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LOCAL PRESCHOOL TEACHER FOR 26 YEARS
Stanley Park-Rosemount Preschool teacher Sharon Tidd to leave in June
Stanley Park-Rosemount Preschool teacher Sharon Tidd to leave in June
By Carrie Debrone
Kitchener Citizen
Most people are lucky enough to have had one special teacher in their life – and for many children in Kitchener, that person is Stanley Park–Rosemount Preschool teacher Sharon Tidd.
After 26 years at the popular cooperative (located in the basement of St. James’-Rosemount United Church, 171 Sherwood Ave. in Kitchener), Mrs. Tidd will leave the school in June – as she says, “not to retire, but just to see what the next chapter of life may bring.“
“I don’t know what lies ahead, but I’m game for anything. I’m not ready to hang up my shoes just yet and I know I will do something that’s involved with the field of early childhood education. I’m just waiting for whatever opportunities cross my path. I felt that this is the right time to leave, while it still felt good to be here and I was still wanted,” she said.
Tidd started teaching at Stanley Park – Rosemount Preschool in 1986. The preschool, incorporated in 1974, was started at the local church many years before that. Tidd graduated from the Sheridan College ECE program in Oakville in 1976 and worked for 10 years at a Burlington cooperative preschool before moving to the Kitchener area.
In 2009, she received the Award of Excellence sponsored by the Childcare Network of Waterloo Region. Over the years, Tidd has served in several leadership capacities for organizations that support the 10 local cooperative preschools, and is currently the network leader of the Conestoga College Professional Resource Centre’s Nursery School Network.
“Sharon is a wonderful teacher. I just can’t imagine the preschool without her,” said Tracey Fewster, whose daughters attended the preschool in the 1990s.
“She was always so patient and gentle with my children and she put everything she had into helping the kids and the parents. My kids are happy and successful and they had a great start there,” Fewster said.
Susan Meissner, Chair of the Stanley Park-Rosemount Preschool for the last two years, agrees that Tidd’s dedication to the school has been second to none.
“When I think of her I think about her dedication to the school. That’s what’s made the SPRP what it is today,” Meissner said.
“Because Sharon gives so much of herself it makes you want to give back to the school,” she said.
“She really shows her personality with the children,” said Meissner’s eight-year-old daughter, Molly, as she remembered her former teacher.
Currently, Stanley Park-Rosemount Preschool serves 37 families through its two preschool classes and one Junior Kindergarten class. At its peak in the 1990s, the preschool served 64 families with 16 children in four classes.
The offering of Junior Kindergarten in the public and separate schools systems has brought some competition for preschool students in recent years, but the school continues to be successful because of the outstanding opportunities it offers both its students and their parents.
At the cooperative, parents must be involved in their child’s education, spending time helping in the classroom, serving on committees or on the executive. This not only helps the school keep fees low, it provides the rare chance for parents to spend precious time with their still very young children in an educational setting.
A champion of early learning, Tidd understands the great benefits of a cooperative preschool.
“The early years are so important in the development of a child. But, to me it’s not the academics that are important. It’s the foundations of learning -- like promoting a child’s self esteem, making them confident learners and teaching them to problem solve that is important,” Tidd said.
“The cooperative preschool provides the perfect environment for this because we have such a low ratio of child to adult in the classroom that when there is a conflict or an opportunity to teach a child something that comes up spontaneously, we can take the time to teach them. Learning that is much more important than letters and numbers.”
The preschool also helps with early identification of any learning, behavioral, speech and language or social/emotional difficulties and can refer families to resource agencies or, if needed, bring special help into the preschool classroom.
Tidd believes cooperatives provide as many benefits to parents as to their children.
“It’s the only time in your child’s educational career that you get to choose their teacher,” she laughs. “Usually our parents have shopped around, and they decide to come here.”
“It allows families and children to grow together because parents are involved in the day-to-day running of the class activities, and parenting techniques are learned.”
Just try to name a preschool family who hasn’t used Mrs. Tidd’s famous “Tidy Up Song” to engage their children’s’ cooperation to clean up their toys at home, or the phrase “Use your inside voice, please” to get them to stop yelling.
