Get to know Trish Durand, one of the Infant Program Specialists at the United Airlines Early Learning Center at the Gilpin Campus. Trish has worked in early childhood education for 33 years and has been working at Warren Village for 14 years.
Tell us about your job here at the Early Learning Center
We’re all infant teachers in the two infant rooms, but there are infant nursery supervisors that overlook all the functions in the classroom. I overlook everything in the Infant 1 classroom and make sure things are getting documented properly as far as every event that takes place, bottles changes, things like that. We document events to let the parents know how we have met their baby’s needs for the day. We check diapers every hour, change every two hours as needed. We offer bottles every two hours. There’s breakfast, lunch, and snack that’s offered throughout the day.
We have a lesson plan that we go by. It’s things like cognitive development – we use certain light up toys for that, sound and effect and cause and effect. We do a lot of social-emotional work with the babies. We try to help them find their self-soothing mechanisms. We have a gross motor room for the infants specifically and we do a lot of the physical development. We do language, meaning just like imitations of what we do. Can they do “Mama, Dada”, things like that. We stay busy throughout the day. Early development is important for infants, too. We also do a lot of free play. We do a lot of talking and explaining and showing colors and shapes. Even though they may not understand all that, what’s important is that we are giving them exposure to it.
Social emotional skills are very important I think, beginning at infant life because then they’re babies and they want the pickups and the one-on-one and the cuddling. But also too, because this is group care, everybody gets that opportunity and that kind of makes it to where while babies are waiting for that kind of affection, they are interacting with one another, so they have a lot of that social interacting with each other. They all eat lunch pretty much at the same time, and we set them at the table in their highchairs. We face them toward one another as if they’re dining together, because that social interaction for them is extremely important. There are a few babies that just kind of prefer to go in the book area, and they may not be able to read the books, but they love the books. They love the shapes. We have a lot of touch and feel books; that’s a part of their social-emotional skills. I think social emotional skills for infants is a really big domain to teach for these age babies.
What’s made you stick with being a teacher for 33 years?
I think that the children want that everyday interaction, and I feel it’s important. They go home and are with their family, but being able to interact with other children that could be younger, other children that could be older, and being able to teach that and experience that with them, it’s rewarding.
What about Warren Village? What has kept you here for 14 years?
So when I came to Warren Village, it was a bigger classroom than I had before. I had a very small class before I came here. So I just had to adjust to a lot more kids. But at the same time, there was a lot more help. There was more support. And even though I’ve been doing this for 33 years and I’ve been here for 14 years, I’m still learning every day. Warren Village helps with that.
What’s your favorite thing about the infant age specifically?
I think I love this age because we are the first ones to start exposing them to things that they are absorbing. I love cuddling and holding the babies. The babies have just been something for me since I started my career. I love the nurturing. I love to meet their needs. I love to teach them new things. I am lucky and fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be one of the beginners with them.
Do you have any favorite moments that you remember working here?
A lot of moments, a lot of moments. Believe it or not, when that baby takes their first steps, oh my gosh. Some of us cry. We are so thrilled to see them when they start taking those steps. My most recent best wonderful memory is, we knew that the next day was going to be hard staffing wise. The cook was going to be out, and there were other things going on. And when I came in, I remembered, and I thought, let me go help in the kitchen. And I started working there, and without even saying anything, here comes two other teachers. Here comes an admin. We’re working together to get the breakfast ready, to get the carts with the food for each classroom ready for the kids. Not only are we such a good community for one another, our teamwork is brilliant. Nobody had to ask. We knew that, here’s things that are going to be happening and we all took it upon ourselves to just help one another.
Honestly it’s family here. We all know one another, and we all work great together. I think that comes a lot from our admins who count us in, who keep us in the spotlight. I think that supportive system is important, and when you when you get it around the whole building, all the classrooms, it just brings people together. I’m being noticed. I’m being thanked. Believe it or not, a thank you goes such a long way for a teacher. It really does. So having that recognition and being able to be filled in and never left out, I felt that right away, and I am confident that the new people that start are feeling it too.
Have you had any interactions with parents that have been memorable?
I interact with parents every single day. Most importantly is be yourself and make them feel welcome. Let them know that their baby is in safe hands. I love my relationships with my parents. We do sometimes get some parents that are uneasy, and it takes a lot of reassuring. So that’s when we really come up and reassure them that we are here to give you and your child the quality care that they deserve. We are meeting their needs in a timely manner. The good thing too about Warren Village is that we have an open-door policy with parents. They can come in to the classrooms anytime they want. They can visit, they can sit with the kids for a little while, or whatever it’s going to take to make them feel comfortable and at ease. And I know sometimes it takes a while, but we never give up. We’re going to continue doing what we can to make everybody feel at ease when their children are in our care.
As a teacher in the Early Learning Center, how do you feel like you fit into the overall mission of Warren Village?
I’m heard. I know what the mission is. I follow it with everything I can. And it’s not hard, because the organization makes it comfortable for you. I love when parents have questions that maybe don’t even apply to their baby in the infant room, but are about something that they need to know about Warren Village, and I’m able to give them the answer or lead them into the answer that they need. The organization includes you and make sure that you understand so that you can pass knowledge on. The last thing we ever want to say to a parent is, “I don’t know.” I would never say that to a parent, ever. I’ve worked with the same staff, well, 80% of the staff, here long enough to know that that’s how we are. I always say, “Let me find out for you.” “Yes, I know who you can go to to talk to.” It is never, “I don’t know.”
How have you seen that impact your relationships with parents?
We are given knowledge and allowed to have that time to be taught to give the knowledge to the parent who is asking. We have that capability of further learning, knowing more about the organization, and that’s what’s so great, because we have these trainings. The administration team is here. They answer our questions, and by doing that, we can level up our knowledge.
How do you think that then filters into your relationship with the parents or how the parents are feeling about living here?
I think most importantly is that they know that we know the business. We know the job. That’s part of our job is letting them feel confident enough to be able to come to us and ask what they need to know or who we can send them to. We can be helpful in other areas, not just giving quality care but also helping a parent in need of anything. It’s just a continuous feed, and like I said, you learn things every day. And the teachers get to talk. We have a lounge where we talk about the day and about what the most achieving thing was with one of their kids in the class, and we are able to share that with one another. We’re not just in a room and don’t see daylight until time to go home. We’re such a moving environment and we have the privilege to learn so that we can pass it on to our students and to our families and give them all the quality care and needs that they need and deserve.
Do you have anything else you want to add?
It’s enjoyable to work here. You know, we all get overwhelmed. That’s what happens being a teacher. But thankfully by our organization, we have the proper resources if we need anything, it’s there for us and that’s very helpful.
