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Her Proudest Achievement, Seeing Children Become Their Best Selves
If you asked Helen Patterson, all you really need to know about life you can learn in pre-school. Twenty years ago, she opened the Early Learning Center, called ELC for short, at Johnston Medical Mall and put together a stellar team that has maintained a five-star rating and earned near perfect scores on accreditation. Yet the long-time director’s proudest accomplishment is seeing children grow and become their best selves. Among her favorite stories: the boy who loved nature and became a forester in Colorado; the girl who felt so loved at the ELC that she was inspired to work as a vice president at a national childcare company; and the girl who is now a mother of three with plans to get a college degree because of Patterson’s encouragement to believe in herself. Patterson says she looks forward to coming to work every morning because she loves what the ELC can do. “Working with children is both challenging and exciting,” she says. “You have the opportunity to see them grow and become independent, learn the alphabet, numbers and colors, and begin reading.” For sure, pre-school prepares children for kindergarten, she says. “But it also prepares them for life and life experiences.”
Helen Patterson, director of the Early Learning Center, visits with one of her students, Cole Johnson, 3.
The best part of every day is seeing the smiling faces of students, and, of course, giving and receiving hugs, she adds. “And I enjoy greeting my parents, answering concerns, and assuring them their children are well cared for by a nurturing and devoted sta .”
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