June Company-Wide Teacher of the Month

We have had an exciting start to summer here at Little Sunshine’s Playhouse! June has been a wonderful time and we have had so many hard-working educators shining bright!  The following teachers were nominated by their Program Directors and Assistant Directors for this achievement:

• Traci Dickson– Ozark
• Shaina Cowan – Chestnut
• Therese Plush – Colorado Springs
• Mackenzie Gross – Southlake
• Nayarith Smith – Cardinal
• Alyphia deBrum – Rogers
• Krysta Lecher – Gilbert
• Jessica Aparicio – Scottsdale
• Natalie Townsley – Leawood
• Kate Taylor – University City
• Erica Carrisalez – Lakeway
• Victoria Bennett – Littleton

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

Our June 2016 Company-Wide Teacher of the Month is Ashley Illum from our Springfield II location.  Ashley is the co-lead teacher in the toddler classroom.

Ashley’s supervisor, Kelley Carr, had the following to say;

“Ashley is the co-teacher in the Secret Garden class(Toddler2). From the moment she joined our team she has exceeded all my expectations of how her class should run. She plans exciting activities, has engaging circle times and art projects that make me want to be a kid again. I thoroughly enjoy watching Ashley LOVE her job! Not only does she excel at her daily classroom responsibilities, she also builds strong family connections with the parents. She has a sweet and kind way of engaging all the parents( even those not in her room) in daily conversation. To top it off she has great bonds with her fellow team members. I am so privileged to have Ashley as part of the LSP Claremont team. I cannot wait to watch her grow with our school and company.”

A few of her fellow team members had this to say about Ashley;

“She’s an amazing teacher with an amazing attitude! Always involved.”

“Her team player spirit and willingness to do whatever is needed of her is AMAZING.”

“She’s always bubbly and communicates well with her kids, coworkers and parents.”

“She always goes above and beyond with anything involving the kiddos and staff. Great to work with by far.”

“Bubbly, positive and helpful!”

Ashley started in child care when she was young. She grew up babysitting as often as possible and her mom and stepmom worked in childcare so she was in the environment much of her life. They showed her how emotionally rewarding it could be. Ashley has always loved children, so it was a natural step for her to take.

Ashley loves that every teacher in this company in really invested in the care of each child. “Teachers from all locations are so encouraging to one another. I love that we all share ideas and pictures of our fun times with each other.”

Ashley works in “The Secret Garden” classroom, which is the toddler twos class and she loves her babies! Ashley loves this age because they are actually starting to enjoy learning. She loves to hear their speech and language skills come along and encourage the children to have real conversations. “This is such a transformative time and it is so neat to be a part of it! They bring so much joy to my life!”

Her all-time favorite curriculum activity is roller coaster bowling. Ashley loves watching the joy on each child’s face as they ride the roller coaster into the bowling pins!

Outside of work, Ashley states that it is not very exciting! She loves hiking and baking. Her favorite thing to do is to curl up in her hammock and read a good book!

Most people do not know that Ashley is very klutzy. Years ago when Ashley was skiing, she fell off the ski lift as she was going up the mountain!