On May 15, 2021 I graduated from Wichita State University with my Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education Unified/Elementary Education. A week later, several of my preschool students graduated.
I have been at Rainbows United for four and a half years now. There was a single week where I left to take another job at a school. While the other place was genuinely amazing, it wasn’t a right fit for me. It didn’t work with my degree program at Wichita State University, and I missed Rainbows.
When I left, I’d been in the infant room. When I returned, they placed me in Room 7, one of our preschool classrooms. To be honest, it was a classroom I was unsure about, but I just wanted to be back at Rainbows, in any capacity. I returned in October of 2020, and in December I was asked to be acting lead of Room 7. I began lesson planning and juggling my last semester in college. In March I was formally offered the position of lead teacher for Room 7, and I gladly accepted.
I’ve been working as a lead teacher for over 6 months now, and I’m obsessed with my job. Don’t get me wrong, I have days where I go home exhausted. Despite the hard days, I love my job. I love walking into my classroom and hearing “Miss Mariah!” being called out as children swarm me. I love the lessons I get to come up with for them, and the fun things we get to learn about, together.
When I went to college for my degree in education, I always planned on teaching upper elementary age students. I didn’t think I wanted to teach the “littles.” Rainbows has shown me that teaching preschool is where my heart is because I can see that I am preparing them for the next step.
When I graduated from WSU, I had each of my students draw me a picture, I shrunk them down and placed them all together and attached it to my cap. I got to graduate with a little piece of each of my students with me; they are how I found my passion for preschoolers.
By Mariah Roberson, Early Care and Education Lead Teacher Room 7
