Wendy Thienes
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Shaunavon Standard
Walking into the Shaunavon Cooperative Playschool room, situated in Christ the King School in Shaunavon, I was greeted by Superwoman, aka Sue Peterson. Known lovingly as ‘Miss Sue’ to preschoolers over the past two decades, she does indeed have superpowers which are on display every Tuesday and Thursday, not only on Superheroes Day, which is when I happened to meet up with her to learn more about what the Playschool has to offer.
This is Sue’s twenty-first year with the Playschool and it is the school’s 20th year occupying a classroom at CKS. The Playschool has been around for much longer; it was incorporated as a co-operative in 1986. It is not affiliated with any school division; they simply rent the space from Christ the King School.
Nineteen children were enrolled this year, a decrease from last year. This meant that classes were offered only on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, with afternoon classes removed. Peterson says, “We’ve had up to 34-36 kids in the past; 15 per class would be ideal. Some of our kids do come over from daycare to attend playschool, and we also have a drop-in program. For example, if Grandma is babysitting visiting grandkids for the week, they can register ahead of time and attend on a drop-in basis.”
Classes run from 9:00 am – 11:30 am. There is open enrollment
throughout the year; children can begin attending in the month that they turn three, provided that they are potty trained. Classes begin in early October and run through to the end of May. The year end celebration and graduation took place on May 29.
Megan Lewans is Chair of the volunteer board and says that enrollment for next year is open right now and they are urging local families to consider the playschool as a great option for their pre-schoolers. Details and links can be found on their Facebook page or you can email them at shaunavoncooperativeplayschool@gmail.com
Fees are $800 to attend twice/week or $520 for once/week with a 10% discount available if fees are paid in full during the first week of school. Megan is one of many parents who volunteer their time to ensure that the playschool can continue to operate. She says, “This has been one of our most successful years of fundraising. Fundraising offsets our costs to operate (salaries, insurance, rent and supplies), which have continued to increase. We increased tuition slightly last year and hope to keep it at its current level. Fundraising is essential and the community has been very generous.” Several successful fundraisers were held throughout the year including raffles, selling Mom’s Pantry products and a new endeavour is asking people to purchase items for the classroom from ‘Miss Sue’s Wishlist’ on Amazon.ca. Cash donations are gratefully accepted as well, along with donations of toys and supplies; Sue encourages people to reach out to her for more information on that.
Lewans adds, “We really hope that new families will consider our playschool as an option for their pre-schoolers. Our numbers have decreased which I think is partly due to a decrease in babies during Covid and the availability of other options for preschoolers in Shaunavon.”
Those options include Shaunavon Children’s Learning Centre which provides daycare and there is also a Pre-K program offered at Shaunavon Public School.
Megan is Sue’s sister-in-law and Cindy Nelson, Playschool Assistant, is Sue’s aunt. Sue says, ‘There’s lots of family connections right now, but we consider all of the kids to be ‘our kids’.
A day in the life of playschool includes arriving, finding their name and putting it on the board for attendance, plenty of playtime, singing songs, making crafts, reading stories, having snack time, and physical activity such as an obstacle course. Playschool touches on many things that children need to learn including the alphabet, name and letter recognition and numbers but the main focus is on ‘play’, albeit structured. The classroom is filled with fun options including a rice table, play kitchen, play-doh, puzzles, books and a myriad of toys. The room is lined with crafts and artwork made by the children.
Peterson describes some of the benefits of attending playschool, saying, “The kids know they’re loved. They make new friends and learn how to be a friend. We experience and explore music, crafts and they get to play with different toys than what they might have at home. They become familiar with the school overall so that it’s not such a big and scary place if they come here for Kindergarten, which many do.”
Lewans echoes those sentiments from a parent’s perspective, adding, “This is so much more than childcare; kids are building confidence and getting ready for Kindergarten. My son comes home talking about ALL they did each day.” Her son will enter Kindergarten this fall and she says he is ready to go now. Lewans will be stepping down from the Board as her son graduates and new parents are encouraged to step up to help run the organization. Their annual meeting is being held on June 5 at 5 pm in the basement meeting room at the Grand Coteau Heritage & Cultural Centre; everyone is welcome.
When asked what she has found most rewarding over the years, Sue says, “As the year goes on, you see the development and improvement in all aspects. They go from being scared on the first day to marching right in and forgetting to say ‘bye’ to Mom. Seeing that change at the end is amazing. And, we hear stories of how, years down the road, the kids are still pulling out their photo album that we create for them at the end of each year.”
Peterson has every intention to continue in her role, saying, “Everyone has their ‘thing’ and place in life, and I think this is mine.” And, while she may not wear her Superwoman costume every day, she is a superhero everyday to her playschool kids.
