Meet Gwen

From Scared Student to Confident in the Classroom

Gwen was like a lot of us. Before she started working in a childcare center, she was nervous to be around small kids.

“I didn’t want to work with young kids – they scared me a little bit,” Gwen said. “I didn’t have much experience with little kids, but I did used to watch my younger cousins.”

After some trepidation, Gwen got a job at a daycare and soon after, a faculty member from Danville Community College came by and started talking about studying early childhood education. From there, Gwen enrolled in a dual degree program, studying liberal arts and early childhood education.

Since her time in the program, she went from being unsure about working with kids, to getting her hips dancing and her hands clapping right alongside her students.

“The music and movement class was one of my favorite classes because it really taught me that kids can be active while still learning,” she said. “They dance, pretend to sing and they make their own musical instruments out of boxes and tin cans. Watching them grow and hit those milestones is great.”

The early childhood education program at DCC offers plenty of flexibility to work around your schedules and the faculty is there to support you every step of the way. Every day our students spend in the classroom is another day that helps shape the doctors, engineers, analysts, scientists and teachers of tomorrow.

“We’re training the future – right now. You can change one person and make a difference in a child’s life. It’s making the difference for tomorrow,” said Gwen.

Gwen graduated this spring. She’s hot off a promotion to assistant director at her childcare center and she eventually wants to earn her licensure, climb the ladder and ultimately land on the school board.