Kiki Penoyer
White Center Preschool Teacher
A Bit About Me
Teacher Kiki had no idea what she was getting herself into when she signed her wiggly little potato of a son up for the SSCCP Infant class--and certainly had no idea she was about to stumble upon her calling in life. No, really! Growing up in the 90s/early 2000s with undiagnosed ADHD, she certainly would never have thought of "teacher" as a possible career move--but stepping into that Co-Op classroom, you could practically hear Aladdin crooning 'A Whole New World' from inside her brain.
As a parent, Co-Op provides a place to create deep and lasting connections with other adults in the same stage of child-rearing as you. For the children, it provides an opportunity to play and learn with both peers *and* a variety of other caring adults invested in their success. That kind of loving, nurturing environment was lifesaving for Kiki as a brand-new, very clueless mom--and it's what she aims to create in her classroom every day. Your children are there to play, to try, to have fun, to create, to discover--and so are you. What an embarrassingly cool thing to get to facilitate for a living.
When she isn't rolling around on the floor in the classroom, she's probably rolling around on the floor at home with her son. If he's asleep, she's reading, writing, playing video games, crocheting weird little animals, or putting that Theatre Education to good use in a rehearsal hall somewhere in town.
What is your superpower?
Finding four-leaf clovers and things other people have lost.
Share your favorite preschooler-approved joke!
Knock Knock. | Who's there? | Boo. | Boo Who? | Don't cry, it's only me!
Share the most unusual or adorable item you've found in your pocket after a day at school.
Violet's nametag. She REALLY didn't want to wear it, because she didn't want anyone knowing her name or talking to her that day because she was grumpy (honestly, relatable)--so I put it on myself and told everyone that I was Violet today, so if they needed to tell her anything, they should tell me instead. It was all very silly and we were all giggling about it, and I absently stuck it in my pocket during cleanup so it wouldn't get lost. I forgot to bring it back for like three weeks!
What does co-op mean to you?
When I try to answer this, I tend to get incoherent and misty-eyed and it's super embarrassing. But basically, it means "belonging." I lost my job and much of my community and connections to the world during the pandemic. But I found belonging among the other parents in my son's class, and then with the teachers, and then with the parents and students in my own classes--and my son found it among his friends even when he was tiny and speech-delayed and shy. I believe it is our job as co-op teachers to help create that sense of belonging for the kiddos and the caregivers in our classrooms, and to encourage them to take it with them when they leave.