“Ms. Sharon” comes to The Children’s Center after 9 years at Little Blessings Preschool in south Naperville, where she created and directed a faith based preschool that grew from 64 children to 544 in that short time span.

Sharon received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Education from Northern Illinois University and was a teacher in the Illinois Public School System before stepping into private education in the Lutheran Church. While raising two children of her own, she wrote a regular column on family issues, food, and humor in the everyday parenting world as well as dabbled in some freelance projects for The Chicago Tribune.

A gourmet cook and yoga enthusiast, she continues to be intrigued by the spontaneous joy and humor of the young child. “So much is said about the early years and their profound impact on the adult personality. We need to acknowledge the same impact of this time frame on faith development. Early childhood is an incredibly creative time when all the young child’s faculties of mind and heart are engaged in experiences, and that child is able to surrender completely to what is being lived. For a teacher to bring a child to know there is someone who knows them and calls them by name (The Good Shepherd and the Child … A Joyful Journey), she has helped the relationship between the child and God be established and shares in their joy as a servant of this relationship.”

The staff at the Children’s Center is chosen not only for their educational preparation and gifts with young children, but also for the role of their own faith development in their everyday life. These teachers are the children’s guides along the way as each child discovers the wonder of themselves, the world in which they live, and their creator.