County Program Saved For Year, But Changes Eyed
Three commencement ceremonies were held last month for children graduating from Rockbridge County’s preschool in what, for a short time this spring, was seemingly to be the program’s swan song.
During budget deliberations this spring, the Board of Supervisors had decided to eliminate funding for the program, and then had a change of heart when supporters made known their strong feelings about the importance of the preschool to the community.
The supervisors restored the funding for another year but made it clear that the program will have to undergo major changes if it is to return the following year. They alluded to the possibility of having the program turned over to the county schools or a private entity in future years.
The county preschool has been in existence, in one form or another, for nearly half a century. It began in the late 1970s as a way to offer learning opportunities for children who were being left out of the preschool experience because their families either earned too much to qualify for Head Start or not enough to afford private day care/preschool options.
The curriculum, aligned with the county schools to prepare children for kindergarten, is for ages 3 and 4. Children must be potty-trained. Targeted goals include socialization skills, basic small motor skills (lacing, buttoning), colors, letters, creativity, imagination. Classes are held three days a week, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We teach children their letters, numbers, colors,” explained director and teacher Edwina Shafer. “A lot of it is how to play with others. One of the first things we teach them is how to write their names. They color a picture and put their name on the back. They’ve learned some sign language. We try not to do the same thing every day.” She reads books to them that have illustrative pictures.
PRESCHOOLERS from the 2003-2004 school year are aboard the Preschool on a Bus with their teachers, Monica Dock (back row, at left) and Edwina Shafer (back row, second from right).
Shafer has been with the program for nearly all of its existence, having come aboard as a teacher in 1981 when her two children were attending the preschool. She wound up staying on after her children had moved up to regular school, eventually becoming the director in the early 1990s. She became a full-time county employee, working also in the rental assistance office and as a receptionist for county administration.
The preschool has special activities and guest presenters. They have been visited by forest rangers, nurses, firemen, police and representatives of Boxerwood Gardens. They even had a pig visitor one time in Goshen.
Originally, the preschool met in several different area churches and was overseen by the county’s department of parks and recreation, under director Wayne Nicely. When Shafer began teaching, her class met at Falling Springs Presbyterian Church. Another preschool class met at Oxford Presbyterian Church. In subsequent years, classes were added at Timber Ridge, New Monmouth and Beth Horon churches.
The preschool worked well and answered a need. Children learned the skills they needed to thrive in kindergarten. It proved popular, eventually drawing an enrollment of around 60. At one time, they had 10 teachers.
The preschool program used to hold one large graduation ceremony each year at Glen Maury Park in Buena Vista. The ceremonies would draw as many as 200 people.
The program ran into a problem in the late 1990s. They learned that the preschool would have to be licensed through the Department of Social Services and classrooms would have to meet the state fire marshal’s more stringent regulations. In effect, the program couldn’t continue in its then-current form, meeting in classrooms in older churches.
Joann Moore, a county employee, heard about a preschool program that was operating in a converted school bus in Bath County. Moore and Shafer took a field trip there to observe the program first-hand. The idea of starting such a program in Rockbridge County seemed feasible to them, and so they took a proposal to the Board of Supervisors.
They were given the green light to launch the preschool on a bus program. A “retired” school bus was retrofitted to become a preschool on a bus. The seats were removed to make room for a classroom. A bathroom with a toilet and running water was installed.
“Some people thought it was a crazy thing but I thought it was really special,” recalls Shafer. “I never had a child that didn’t want to get on the bus.”
The preschool on a bus program began in the fall of 1999. The bus went to five different places – Glasgow, Fairfield, Effinger, Falling Springs and Goshen. For a time it went to Highland Belle too. Success By Six, an initiative of the United Way, equipped a second bus that was added to the program in 2002.
“The good thing about the bus was that it could move to where it was needed,” said Shafer. At one time it was parked at Lake Robertson. “The communities invited us in. It was a special program. Everywhere we went, we’ve been welcomed. … People adopted us.”
Kelly Fujiwara of Success by Six suggested having art students at Washington and Lee University paint the bus with educationthemed illustrations. ABCs, rainbows and animals were painted on the outside of the bus to reflect what was going on inside.
Because the buses had bathrooms, waste disposal was an issue they had to deal with. Fortunately, local businesses like Lee Hi Travel Plaza allowed them to dump their waste there. She remembers using Glen Maury Park’s waste station also.
“It’s been a wild ride,” commented Shafer. “The buses are tough.” They seemed to endure a lot of wear and tear and lasted a long time.
Eventually, the preschool transitioned back to traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms, when public spaces became available. The Goshen library and community center in Glasgow were among the places they had classes. They moved into the building where the Head Start class is at Fairfield Elementary School, and also into the former Effinger Elementary School, where the county schools administration offices are now located.
Enrollment has declined in recent years. There were 24 children enrolled this past year in three locations – Fairfield, Effinger and Goshen. They’re hoping to reverse this trend and grow the program. A recent study conducted by the county’s Department of Economic Development showed there is a definite need for day care/preschool for working families.
They’re trying to get the word out and attract more children next year. They’re even planning a couple of weeks of summer school – one week in Goshen and one week in Fairfield.
The program will be going through something of a transition next year. Shafer is retiring as director and handing over the reins to fellow teacher Mercy Smith. Shafer still plans to stay on as a part-time teacher.
A job that she took on a whim when her children were preschoolers, she said, “has been the love of my life.”
ASHLEY HOSTETTER, once a student herself in Edwina Shafer preschool class, presented an agricultural program to students in Shafer’s current class at Fairfield last month as a Rockbridge County Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership project. (Mary Woodson photo)
ART STUDENTS from Washington and Lee University painted colorful images suitable for what goes on inside on the exterior of the Preschool on a Bus that was previously used for Rockbridge County’s preschool program.
A COUNTY PRESCHOOL student waters a plant she and her classmates had planted during the agricultural activity led by Ashley Hostetter with Rockbridge County Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership last month. (Mary Woodson photo)
EDWINA SHAFER supervises some play time in the class she was teaching at the preschool/ Head Start building outside of Fairfield Elementary School last month. (Mary Woodson photo)
BECAUSE KIDS can’t help being kids, sometimes flower pots can also be telescopes. This was one of the scenes from last month’s visit by Ashley Hostetter to the Fairfield program. (Mary Woodson photo)