“I think parents appreciate all the parenting tips they get here and many have thanked me over the years,” Tidd said.
“The enjoyment of watching your child interact with others in the early years is priceless. And I think that some parents are surprised when they come here. They realize for the first time that their child has strengths or personality traits that they just didn’t appreciate before.”
Tidd said the thing she will miss most about her job is listening to the children.
“You know, kids say the darndest things,” she said.
“I will miss their enthusiasm and innocence and being able to share in their pride at doing something themselves for the very first time.”
“I will also miss working with the parents. There’s such a feeling of family here. Their enthusiasm and commitment to the school spurs me on to do more. It inspires me. A lot happens outside the classroom. I get paid to be here, but parents, particularly those on the executive, are willing to volunteer their time and that’s what makes this school a success.”
With 26 years of ‘preschool stories” under her belt, there are many to choose from.
Like the time a child came to her and asked “Who brought the macaroni?” Upon investigation, Tidd found a pile of something that looked like macaroni at the bottom of the school’s Blue Elephant slide which several children had been going down on their stomachs.
She also has many stories about the school’s pet hamster Stanley, who is loaned out to preschool families for weekend visits.
During one home visit Stanley escaped. When he did not return to the school the children made up stories for weeks about where Stanley could have gone.
“When we’d exhausted all the stories, we had to go and get a new Stanley,” Tidd said, noting that the school has gone through many Stanleys in its 26 years.
“Every time we get a new Stanley some of the children will say “Stanley’s hair is longer or he’s bigger or a different colour. I just play along and say, ‘Oh do you think so?”
“I may come back as a supply teacher it they need me and if they’ll have me,” she laughed.
“Stanley Park-Rosemount Pre-school is just a warm, fuzzy place to be and every day is different. I have loved my role as Mrs. Tidd. It’s been an honour to be her,” she said.
“I think there are significant people who come into our children’s lives and they help to shape who our children are. We feel really blessed that Mrs. Tidd was one of those people,” Meissner said.
The preschool’s hiring committee is now in the final stages of finding a new teacher, but has not yet made a final choice.
Kitchener Citizen
Most people are lucky enough to have had one special teacher in their life – and for many children in Kitchener, that person is Stanley Park–Rosemount Preschool teacher Sharon Tidd.
After 26 years at the popular cooperative (located in the basement of St. James’-Rosemount United Church, 171 Sherwood Ave. in Kitchener), Mrs. Tidd will leave the school in June – as she says, “not to retire, but just to see what the next chapter of life may bring.“
“I don’t know what lies ahead, but I’m game for anything. I’m not ready to hang up my shoes just yet and I know I will do something that’s involved with the field of early childhood education. I’m just waiting for whatever opportunities cross my path. I felt that this is the right time to leave, while it still felt good to be here and I was still wanted,” she said.
Tidd started teaching at Stanley Park – Rosemount Preschool in 1986. The preschool, incorporated in 1974, was started at the local church many years before that. Tidd graduated from the Sheridan College ECE program in Oakville in 1976 and worked for 10 years at a Burlington cooperative preschool before moving to the Kitchener area.
In 2009, she received the Award of Excellence sponsored by the Childcare Network of Waterloo Region. Over the years, Tidd has served in several leadership capacities for organizations that support the 10 local cooperative preschools, and is currently the network leader of the Conestoga College Professional Resource Centre’s Nursery School Network.
“Sharon is a wonderful teacher. I just can’t imagine the preschool without her,” said Tracey Fewster, whose daughters attended the preschool in the 1990s.
“She was always so patient and gentle with my children and she put everything she had into helping the kids and the parents. My kids are happy and successful and they had a great start there,” Fewster said.
Susan Meissner, Chair of the Stanley Park-Rosemount Preschool for the last two years, agrees that Tidd’s dedication to the school has been second to none.
“When I think of her I think about her dedication to the school. That’s what’s made the SPRP what it is today,” Meissner said.
“Because Sharon gives so much of herself it makes you want to give back to the school,” she said.
“She really shows her personality with the children,” said Meissner’s eight-year-old daughter, Molly, as she remembered her former teacher.
