Topic: The need for high schools hosting student-taught preschools.

What happened?

Streator soon will join two other local high schools in hosting a student-taught preschool.

Early childhood development programs hosting student-taught preschools have existed at Ottawa Township High School and Indian Valley Vocational Center in Sandwich the past two decades. While both programs have their differences, each has had success. Dawn Wood, coordinator of Ottawa's early childhood development program, modeled her class after IVVC's.

At Ottawa, 25 high school students have signed up for this year's program. For the first part of the semester, they learned about early childhood development through a textbook and prepared to teach the preschool class.

Starting next week and continuing until mid-May, 20 preschool children will arrive in the classroom and Wood's students will be in charge of making lesson plans and teaching their own preschool. Wood has her students alternate between days when they are preparing a class and teaching. Classes are scheduled from noon to 2:45 p.m. and the cost to attend is $175.

"Students are responsible for preparing activities, snacks and fun, educational lessons," said Wood, who oversees the class. "If a child is struggling in a certain area, students have to come up with fun ways to teach the child."

At IVVC, 11 different high schools co-op to make up the program, including Somonauk, Serena, Sandwich, Paw Paw, Newark, Leland and Earlville. Like Ottawa, students alternate between working on lesson plans in the classroom and teaching.

The IVVC's preschool has grown large enough to have both morning and afternoon sessions four days a week. In total, IVVC has 45 preschoolers. There are 31 high school students participating in the morning and 26 in the afternoon. The price of the IVVC preschool varies from $150 for the semester for two days to $225 for the semester for three days.

Why does it matter?

Wood knows the preschool program has done wonders for both her students and the community. She has past students who have gone on to become either preschool or elementary school teachers and believes the program was just as important for the ones who did not.

"This class is great for students who are thinking about teaching young children who might not be sure," Wood said. "This class will help them decide either way what they want to do. That's good to figure it out now before four years of college."

The preschool at OTHS has a positive reputation in the community. There is a waiting list for prospective preschool students and it's because OTHS' preschool can offer what others cannot.

"Since we don't have to pay teachers, we have several boys and girls that can work one-on-one with the preschoolers," Wood said. "They get more attention and the school is affordable because of that."

Ron Pieper, IVVC coordinator, agrees the co-op preschools offer a unique service.

"Understand we aren't finding babysitters here,"Pieper said. "The majority of our high school students take this program with future aspirations in teaching. Teachers prepare them and grade them. We prepare nutritious snacks, activities, reading time and interact one-on-one with children. That experience is invaluable for everyone involved."

Parents in the Woodland School District this summer strongly opposed a proposal to cut its preschool program because of state funding cuts.

What's next?

Streator Township High School is starting its own preschool after winter vacation.

Alyssa Cherveny said STHS had its own student-taught preschool program 15 years ago but it died out.

The preschool is scheduled to start Tuesday, Jan. 26, with classes meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays. For now, Cherveny plans to keep the preschool during the spring semester but hopes to eventually have one during both semesters.

"I think (the class) will help our students greatly," Cherveny said. "A lot of high school students have their own children and I think this helps them raise their children."

With 40 students in her Early Childhood Development I class, Cherveny anticipates approximately that many students will participate in the preschool. She is using that class as a prerequisite to take Early Childhood Development II, which would be her students' participation in the preschool.

For the first attempt, she is looking for 10 to 15 preschool children to register. She hopes the program will grow to have a waiting lists so it does not die out like last time.

Since the price of the preschool is set at $25 a month, she believes the preschool can fill a necessary niche in Streator.

"Many parents cannot afford other preschools or are stuck on waiting lists at others," Cherveny said. "Our prices are fairly low. Hopefully everyone who wants to start their children early can."

Want to do more?

For Ottawa's program, contact Dawn Wood at 815-433-1323. For IVVC's program, contact Ron Pieper at 815-786-9873. For Streator's program contact Alyssa Cherveny at 815-672-0545.