Kids Co.: Quality Child Care in Seattle

Winter 2007
Good Times at Graham Hill
Eli Warshal joined Kids Co. last April as the Program Director at our Graham Hill location, bringing over seven years of experience in the child care and education field to the center. We asked him to reflect on his first few months at the helm. It is fantastic to be part of an environment where I'm surrounded by great staff, wonderful kids and parents and supported by a great organization. Since I came on board with Kids Co., one of the most fulfilling things for me has been working to establish relationships with our parents. We have six other programs, each of them very different from the other. Learning about marketing to my local community, budgeting, and how managing my program fits in the big picture of a larger organization has been quite an experience. Over my time here, we've seen many elements of the program really come into focus. Staff has instituted homework club, art club and cooking projects. Kids come to the center every day, expecting fun activities! We've got a great staff here that I am so proud of. They've been working very hard to establish a new culture of professionalism here at Kids Co. at Graham Hill. Everyone has chosen the field of child care or teaching as their profession and career. There is lots of cohesion with all the staff and kids, and it really shows in the daily programming. We're getting to where we want to be for the preschoolers, in terms of having them be the ones who are taking ownership of their own learning. For example, February is generally associated with Valentine's Day. However, if the kids are interested in something else, like airplanes, we'll focus on that, rather than making them do all sorts of Valentine's projects they're not interested in! On the school-age side, the kids have embraced the structure of the program and they continue to surprise us with their creativity, excitement and their ability to follow through with the directions and expectations set forth by the staff.	One thing I'm really looking forward to is starting a year-long service learning project for the school- age kids. I want to get the kids involved in their local community and help them learn about giving without the expectation of receiving something in return. We'll be visiting the Kline Galland Home regularly. The kids will serve snacks, play games, sing songs and visit with the residents of the nursing home. Every Friday, Kids Co. parent, Katya Klesse, brings her trusty keyboard to the center to lead the preschoolers in an hour of singing, dancing and exploring music. One thing we've all enjoyed is the relationship we've built with our Kids Co. program that is located at The New School at South Shore. I really appreciate the program director there, Joey Coleman. We support each other, bounce ideas around together, share staff and we even combined programs last summer when the South Shore building was closed. Personally, I've been very fulfilled over the course of my short time here. It feels great to be part of an organization where our goal is to provide care to anyone who needs it. We don't just look at Òthe numbers,Ó we look at each family's situation. We are proud to serve the entire socioeconomic spectrum of families. If you're interested in learning more about the preschool or school-age programs here at Graham Hill, don't hesitate to contact me at 206-725-3540 with any questions or to set up a tour. All the best,