Preschoolers take up community action

Contributed Auburn Villager Keith Pugh from Bonnie Plant Farms in Union Springs shows preschool children how big a plant will grow and what pot to choose to accommodate growth

Whether it's painting or planting, collecting pennies or visiting with seniors, preschoolers at Steps will answer the call to action. Under the watchful eye of many philanthropic mentors, last week's pre-opening service day allowed the young students to learn while they volunteered.

With the support of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Common Cents, the East Alabama Food Bank, Lee County Humane Society, Alabama Rural Ministries and Oak Park senior community as well as many Auburn University departments and faculty, Steps is launching a preschool program that integrates a service-learning model into the curriculum.

"We are already getting calls from so many in town who are interested in helping with our projects," said Karen Jones, Steps' director. "I think it is going to have such a positive impact on the lives in our area while giving children such a wonderful learning environment."

Although the doors of the new preschool will not officially open until summer, Jones has planned many spring service-learning activities at the school, located on Glenn just east of Debardeleben. What she didn't plan on was older students knocking at her door, asking if they could help get the establishment off the ground.

Members of Youth with a Mission, a Christian mission-training organization out of Nashville, traveled to Auburn to conduct their one-week, in-states volunteer work before shipping off to Brazil for two months. Two staff members and six participants fresh out of three months of training were scheduled to help at Steps a day, but stayed for the week."We didn't know what we were coming to, but we were delighted to meet Karen and hear about her cause," said Erin O'Daniel, one of the Youth with a Mission participants. "Her desire to give back was inspiring."

With new paint on the old walls of Primary Colors Daycare, Steps is even closer to reality than during the pre-opening service day last week.

Martha Faupel, executive director of the East Alabama Food Bank, lent a helping hand at the service day, interacting with the children planting tomatoes and painting planters.

"[Steps] is doing some activities around growing produce, which will be later donated to the food bank," Faupel said. "Paired with other activities like penny drives, it will install a habit in them that will have a tremendous impact. I love the idea! Little plants, little pennies, little people, big change."

Bonnie Plant Farm out of Union Springs, which has a long history of educating school children about planting, donated the materials and gave the kids a simple lesson on growing tomatoes.

That same afternoon, Lisa Pierce and Beth Ann Hopkins from Alabama Rural Ministries aided the young students in painting birdhouses for the ministry's newly erected homes.

Pierce said that she likes Steps philosophy because "if preschoolers are willing to give back to these projects, chances are parents will want to get involved, too."

"It will emphasize family time," Hopkins added.

There to meet with the children who would later be volunteering at Oak Park, an East Alabama Medical Center senior community, Gail Gunn said she sees the kids' future visits as a learning opportunity.

"Elderly people can learn them a lot!" she said.

Although Jones said she was pleased to see the kids delighting in the day's projects, she stressed that when the schoolroom opens, the main focus will always be education.

"All activities are developmentally appropriate and individualized to each child's specific learning needs," she said.

Jones added that learning activities are implemented in every service project. When gardening, the young students will learn counting, sorting and measuring as well as knowledge about plant growth. When they collect change, they can reaffirm counting and sorting skills, but also learn about banking before "democratically" deciding what service projects to pursue with the money, she said.

Jones' creative curriculum has been endorsed by some top early childhood education professionals, she said.

Dr. Janet Taylor, a retired Auburn University early education professor, author of four books and former president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, said she was excited about Jones' plans.

"She has developed authentic activities and project work," Taylor said. "Children need hands-on activities, not copying letters. They need lots of different types of experiences. This will help build community, help the children understand other points of view and begin to problem-solve."

Taylor added that she believes other systems of education have fallen short in establishing a sense of community and instilling the idea of community membership.

"Every school has its own signature, and we are a developmentally sound program that does service learning in a really big way," added Jones.

Steps opens in June, and registration is currently underway for a summer session as well as the regular August-to-May academic year. For the summer, Jones will take kids as old as 6 and as young as 2 if they are potty-trained. The learning center will offer three- and five-day morning programs for 4-year-olds as well as two-, three- and five-days programs for 3-year-olds. Steps will also offer an after-school enrichment in the fall for children as old as 6.

To learn more about Steps, visit www.stepspreschool.com or call (334) 501-STEP.