December Company-Wide Teacher of the Month

December has been filled with holidays and hardworking teachers!  Thank you to of the men and women who educate and love on our kiddos every day! The process of choosing just one passionate teacher each month is tough, but we are lucky to have so many to choose from! The following teachers were nominated by their Program Directors and Assistant Directors for this achievement:

• Lisa Parham, Ozark
• Diane Zollman, Springfield I
• Kassandra Lawson, Colorado Springs
• Eric Silva, Southlake
• Courtney Hassler, Springfield III
• Jaymie Padilla, Gilbert
• Amanda Hale, Scottsdale
• Sylvia Ayalla, Leawood
• Tia Jones, University City
• Janie Sheehan, Lakeway
• Kristie Hummert, Springfield II

Congratulations to all of these nominees! We are very thankful for all you do for the children in your care every day!

Our December 2015 Company-Wide Teacher of the Month is Samantha Lemley!! Miss Lemley is the lead pre-k teacher at our Rogers, AR location.

Program Director, Abby Davis and Assistant Director, Lyndsey Stout had the following to say about Samantha, “Miss Lyndsey and I would like to nominate Miss Samantha Lemley for Little Sunshine’s Playhouse and Preschool’s Corporate Teacher of the Month. Miss Lemley is our lead teacher in the Pre-K room and began working at Little Sunshine’s in October. Miss Lemley comes to us with over nine years of experience that complements her higher education in child development.

During Miss Samantha’s interview she was adamant that teaching is her passion, and wanted to ensure that should she be hired, she would be fulfilling her passion. She goes above and beyond in her profession. She worked diligently while investing numerous hours into our winter program. With thirty children in her pre-k class, it truly amazes Lyndsey and I on how quickly she learned each child’s personality. She knows how to reach each child to have them flourish in their development and parents are taking notice! We have had multiple compliments on how well-liked Miss Samantha is among all of her classroom parents and families.

Miss Samantha also creates a wonderful, hardworking, and fun tone in her classroom for not only the children but for her assistant teachers. She works well with her assistants in preparing our pre-k children for kindergarten; which allows our assistant teachers to be more invested with the children and their careers. All of Miss Samantha’s assistant teachers know how fortunate they are to be mentored by her.

I firmly believe that Miss Samantha is a once in a lifetime Pre-K teacher and is the perfect fit for LSP, as well as, Little Sunshine’s Playhouse and Preschool’s Corporate Teacher of the Year!”

Growing up Samantha helped care for four siblings younger than herself. While in high school, she realized that she would always want a career caring for children.

The thing Samantha enjoys most about this company is the fact that their philosophy is centered on and around allowing a child to learn through imagination and play. Samantha works in the Pre-K classroom and absolutely loves this age group because they are growing in maturity of their emotions and self-expression.

Her favorite curriculum project with thus far is exploring a variety of cultural holiday traditions that include enlightening the wonders of children.

When Samantha is not working, she enjoys hanging out with friends, listening to music, going to farmers markets, fishing, hiking waterfalls and spending time with her family.

Something special about Samantha that most people would not expect is that she does have a two year old grandson and she home schooled her two children through high school.