I traveled daily to Monadnock Bible Conf. in Jaffrey, NH
to work as Russ Bryant’s secretary as well as working part time at the evening
division of MWCC’s Audio Visual Dept. under the direction of Phil Leasure.
After getting married, I worked as a secretary for Simplex in their Int’l
Marketing Division in Gardner
for several years. I then became a
stay-at-home Mom until my youngest was in school. I began tutoring for the
Gardner Public School System at the Elementary level for a couple of years
until I was asked by the Bethany Christian Nursery School Board to be an aide
while they looked for a teacher. Well, they didn’t and by God’s leading, I
became the teacher they were looking for. I took a course at MWCC in Early
Childhood Education; and that, along with my previous courses, allowed me to be
‘grandfathered’ to become a preschool teacher.
I began teaching for the Bethany Christian
Nursery School in the
fall of 1987. The school had only morning sessions at that time. It had a 2-Day
program for 3 yr. olds turning 4 yr, and a Pre-K 3-Day program for 4 yr. olds
turning 5 yr. In the fall of 1991, the
school added a Pre-K afternoon session with two teachers and 12 students which
has since expanded. Each session is 2 ½ hrs. in length. In that time we try to work with the children
with their social skills, gross and fine motor skills, music, pre-K academics,
and most important to introduce them to Jesus through songs and Bible Stories
starting with creation. We are now seeing parents coming with their children
who were once BCNS students. Some of the things they remember about their
preschool experience has been the love and acceptance they felt while
attending, as well as some Bible songs like ‘Jesus Loves Me’. “Train up a child
in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
In the recent past, we have had 24 children in each of the
three sessions taught by a director/teacher and two teachers touching the lives
of 72 children per year and their families in and around Gardner. Our school does little advertising
compared to other preschools in the area. Its main advertising is done by word
of mouth from past and present families. The 2008-2009 school year will be it’s
40th year of operation. It started in the fall of 1968 as Bethany
Christian Kindergarten & Nursery School with Rilla Martin as the Head
Teacher, Elinor DeMeo as the Director, Leone Phillips as the Treasurer, Jean
Cote and Les Nyman as Assist. Teachers. At present, the Board consists of Elinor DeMeo as the President, Rev. Phil Wahl
as the Secretary, Joanie Elbourn as the Treasurer, Nan Sands as the Health
Consultant, and Sue Blais as the Director/Teacher.
Besides teaching, one of my first projects was to come up
with a workable filing system. Between the love God gave me for organizing and
my college education, I came up with some solutions. It’s been a constant work
in progress as I try to fine tune this as well as creating and working on
different handbooks and forms with the school’s Director, Sue Blais, in order
to comply with State Regulations which the school follows. These regulations
constantly change and we continue to update our paperwork as well.
I have also been on different boards, committees and programs
within the Bethany Baptist Church
such as: Deaconess, Missions Board
secretary, Sunday School substitute, Jr. High girl’s program co-leader,
Preschool Church Time coordinator, church secretary, Flower Committee, AWANA,
choir member, and prayer chain.
