enjoyable.
6) If you could ask parents to do one thing to help their children’s academic success, what would it be?
Kathleen Coffey: As a preschool teacher I would ask parents to not only read to your child, but talk to them as well. Ask those open-ended questions and talk about what they just heard. Oh, and have fun with it!
Victoria Soule: In order to really instill a love of learning, you have to make it fun. Anything can be taught through play. A good old fashion game of eye spy can help with anything from color and shape recognition to beginning reading skills. You also have to read to them, let them see you reading and encourage them to read to you. They don’t have to know the words at a young age but if they have heard it enough times, they can usually retell the story and that will build their confidence.
7) Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you and/or your class that you find you post, read, share or just meditate on?
Kathleen Coffey: “What we learn with pleasure we never forget” by Alfred Mercier. I am always looking for what interests the children and fun ways to use it in our teaching process.
Victoria Soule: Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
8) Do you have any life lessons that the students in your class have taught you – maybe a short story about kindness, sharing or just a Preschooler’s perspective?
Kathleen Coffey: My students have taught me to live in the moment, give and get hugs whenever possible, and you can dance and sing about anything!
Victoria Soule: When we start the year, we talk a lot about feelings and we make sure that our students know how to express how they are feeling. One morning we were working on our feeling board and a students said she was feeling sad. When I asked her why she was sad, she said that it was because she didn’t have any friends. I didn’t have to even say one word before some of her classmates started yelling out ‘ I will be your friend’ and ‘I am your friend and will play with you on the playground.’ I felt so overjoyed at their immediate response that I gave them all a big hug. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all reached our hand out to someone that was sad or lonely. My students teach me about acceptance and unconditional love.
Again, we are so lucky to have such great teachers in this area!!
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