Meet Jan

Title

Assistant Teacher

Credentials, training, degree(s), certifications

BFA in design from the University of Michigan/Co-op Preschool (parent assist & Board President & VP - 8 years)

Early Childhood Coursework at Eastern Michigan University/taught Child Development Associate courses at Washtenaw Community College

First Aid/CPR Certified

Why I love working at TDC

The children, facilitating their growth, the families, support from coworkers, longevity of the staff, and the building is designed for our program.

My favorite childhood toy

Not a toy, but my favorite thing to do as a child was to take a book and climb the willow tree in our backyard, munching on a few concord grapes from the nearby arbor - reading for hours!

Funniest/most memorable thing one of our students has said

Green Room child: “Jan’s here, so it must be Wednesday.”

More about me

I grew up up in the 50’s and 60’s in small town Romeo, Michigan; a typical family for that time with a stay-at-home mom. After college, I worked in the design field. I was the Education Coordinator at The Scrap Box, a non-profit providing manufacturing and household discards for creativity. This position combined my love for the environment, children and open-ended art. After presenting an in service to the TDC staff, I knew that if I went back to the classroom, I wanted to be at TDC. After 12 years here, I nannied with a former family, for several years. I am back very part-time because I missed the young children! I have 2 adult children who work in the medical field, with 5 wonderful grandchildren who are growing up so fast!

I love nature, go hiking any time I can - we love finding new trails and I swim for exercise and meditation.