On Friday afternoon, Trisha Brem made her rounds on the playground at the Presbyterian Co-op Preschool. She knelt down by a water trough to talk with two students about the seashells with which they were playing and she sat on a stool to watch several girls dance in hula skirts.
“The kids have been doing a lesson on the beach,” she said, noting that an outdoor play hut was set up with straw huts and hula skirts.
Brem will retire as director of the preschool at the end of May, with preschool teacher Tina Gabel taking over the part-time directorship position. Brem has been with the school for 18 years. She started teaching in 1994, and then took on the director’s position in 1995, remaining in the classroom part time for a decade.
“However, with my two sons, it goes back the early ’80s,” she said, of when she was a parent volunteer for her sons Ryan and Eric’s classrooms.
She and her family joined the Presbyterian Church in 1977, when they moved to town and she served on the board of the preschool when her sons were in the school.
Through the years, Brem said she has watched the school grow from 60 children in three classes, which shared one classroom on different days of the week, to an expansion that includes twice as many students in eight classes.
The school itself has expanded as three additional classroom spaces, a resource room and an office were added. Brem said parent volunteers and church members raised money for the improvements, and in 2000 added new playground equipment to the school.
One of the biggest changes, too, is the addition of an administrative assistant on staff. Bridgette Cutler joined the office staff in 2007.
Brem said the parent involvement is “mostly a blessing.”
“They want to be involved and they are the very first teachers, the parents, so to partner with them is key,” she said.
On the playground, she refereed a disagreement between two small girls about a water bottle, and talked about what she plans to do as she retires.
She said though she will be stepping out of the director’s role, she will still volunteer with the children’s ministry at the church. She also plans to substitute teach when any of the four teachers – Gabel, Anna Wilson, Diane Miller and Kelly Hacker – have to out for the day.
“One of the best feelings is to go out on the playground and have the kids run up and say ‘Miss Trish, Miss Trish,” she said, “And hug your knees because they don’t give you a chance to get down to them quick enough.”
She is most looking forward to having more time to spend with family that doesn’t need to be scheduled around school holidays. Her oldest son lives in San Diego and her first set of grandchildren is there so she will spend more time in Southern California. Her second son is getting married here in July.
“I will still be advising and volunteering,” she said.
Preschool celebrates 50 years
Gabel said one of the things that makes taking over the part-time director’s position more comfortable is that she knows Brem will be nearby. Gabel has been working as a Pre-K teacher for a morning and afternoon session, with the afternoon session set up like an adventure camp where the kids learn science and other subjects outdoors. Another teacher will take over the afternoon class for Gabel.
Gabel said she is looking forward to continuing on the tradition at the preschool, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next February.
“I’d also like to move forward with technology and letting new families see who we are,” she said.
The part-time position is a good fit for Gabel who said she wasn’t ready to leave the classroom for good.
Like Brem, she gets called on to referee situations on the playground, such as a group of boys playing with a miniature basketball hoop who have a misunderstanding. She stepped in and talked with the boys, making sure each one who wanted to play had a turn to shoot the basketball.
“A lot of it (preschool) is giving them the vocabulary to be able to function in society,” Gabel said. “They know what they want and what reaction they want to get. We teach them how to be productive members of a group.”
At the cooperative preschool, which has three to four parent volunteers in every classroom each day, Gabel said parents help the teachers out but they can also learn.
“Parents are able to see how their own child interacts with others,” she said. “We are able to model for a whole generation of parents (how to interact with the children.)”
She said the parents often become friends over the long haul. A teacher at the school for seven years, Gabel started out as a parent volunteer when her own children were enrolled. Her oldest child is in eighth grade, she said, and some of the same parents are still involved in volunteering with the school.
The parents are helping to plan an end-of-the-year picnic on May 23 that will acknowledge Brem’s retirement and Gabel’s new post.
“It’s bittersweet because Trish has been her so long and she’s truly been a mentor,” Gabel said. “We are looking forward. Even though she is retiring, she is not that far away.”
Registration open
The Presbyterian Co-op Preschool will have a summer day camp July 9-13 and/or July 16-20, from 9 a.m. to noon. The cost is $100 per week and the program is open to children who are 3 (by the start of the camp,) 4 or 5 or going into kindergarten. A snack will be provided and children will have a chance to participate in a variety of activities such as art, music, science, cooking and more.
The fall program includes a two-day morning session, a three-day morning session, a Pre-K morning session and a three-day afternoon session. Children must be 3 years old by Sept. 1 and potty trained. They will have to show an immunization record, a birth certificate or baptismal certificate, a non-refundable registration fee of $100 per family, and a deposit of $150 per family for project volunteer hours. The Pre-K students must be 4 years old by Sept. 1 and complete an assessment.
The Presbyterian Church will also host a vacation bible school Aug. 6-10.
The Presbyterian Preschool will host its end-of-year picnic May 23, from 4 to 7 p.m. the event will include games for the children, jump houses, raffle items and a bake sale. Dinner is available; $10 for tri-tip sandwiches and $5 for hot dog meals. Presale orders for the meals can be placed at the school office. Details: 630-1234 or
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