This year, May 27, 2021 will mark my 14th year working at St. Luke’s Children’s Centers. What a ride it has been. When I started, at almost 16, I had little knowledge about children, how child development worked, only the notion that I enjoyed working with children and that my mom had been a director in a children’s center all my life. I continued to work at St. Luke’s in a variety of capacities, Assistant Teacher, Lead Teacher, Summer Program Teacher, Administrative Assistant, Nursery Coordinator, Assistant Director, and now for the last five years, I have been the Director at the Downtown Campus.
I was and am continually challenged through the different sets of tools and skills needed to complete the tasks at hand and, vastly, they vary from role to role. As a director, I have filled in as a baby room teacher, showed kids a snake, and drove a van – all in one day. I am a counselor for teachers, hug-giver and ouch-fixer for children, and a listening ear for parents. I like to laugh that everything falls into other duties as assigned.
As each opportunity presented itself for my role change, I was given the chance to learn from the previous person, the teachers beside me, the children I worked with, and the leaders above me. I was exposed to trainings, classes, college professors, science and understanding of the child’s brain, and experience as a mother. The person I was 14 years ago, with little to no experience or knowledge, has evolved into a director who feels confident in any challenge or daily change that has come my way. I know when to ask for help, how to hope, and change when challenged.
I liken this experience to how we must feel as new Christians, after the love, light, and guidance the Lord offers us daily through both His word and how He shows His great love for us. How much do we change through His leadership to be a new person in Jesus? Through our relationship with Jesus, we learn how to ask for help, how to hope, and the skills needed to change when challenged so that we are a new person through him.
Mandi Moon, Director, St. Luke’s Children’s Center
