KidZone Christian Daycare & Preschool
Submitted by Karen Lloyd, Director
It has been nearly five and a half years since we
began our ministry! We are serving over 100 families with a total of
over 160 children. Many families are church families and I see
additional families sending their children to Sunday School, MAC and
attending worship services. There is great joy in knowing that our
Church is like “home” to so many little ones!
We have
approximately 22 employees working in the daycare. Our staff works very
hard at loving and caring for our children. Michelle Rogers, our
Preschool Director, teaches the 4 & 5 year olds, and prepared the
curriculum for the 2 & 3 year old class. Children participate in
music, class, and playtime daily.
We hold two music programs
per year, and see audiences of over 200!! On our 5th anniversary this
year, the children traveled to the McDonalds Play Place. The kids were
able to play for over an hour. A Happy Meal was served, and the best
part of all, of course, was the Dart Bus ride!!! The school-age
children spent time cooling off at the Splash Pad at Oleson Park.
The school-agers had a busy calendar for the summer. They spent time cooling off at the Splash Pad at Oleson Park. Some of the other fun activities included, walking to the Dariette, miniature golf, YMCA gym and pool, Kennedy Park, Dolliver Park, Snell Crawford Park, Oleson Park Zoo, Humboldt Aquatic Center, roller skating in Gowrie, Wildcat Kingdom in Humboldt, the Fort Museum, and the Public Library. The school-agers received the opportunity to experience Bible School, thanks to Laura Stover.
We have a continuing relationship with the Foster Grandparent Program.
Our children once again benefited from the Summer Reading Program. A
foster grandparent, also, comes in and reads to the 1-5 year olds every
Thursday. Judy Sheker, FPC member, brings her home base from Phillips
Middle School to read to our 4 & 5 year olds. Eloise Robson (FPC
member) led singing once a week for our preschool children during the
first half of the year. Also, we are very happy to have on board a
foster grandma every day from 7:00 a.m. to noon.
The Day
Care Advisory Board members this year included: Liesl Vaughan, Board
president; Sara Potratz, Ellen McBride, Brent Taylor, Dawn Farr,
Michelle Rogers, Karen Johnson, Eric Halverson, and Laura Stover,
ex-offico member. John Jacox, ex-officio, retired in June. He donated
countless hours of his time and energy to KidZone. Our daycare remains
self-sufficient. The knowledge and expertise in making good business
decisions by the Board members has added to the success of our daycare.
We contributed $4,000 toward a full-time custodian and purchased
carpeting for the nursery.
Day after day we teach children
about Jesus, sing with them, and pray with them. We continue to give
each new 3 year old child a Bible. We thank every FPC members who has
given of their time or talents this past year. The congregation has
been very supportive, thoughtful, and generous. You are all very much
appreciated. It is both a privilege and a pleasure to serve God in this
capacity and I thank you for giving me this opportunity.
KidZone Christian Preschool
Submitted by Michelle Roger, Preschool Director
2008 was again a year of learning and growing at KidZone preschool! We
celebrated 11 children graduating on to Kindergarten in the spring of
2008 and have 15 students enrolled for the 2008-2009 school year. A day
care staff member and a Foster Grandma join me and round out our
teaching team in the morning as we share time with our 4 and 5 years
olds.
We made a move over to the double classroom in the
west wing this past fall in an effort to distinguish the morning as
more of a “class time.” The move has gone very well as we are enjoying
the extra space and have class routines established.
Our
mornings are spent reading, playing, enjoying a snack, singing and
learning the alphabet. Most important we are learning about God’s love
for us and how we can show that love to our families, friends and
others around us.
We were blessed this fall with a grant
from the North Central Iowa Presbytery to help defray the cost of
preschool to our parents in light of the voluntary preschool grant the
Fort Dodge Public Schools received which other local preschools are
participating in. This grant will cover a portion of our second
semester fees. We continue to be blessed with the generosity of our
church families as they remember KidZone with a variety of items we can
use, such as reclyclable items, books, wall decorations, etc.
Please remember us in your prayers as we continue to foster Christ’s love in all our KidZone children and their families.
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