Meet the Educator

Welcome to the Fun Van Miss Amber! Tell us a little more about yourself.

How did you hear about the Fun Van? I heard about Fun Van from a parent who enjoyed the program. I attended an 11 Week session as a parent myself!

What did you do before working at the Fun Van? Before Fun Van I worked in Higher Education with South University and The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online. I also worked as an early childhood educator from infants up to 12 years old. 

What was your childhood ambition? For a very long time wanted to be a veterinarian or an inventor, then a traveling street musician (I couldn’t figure out how to travel with a cello, though being pulled in a trailer crossed my mind). I eventually realized I wanted to be a teacher.

What book are you currently reading? The 13 ½ Lives of Capitan Bluebear by Walter Moers

What’s your favorite summer beverage or treat? Strawberry Lemonade

What was your favorite toy as a child? I loved my beanie babies and my littlest pet shop animals.

What’s one of your funniest parenting or teaching moments? One of my funniest parenting moments happened while playing with my son. He was trying to fit his hands in my mouth then do the same to his little sister. I reminded him that to be gentle with Mommy and sister, but he was having too much fun. I reminded him that Mommy said to be gentle with his little sister. He rolled his eyes so dramatically that he almost fell over. I was shocked and gasped a little. He thought that was hilarious and rolled his eyes even harder than the first time and made himself fall over. We both giggled and laughed for a while after that.

What’s a fun fact about you? I have a ton of musical instruments stashed around my house: two violins, a cello, flute, clarinet, recorders, multiple guitars, and a keyboard. I can only actually play 3 of those instruments.

What snack is your guilty pleasure? Buttered Popcorn

What do you enjoy most about working at Fun Van? I love watching how families learn and grow together.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I enjoy reading and doing arts and crafts.

What advice do you have for parents? Take as much time as you can to be together. Time spent together is super valuable and can be super fun!

What’s one of your favorite books and activities for your Fun Van families? Dragons Love Tacos and dragon masks!

All About Miss A.J.

What was your childhood ambition? I changed my mind all the time. I wanted to be a dancer, an actress on Broadway, a Marine Biologist, a horse trainer, a mom, a stunt double, the list goes on…

What book are you currently reading?  The Vaccine Friendly Plan by Paul Thomas, Strong as a Mother By Kate Rope and Missional Motherhood By Gloria Furman

What’s your favorite fall or winter beverage? I was just introduced to Almond Milk Peach Cobbler Chai made by SOZO Coffee Shop…my new love!!

What was your favorite toy as a child? I loved my Fisher-Price Dollhouse. My sister and I spent hours setting up the whole house. By the time everything was set up, we were bored and cleaned it all up to do something else.

What’s one of your funniest parenting  or teaching moments?  I was teaching in a four-year old classroom and one of my boys was super hyper. As I was standing in front of the class giving directions, he kept wiggling and rolling on the ground. Finally I said, “Alex stop wiggling, you are going to hurt someb—” Before I could finish my sentence, his shoe flew off and hit me in the mouth. It hurt terribly and I had to walk out of the classroom so I didn’t cry or yell in front of him. He apologized to me every day for the rest of the year.

What’s a fun fact about you?  I ate dinner with live zebras and white water rafted with crocodiles in the Zambezi River, all in the same day.

What snack is your guilty pleasure? Watermelon…always watermelon!

How many years have you been with the Fun Van? 3 years

What did you do before working at the Fun Van? I was a director of a  preschool and a nanny.

How did you hear about the Fun Van? I taught a toddler tumbling class with Miss Julie Reeves while I was getting my masters. She later started working at Fun Van. When she was ready to move on to another job she reached out to me and told me she thought I would be a good fit here. She sent my resume to the library director and he contacted me for an interview.

What do you enjoy most about working at Fun Van?  I love working closely with parents. One of my frustrations as a director and preschool teacher was not being able to truly get to know and help parents. Now I get to brainstorm and problem solve WITH parents. Watching parents fall in love with their kiddos and with parenting, regardless of the age or stage their child is in, is my favorite thing.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?  I spend my days hanging out with my awesome 4 month old and my amazing husband. We love to cook, hang out with other families, travel and search for Geocaches.

What advice do you have for parents?  Find a tribe. Parenting is hard and isn’t meant to be done alone. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help. You know your child better than anyone on this planet. If you suspect something is up, ask for help, and keep asking until you get what you need.

What’s one of your favorite books and activities for your Fun Van families?

Elephant and Piggy books by Mo Willems are hilarious read-aloud books!

Miss Julie’s playdough is the best! She always comes up with fun scents to match our themes. The apple pie spice that is in our centers this month is the best!

http://www.craftyorganizedmom.com/kool-aid-play-dough/

Let’s get to know Miss Felicia!