Currently, Stanley Park-Rosemount Preschool serves 37 families through its two preschool classes and one Junior Kindergarten class. At its peak in the 1990s, the preschool served 64 families with 16 children in four classes.
The offering of Junior Kindergarten in the public and separate schools systems has brought some competition for preschool students in recent years, but the school continues to be successful because of the outstanding opportunities it offers both its students and their parents.
At the cooperative, parents must be involved in their child’s education, spending time helping in the classroom, serving on committees or on the executive. This not only helps the school keep fees low, it provides the rare chance for parents to spend precious time with their still very young children in an educational setting.
A champion of early learning, Tidd understands the great benefits of a cooperative preschool.
“The early years are so important in the development of a child. But, to me it’s not the academics that are important. It’s the foundations of learning -- like promoting a child’s self esteem, making them confident learners and teaching them to problem solve that is important,” Tidd said.
“The cooperative preschool provides the perfect environment for this because we have such a low ratio of child to adult in the classroom that when there is a conflict or an opportunity to teach a child something that comes up spontaneously, we can take the time to teach them. Learning that is much more important than letters and numbers.”
The preschool also helps with early identification of any learning, behavioral, speech and language or social/emotional difficulties and can refer families to resource agencies or, if needed, bring special help into the preschool classroom.
Tidd believes cooperatives provide as many benefits to parents as to their children.
“It’s the only time in your child’s educational career that you get to choose their teacher,” she laughs. “Usually our parents have shopped around, and they decide to come here.”
“It allows families and children to grow together because parents are involved in the day-to-day running of the class activities, and parenting techniques are learned.”
Just try to name a preschool family who hasn’t used Mrs. Tidd’s famous “Tidy Up Song” to engage their children’s’ cooperation to clean up their toys at home, or the phrase “Use your inside voice, please” to get them to stop yelling.
“I think parents appreciate all the parenting tips they get here and many have thanked me over the years,” Tidd said.
“The enjoyment of watching your child interact with others in the early years is priceless. And I think that some parents are surprised when they come here. They realize for the first time that their child has strengths or personality traits that they just didn’t appreciate before.”
Tidd said the thing she will miss most about her job is listening to the children.
“You know, kids say the darndest things,” she said.
“I will miss their enthusiasm and innocence and being able to share in their pride at doing something themselves for the very first time.”
“I will also miss working with the parents. There’s such a feeling of family here. Their enthusiasm and commitment to the school spurs me on to do more. It inspires me. A lot happens outside the classroom. I get paid to be here, but parents, particularly those on the executive, are willing to volunteer their time and that’s what makes this school a success.”
With 26 years of ‘preschool stories” under her belt, there are many to choose from.
Like the time a child came to her and asked “Who brought the macaroni?” Upon investigation, Tidd found a pile of something that looked like macaroni at the bottom of the school’s Blue Elephant slide which several children had been going down on their stomachs.
She also has many stories about the school’s pet hamster Stanley, who is loaned out to preschool families for weekend visits.
During one home visit Stanley escaped. When he did not return to the school the children made up stories for weeks about where Stanley could have gone.
“When we’d exhausted all the stories, we had to go and get a new Stanley,” Tidd said, noting that the school has gone through many Stanleys in its 26 years.
“Every time we get a new Stanley some of the children will say “Stanley’s hair is longer or he’s bigger or a different colour. I just play along and say, ‘Oh do you think so?”
“I may come back as a supply teacher it they need me and if they’ll have me,” she laughed.
“Stanley Park-Rosemount Pre-school is just a warm, fuzzy place to be and every day is different. I have loved my role as Mrs. Tidd. It’s been an honour to be her,” she said.
“I think there are significant people who come into our children’s lives and they help to shape who our children are. We feel really blessed that Mrs. Tidd was one of those people,” Meissner said.
The preschool’s hiring committee is now in the final stages of finding a new teacher, but has not yet made a final choice.
Stanley Park-Rosemount Preschool teacher Sharon Tidd spends time with four of her current students. From left, Logan McKittrick, Violet Cooper, Olivia Albrecht and Luke Shipper. Tidd, who has taught at the school for 26 years, is leaving in June.