great teacher
My daughter, Amelia, had a phenomenal teacher named Peg Swartzman in her preschool classroom at North Seattle Fives Cooperative Preschool this year. North Seattle Fives is located in the daylight basement of St. John's Lutheran Church on Phinney Avenue, across from Woodland Park Zoo.
Peg Swartzman, the much beloved teacher at North Seattle Fives, is retiring this year. Peg has touched the lives of so many. Her hallmark is communicating in a compassionate and accepting way with all children and adults and nurturing children's natural curiosity through promoting hands-on exploration and creative expression. As a parent, kindergarten and Head Start teacher myself, I am tremendously moved by Teacher Peg's gift for guiding kids to be compassionate and creative. One of many of Peg's amazing classroom projects was an on-going relationship with the Norse Home, a retirement home two blocks south of. Dressed in Halloween garb, North Seattle Fives performed a dragon dance in celebration of Chinese New Year and delivered homegrown flower bouquets on May Day and Peg's preschoolers sang and danced for the residents.
The wonderful things that Teacher Peg did each day in the classroom are countless, just a few are: teaching kids to plant and harvest vegetables from the school's garden which they fed to the classroom guinea pig, teaching children to acknowledge feelings and resolve conflicts peacefully and finding something positive to say to kids even when presented with the most challenging situations. She is a rare gem of a teacher and I believe a tribute to her ... would be a huge and greatly deserved honor to her.
When I think of teachers like Peg, I wish that every child could experience such a teacher and the world would be a much better place. I wish that we could pass on some of her compassion, energy and wisdom as she leaves the teaching profession. Our world truly needs teachers like Peg.
Peg will be honored at retirement party at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard on Saturday, July 7.
Susan Findlay-Nomura
Ballard