What was your childhood ambition? To be a teacher

What book are you currently reading? Listen, Love, Repeat By Karen Ehman

What’s your favorite fall or winter beverage? Coffee always…

What was your favorite game as a child? UNO

What’s one of your funniest parenting or teaching moments? I was doing an experiment teaching the children about distance. We used an air popcorn popper without the lid and had hot popcorn flying at the children.

What’s a fun fact about you?  When I lived in California, I used to drive 6 hours to get to the Rogue River in Oregon; just so I could camp and recharge over the weekend.

What snack is your guilty pleasure? Dark Chocolate

How many years have you been with the Fun Van? Almost 9 years

What did you do before working at the Fun Van? I taught Head Start on the ASU Polytechnic campus.

How did you hear about the Fun Van? I received a call from a recruiter who told me she had the perfect job for me.

What do you enjoy most about working at Fun Van? I love the relationships that I’ve been able to build with the families over the years.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I enjoy reading and trying new crafts.

What advice do you have for parents? When you feel like yelling or can’t seem to find the words for the latest “mess”, take a picture. Walk away and send it to your husband/wife or close friend, vent to them. Then go back and ask how can we/you fix this?

What’s one of your favorite books and activities for your Fun Van families?

Leo The Late Bloomer By Robert Kraus is one of my favorites. We make paper bag puppets to go along with the story.

Photos Courtesy of HarperCollins.com and Notimeforflashcards.com

                                                                      All About Miss Ryanne!

What was your childhood ambition?

I wanted to be a veterinarian until I found out they had to put animals to sleep.  I changed my dream to country western singer.

What book are you currently reading?

I am currently re-reading To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.  It is a favorite of mine and now a Netflix movie!  The movie was so good I had to read the book again.

What was your favorite toy as a child?

I had a teddy bear that I loved and went everywhere with me.  He has now been passed down to my daughter.

What’s one of your funniest parenting  or teaching moments?

The most recent funny parenting moment happened last night.  The baby was trying to stay awake and I was trying to get her to sleep.  I was starting to get frustrated because it was so late.  She suddenly started singing “Happy baby” (birthday), blowing, and then clapping.  It was so cute and random that I couldn’t help but crack up.  It calmed me down and she fell asleep about 10 minutes later.

What’s a fun fact about you?

I LOVE singing karaoke.  I have a terrible voice but that doesn’t stop me.  I know the lyrics to most songs so instead of looking at the screen, I dance and involve the crowd.  It makes up for my lack of pitch.  

How many years have you been with the Fun Van?

Three J

What did you do before working at the Fun Van? 

Before Fun Van I was a ninja. 

How Did you hear about the Fun Van?

My mom sent me the job opening email and told me to apply because the job was made for me. 

What do you enjoy most about working at Fun Van?

The thing I enjoy most about working at Fun Van is watching parents grow their relationships with their children.  I love to see parents connecting by playing and reading.  I love having parents ask how they can do something better or share when they do something great.  I also really love crafts. Especially with glitter…

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

What is free time?  Hahaha!  I love to read, watch Nexflix, go on dates with my husband.

What advice do you have for parents?

Tell and show your kids you love them every day. They won’t remember every craft, or story, or activity. They will, however, remember how you made them feel.

What’s one of your favorite books or activities for your Fun Van families?

I love the pigeon series by Mo Willems. 

 photo courtesy of Kaplanco.com

Introducing: Miss Kat McGrue-Whitmeyer

What book are you currently reading? The Game of Life by Florence Scovel and Perfectly Yourself by Matthew Kelly

What’s your favorite fall or winter beverage? Fall: Pumpkin spice coffee, hot or cold; Winter: Peppermint Hot

What’s a fun fact about you? I snore

What snack is your guilty pleasure? Dark Chocolate covered raisins.

How many long have you been with the Fun Van? 3 whole weeks.

What did you do before working at the Fun Van? I worked in home visitation using the Parents as Teachers curriculum for 3.5 years. Before that I worked as a Family Support Worker for Family Preservation.

How did you hear about the Fun Van? I have known about Fun Van since 2014 while working for Easter Seals Blake Foundation. However, I learned about this current position through researching for a position where I could best use my skills in child development.

What do you enjoy most about working at Fun Van? I love how everyone has been so welcoming. Everyone works very well together and is very supportive of one another. It seems to be a positive and warm work environment.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? When I have free time, I make sure to spend time making memories with my children. I love going to comedy shows as well.

What advice do you have for parents? Parents are a child’s first teacher. Remember that it is your job to advocate for your children, especially when there is a need.

What’s one of your favorite books and activities for your Fun Van families?

My favorite book to read out loud is Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? By Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

I love this counting activity using apple erasers in a muffin tin. It is such a simple activity, but very helpful for introducing and practicing 1-to-1 number correspondence.

Thanks to https://earlylearningideas.com/apple-math-activities/ for the idea!

What advice do you have for parents? Parents are a child’s first teacher. Remember that it is your job to advocate for your children, especially when there is a need.

Introducing Miss Lauri!

How many years have you been with the Fun Van?

