By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
In the “wiggle room,” imaginations are allowed to run wild. Last week, it snowed styrofoam peanuts for kids to shovel, and the summer lemonade stand was transformed into a hot cocoa station.
“Next week, it will be an ice rink,” said Allison Esposito, a co-teacher at Bright Beginnings Cooperative Preschool. “That’s everyone’s favorite room.”
Bright Beginnings – the last remaining preschool co-operative in Bowling Green – needs to find a new home for its “wiggle room” and other classrooms. The cooperative, which began in Bowling Green in 1974 and moved to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in 1992, will lose its location this summer since St. Mark’s is starting its own preschool program.
St. Mark’s has always made it known that it would someday like to start its own Christian preschool, said Bright Beginnings administrator and co-teacher Amber Hines.
But Hines and Esposito would really love to continue the preschool program for parents and children who want the cooperative setting that allows parents to play a role in their children’s education. So they are searching for a new school home.
Both teachers started out as parents at the preschool.
“I was already nervous about sending my children off to school,” Hines said. “I loved that we got to be hands-on and part of our children’s education. You get to participate and learn from the teacher. It cultivates such a community, and you get to share the experience with your child.”
Esposito had taken her children to Rainbow Cooperative, which closed. So she tried out Bright Beginnings.
“I enjoyed the opportunity to serve and support a teacher as a parent,” she said.
After their children graduated from the cooperative, both women decided to take on teaching roles at the preschool.
“I loved preschool so much, I never left,” Esposito said. “There’s something so magical about this age. My kids say, ‘All you do is play all day.’”
But that play is meaningful – with the children learning letter recognition, shapes, colors, counting – all skills that will help them in kindergarten, Hines explained.
“They are learning through play,” Esposito said.
Last week the youngsters learned about polar bears and penguins, and about Martin Luther King and the importance of being kind, compassionate, and welcoming diversity.
Most importantly, Bright Beginnings teaches youngsters that learning is fun.
“That’s our main goal, to help children love school,” Hines said. “There’s a small window to do that. We just love to see that spark.”
Esposito shares the joy of music with the students.
“We do a lot of moving and grooving,” Hines said.
A cooperative school is a non-profit organization owned by the parents of the children enrolled. As cooperative members, parents perform all of the non-professional work involved in the operation of the school, and can serve on a governing board.
Bright Beginnings serves children ages 3 to 5, and meets every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:05 to 11:45 a.m. At its busiest, the preschool had 23 students. Now, with COVID, there are eight students.
The time commitment for parents is flexible, with parents required to spend a minimum of two and a half hours a month helping the preschool.
“We didn’t ever want this to feel like work, but more like an opportunity,” Hines said. “They are here to be an extra set of hands in the classroom.”
Parents can spend as much time in the classrooms as they like, plus can bring younger children with them.
“It takes a village to raise our children,” Hines said.
Michelle Maurer, the current board president for the cooperative, has had children at Bright Beginnings for the past four years.
“I looked at every preschool in Bowling Green,” Maurer said. “We just didn’t feel like they fit.”
Then she visited Bright Beginnings and knew it was the right place for her children.
“You can be in the classroom with them, and see how they interact with other kids,” she said.
Maurer also felt a connection with Hines, who has been at the preschool for 10 years.
“We just fell in love with her,” Maurer said. “She’s just such a gift.”
During COVID, Hines has picked up books on pupils’ favorite topics from the library and delivered them to their homes. She is often on children’s birthday party guest lists, Esposito said.
And Hines, who can’t pass up the possibilities of a refrigerator box, created a rocket ship for the “wiggle room.”
“One of the greatest losses with the program would be this teacher,” Esposito said, pointing to Hines. “You will not find anybody better.”
“It’s been a great privilege to serve these families,” Hines said. “We hope there is still a place in the community that can support this mission. We would love to see this program continue.”
In the search for a new home, Bright Beginnings has looked at a few churches in town, and would like to retain a Christian component to its program. Anyone with ideas of a new location for Bright Beginnings is asked to email the school at beginbright@hotmail.com or call 419-482-8742.
