EU Infant Toddler Center continues work

AFTON - Construction continues on East Union’s Infant Toddler Center, preparing the the former Afton Care Center for its new role for early childhood care.

The building’s renovations is scheduled to be completed by Thanksgiving, with a tentative opening scheduled for December. An open house will be scheduled to introduce the building to the community.

East Union Early Childhood Center Director Peggy Hardy said her goal is to continue applying for grants to help furnish the building even further, hoping to provide a setting.

“With a building project, buying all the furnishings, prices often come in higher than expected, so we’ll continue fundraising and grant-writing,” she said.

The original Afton Care Center had been donated to East Union by the Care Center board, with the school choosing to convert the former apartments into classrooms.

Options for expansion are available following continued interest in the building. Two additional classrooms on the north side will not be used at the time of opening, but could be used if the capacity of the center needs to expand. A west wing is also available, which could be used in future years if the center proves successful.

Superintendent Tim Kuehl estimated 60-70% of the original building will be used for the Infant Toddler Center, with the rest being changes to provide classroom spaces and enforce safety standards.

A major grant East Union received was from the Dekko Foundation, which contributed $150,000 toward the building. In addition, they made a matching grant up to $150,000 for the building, matching each donated dollar 3-to-1. Hardy described the matching grant as “generous,” especially in consideration with local small businesses who would be more interested in donating with the matching grants.

“This is a matching grant, that’s the part that is most attractive,” she said. “Their dollars would be compounded, it’ll grow.”

One major donor for the Afton Development Corporation, which has donated $2,000 to the building. This donation will be matched by the Dekko Foundation for an additional $6,000. K’Lea Johnson of the ADC was glad to see the original building still in use. “We were happy to see it going to a good cause, to use the building,” she said.

Hardy said this donation helps show the importance in the work on the Infant Toddler Center. “To have them say, what you’re doing in our community is valuable, it means a lot,” she said. “We’re grateful for the money, but we’re also glad they see us as an important partner in the community.”

Greater Regional will present a check during next Thursday night’s East Union homecoming coronation for $47,000, which will be matched by Dekko in their 3-to-1 grant for $141,000. This, combined with additional funding from the community, will meet the Dekko’s full $150,000 matching grant.

In terms of reaching out to the community, Hardy understands how a place for childcare provides a different service to the community, hoping to diminish some of the stress young families face. The new location will help the center focus on their services, which was previously shared with other facets of the East Union building.

Structure for education in the building will be based on age group, with one lead teacher responsible per classroom, along with a few assistants. A group of assistants Hardy described as “floaters” will move from class-to-class to help classes who might need another set of hands.

For the infants and toddlers at the new center, Hardy says one of the first steps for their development is teaching them to build relationships with caregivers.

“You have to have a really strong bond to build trust and share information about the child’s day,” she said. “That’ll be a big part of our work.”

Education through sensory experiences will be a big part of the curriculum for the center, especially in regards to connecting infants and toddlers to the world around them.

“They need to move around and explore their environment,” said Hardy. “Infants, everything they touch goes in their mouths. That’s because that’s the way they’re designed to explore the world, it’s not unexpected... play is learning when you’re little.”

Each classroom will have an exit to allow children to directly interact with the outdoors. Hardy said managing the children in the outdoors can be “tricky,” but will help their development.

“We want their little hands and feet to feel grass and leaves,” she said. “We have big windows out there, they’ll see the sky, the weather, birds, squirrels, they’ll see that, and we’ll talk about those things.”