I am a newbie!

What was your childhood ambition?

To be an actress

What was your favorite toy as a child?

Play-dough

What’s one of your funniest parenting or teaching moments?

When my son was about 3, we were outside having dip and chips with some friends.  Just in time, I stopped my son from dipping a WORM into the French Onion Dip!!

What’s a fun fact about you?

My family had a pet alligator when we were growing up.

What did you do before working at the Fun Van? 

Third Grade teacher with Mesa Public Schools

How Did you hear about the Fun Van?

I found this best-ever job while I was surfing the website!

What do you enjoy most about working at Fun Van?

Working with the pre-school aged children

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Playing Bingo LOL!

What advice do you have for parents?

Always laugh it off!  In the long run, it really will be OK!

What’s one of your favorite books and activities for your Fun Van families?

The Hungry Caterpillar——Making a Paper Plate Caterpillar

photo from www.asuntospublicos.org

Now let’s meet:  Miss Julie Wagner!

What was your favorite childhood toy?

My Bike!

How many years have you been with the Fun Van?

3 years

What did you do before working at the Fun Van? 

I was a school librarian at Cortina Elementary School.

Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving tradition?

We get up early to watch the Thanksgiving parade while making our delicious Thanksgiving meal.

How did you hear about the Fun Van?

A teacher friend told me about the job. I decided to apply even though I didn’t know what to expect from a program named, “Fun Van.” I thought I was applying for a teaching job at the library. I had no idea that I would be driving a huge truck around Pinal County.

What do you enjoy most about working at Fun Van?

I love the sweet kids we get to work with every week.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Reading, of course! I also garden, watch movies, go hiking and relax on the beach. I am the proud grandmother of 3 grandsons and one on the way! We love painting rocks that we later hide when we visit the park together.

What advice do you have for parents?

Enjoy your time with your children. It goes by really fast, even though it doesn’t feel like it in the moment.

What’s your funniest parenting moment?

 My daughter and son were 4 and 7 at the time. My husband was working out of town and there was a horrible monsoon storm. The power went out, it was pouring rain, and the doors were open. The cat brought in a gopher from outside to show us. We all started screaming. We couldn’t figure out what to do. Our solution was to stand on the couch and scream until it stopped raining. Eventually I ended up getting a broom and shooing it out.

What’s one of your favorite books and activities for your Fun Van families?

Book:  Big Frog Can’t Fit In by Mo Willems or I Don’t Want to Be a Frog by Dev Petty

Activity: Fly Catching Frogs- Cut out 1 large oval and 2 leg shapes out of green paper. Cut out 2 white circles and 2 smaller black circles for eyes. Glue the black circles inside of the white circles and then glue the white circles to the top of the oval to make a frog face. Attach the legs on either side of the body and allow your child to decorate the frog. Once they finish decorating the frog, cut a slit in the middle of the frog to create space for a party blower. Insert the party blower to make a tongue.

Check out one of our classes making the project here!

Do you have any last words for our readers?

My advice is to take advantage of all of the resources available to families through the library and First Things First. I wish these resources were available when I was raising my children. My other piece of advice is to visit the library and take part in the programs they offer. Libraries continue to evolve and blossom. Some libraries even have castles or trains.

Welcome to a new year at Fun Van. We wanted to take some time to introduce you to our Fun Van Educators. We will introduce a new educator for the next few weeks so that you can get to know our awesome team!

First up is: Miss Ashley Crooks

What was your favorite toy as a child?

I used to love playing with my Speak and Spell!

How many years have you been with the Fun Van? 2 Years

What did you do before working at the Fun Van? 

I taught 4th grade, 1st grade and preschool before moving to Arizona and dedicating my days to raising my daughter.

How Did you hear about the Fun Van?

My sister-in-law found the position posting on Indeed.com and said, “You should do this!” It was perfect because my husband was transitioning out of the Marines and becoming a real estate agent. I was a stay-at-home mom and wanted to support my husband while he found his                                                                                                                  footing in his new career.

What do you enjoy most about working at Fun Van?

I love when parents return to class and say they tried something we discussed in regard to their parenting and it worked. I also love watching the children learn new social emotional skills. Often times this is the first time they have the opportunity to practice these skills with other children within their age-range.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I like to travel and explore new playgrounds with my children.

What advice do you have for parents?

 Research different tools for parenting young children because what works today won’t work tomorrow. Fun Van is a great resource for parents to share ideas and discuss parenting challenges.

What’s one of your funniest parenting moments?

 My daughter was potty-training and was at the top of a slide. Unfortunately, it turned into a “water” slide!

What’s one of your favorite books and activities for your Fun Van families?

Book: Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

Cut a big paper bag with arm holes and neck holes to look like a vest. The children decorate it with collage materials to create their own paper bag outfits.

Do you have any last words for our readers?

  Come to Fun Van so we can share and laugh at our funny children and crazy parenting stories!