What an amazing day!
On a recent summer afternoon – a Saturday – when so many other events are planned, they came to ours! About 1,000 people attended. Unbelievable! The line to the front door stretched down the block! The perfect celebration for our 20 years as the John Hancock Child Care Center (JHCCC). And, it was quite the party!
I’ve started many such programs during my career – for businesses, hospitals, communities. I’ve opened these programs, stayed on as the Director, grown them, managed them for a time, and then moved on to the next adventure. You could say that I was the “founding mother” of this Boston-based, corporate-sponsored, child care center. For I opened its doors as the Director in 1990, grew it to its 200-child capacity (with the assistance of some of the finest early childhood teachers in the area), created a leading edge early childhood program for the infants through kindergartners, managed and maintained its high standard of early education and care and, now, 20 years later, held a reunion for all who have been a part of this experience. The response was overwhelming!
What a rare privilege to create a community for thousands of young children, new parents, and young educators. And, what an honor to teach, mentor, manage, and lead!
That Saturday was a testament to a partnership, a team, a program – one that evolved from an idea whose time had come. We created a place where children thrived and where parents had complete trust. We worked together and made magic! And, on that Saturday, I heard this over and over again as I greeted our families of the last 20 years! The children are now six to twenty-five years old – no longer the infants, toddlers, and preschoolers that we cared for. They are poised and kind and funny and grown up – and not unlike the young children they were – just much, much taller. And, we spent hours talking about their lives, what they were now doing, what they enjoyed, their hopes and their dreams.
And, it was one of the best days of my life.
