By Gia Hale
Hollister
– New kindergarten teacher Debbie Jones brings experience and
enthusiasm to First Presbyterian Church of Hollister’s Cooperative
Preschool and Kindergarten program.
Hollister – New kindergarten teacher Debbie Jones brings experience and enthusiasm to First Presbyterian Church of Hollister’s Cooperative Preschool and Kindergarten program.
“We’re excited to welcome Debbie Jones to our school,” Preschool Director Trish Brem said. “She’s a teacher with over 20 years of experience.”
Jones began teaching in Hollister after graduating college in 1982. She has taught in mostly Christian schools for every grade from preschool to fourth grade, but said teaching kindergarten has been her lifelong dream.
“I decided I wanted to teach when I was 5 years old,” Jones said. “I wanted to become a teacher so I could teach kindergarten.”
The teaching gene seems to run in the family. Jones’ father, grandfather and uncle were all teachers, and her cousin is currently a teacher.
“I come from a long line of teachers,” she said.
In her 20 years of experience, Jones said the biggest thing she has learned about children is that they all learn differently.
“As a teacher you have to find out where each child is at,” she said. “That’s also the challenge of teaching: trying to meet the needs of each student.”
Jones said that among the many rewards of teaching, her favorite is seeing the progress her students make over the course of the year and further in life.
“Even in one day there’s a little bit of improvement,” she said. “To see them succeed as they go on is rewarding. I have students that have become doctors, so to know that you have done some part in helping them succeed is wonderful.”
Though Jones has been teaching for more than 20 years, this is only the second year she has been able to teach kindergarten.
“I’m really grateful that it’s a Christian school and that I can share my faith with the kids,” she said. “And to teach kindergarten, because it’s my first love.”
Jones joins the church in its second year of offering a kindergarten program. The preschool has been operating since 1963. Brem said the church decided to provide the kindergarten program for preschool graduates who wanted to have another year with the school. The kindergarten program is a half-day program in the morning.
“We’re happy to offer a four-hour day program since Hollister School District has switched to a full day,” Brem said. “It’s hard for some of the children that are still napping in the afternoon.”
As for the new addition to the teaching staff, Brem said Jones is enthusiastically welcomed by everyone at the school.
“We’re thrilled to have her.”
