Because of the large amount of seniors enrolled in Kids’ Corner, the program started a partnership this semester with the school district’s Edu-Care program, according to Kids’ Corner teacher Kimberly Lenzo. Half the students spent time with the infants to toddlers at Edu-Care, and the other half was teaching the Kids’ Corner preschool class. Lenzo said that March 26 was the first day of the new rotation for the seniors. She said she sees a difference between the first and second rotations.

“(The seniors) who were at Edu-Care had more of a chance to observe a big group of kids, so they’re a little more experienced. Plus, more seniors from this group are also in education professions, where they go and teach at one of the different elementary schools,” Lenzo said.

Tiffany Chou, Kids’ Corner member and senior, said she like working with Edu-Care but she’s excited to teach an actual class.

Chou said, “(At Edu-Care), you have to have a lot of patience. The kids are younger, so they don’t use words very much. I’m looking forward to interacting with the kids (in Kids’ Corner) more and playing with them.”

Chou said she took Kids’ Corner because she wants to be a teacher in the future.

According to Lenzo, Kids’ Corner is a great experience because the seniors are completely in charge and learn about management and leadership through real situations.

Lenzo said, “(The seniors) are in charge. They make the lesson plans and run the classroom. It’s a lot of incidental learning; they have to think how to adapt their planned lessons to meet the needs of the kids each day.”