At ARHS preschool, lessons all around

By Bob Dunn
Staff Writer

Published on September 29, 2006

On the bottom floor of Amherst Regional High School, there's a place where Cinderella fights lava flows, ninjas battle evil and high school students become rocks and trees.

All before nap time.

The place is the ARHS preschool program, staffed by fulltime teachers and aides with the assistance of members of the student body.

The full-day preschool operates out of a classroom in the high school building. Students can take an elective that allows them to participate and interact with the toddlers for four hours a week for class credit.

'It's a model of what really good education does,' said William Wehrli, assistant principal at ARHS and supervisor of the pre-school program. 'Giving students real world experience that connects to academic learning.'

The preschool primarily serves the children of ARHS staff, but also offers slots to children of staff from the other schools or to the community at large, as space allows.

Dolly Pedevillano, the preschool coordinator and Child Study teacher, says that the students relish the opportunity to let their guard down and just 'come in and play' for part of the day.

'It's the best break from school you could ever take,' said Nicole Kaufman, an ARHS sophomore.

Story time

When the high school students arrive, they're paired off with the preschoolers, and then retire to one of the tables or small couches set up throughout the room for a picture and story session.

The preschoolers grab their bags of markers, labeled with their names, draw, and narrate a tale to go with their artwork. Then their high school partners write it all down for them.

Afterward, the preschoolers get to hear the stories themselves, read by the high-school students. Next, the preschoolers' stories are acted out for the entire group.

'Here, there's a little more playtime,' Hedemann said.

Roles are handed out among the group. One child becomes a princess, and another princess's sister. The high school students take inanimate roles within the story: a rock or a tree.

Pedevillano reads the story aloud while the main players act out their roles; running from erupting volcanoes or battling evil in an enchanted forest, escaping away on a carriage or ship or attending a royal ball.

The preschoolers learn from this experience that writing is telling a story, Hedemann said.

'They're just an incredible set of stories,' said Pedevillano.

The stories often guide the curriculum, incorporating themes like pirates or treasure hunts into the learning.

'We take their lead,' said Hedemann.

Wehrli says that allowing the preschoolers time to interact with the high school students introduces them to the larger world outside of the classroom.

The ARHS students take the class as an elective and receive two days of orientation and instruction before interacting with the preschoolers.

'They're given the guidelines and what's expected from them,' said Casey Mones, a full-day aide in the preschool and an ARHS alumnus.

The orientation period also gives students an opportunity to decide of this class is suitable for them.

'Some realize early on it's not for them,' said Mones. 'Others just shine.'

Some of the students, said Mones, already have a sense of how to interact with the preschoolers; what to say and do and what boundaries to set and how to set them.

Johanne Hedemann, who teaches full time in the preschool, says many students bring their prior experience such as baby-sitting, having younger siblings or cousins into their work in the classroom.

Pedevillano said that students will take the course for a variety of reasons.

Some just like children, others have aspirations of working in a field like pediatrics or child psychology.

One student, Pedevillano said, took the course because he 'wanted to be a good dad.'

The preschool runs a full day, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and while it allows the staff an opportunity to play while they work, the environment does present its own challenges.

'It can be a lot of work, physically,' Mones said. 'It takes a lot to keep the energy level up, but it's worth it.'

That energy level is important, to help keep the preschooler's attention, Hedemann said.

'Being excited for them, so they're excited,' she said.

Just as the class is not always suitable for every student, the preschool is not always suitable for every toddler, Wehrli said.

There's a lot of stimulation and contact as well as the potential for a great deal of separation anxiety due to the high school students rotating out three times a year with the change of each trimester.

Pedevillano says that while that's sometimes the case, it's usually the older students who have a hard time leaving.

'Yeah, it will be hard (leaving),' said Chris Johnson an ARHS junior. 'I'll come back and visit.'

Amber Ryan, an instructional assistant at ARHS, said her daughter, Mileena, had no problems making the adjustment.

'She loves it,' Ryan said. 'She was dying to go to school.'