Over the last 32 years, one woman touched the lives of hundreds of children and left a lasting imprint on early childhood education at the Schenectady Jewish Community Center.
The Parent Teacher Organization at the SJCC organized a retirement celebration for Ellen Carpenter, of Schenectady, who taught youngsters for more than three decades. Carpenter retired in September and while there were a few internal events held in her honor, parents wanted to have an event open to current and former students, along with their parents.
Carpenter said it was “very gratifying” and humbling to be celebrated at the event, which was held Wednesday, Nov. 7, at the center’s Golub Auditorium.
“I have a lot of memories of the children and working with them and watching them grow,” Carpenter said. “It is very rewarding to know that people remember me and they have memories of preschool.”
In the early 1970s, Carpenter started as an assistant teacher in the 3-year-olds classroom. She left for a few years after she became pregnant before returning to teach in the mid-’80s. Then when an opening came to lead the program, she stepped up.
Mark Weintraub, executive director of SJCC, is going into his fourth year in his position and he got to know Carpenter during the last three years of her career. He credited her with the program’s growth and success.
When the early childhood education started being offered it was only taught in two classrooms, but the program has grown to include a whole wing of the center with several classrooms serving around 115 children daily. Overall, Weintraub said the SJCC is the largest childcare provider in the county.
There is also an after school enrichment program for elementary and middle school students that Carpenter helped establish. The overall program reaches around 300 children daily, Weintraub said.
“(Carpenter) knows childcare, she knows this business backwards and forwards from what it takes to run a great childcare facility to being up to date on all the state regulations,” Weintraub said. “She was very quick thinker and very bright. I learned a lot from her in terms of how to run a terrific childcare operation.”
Weintraub said Carpenter was dedicated to the children and enjoyed running programs from them.
“She really had a big heart and affection for the children that were under her care,” he said. “There are people here who walk in this building who are (in their early 20s) and they remember being in kindergarten and preschool with Ms. Carpenter.”
Andrea Leighton, who took over most of Carpenter’s duties, agreed Carpenter was very passionate about children and the importance of play based education.
“She was all about letting kids play and I hope that I will continue that legacy,” Leighton said. “She wanted people to know that kids learn through play.”
Carpenter said children learn from hands-on, interactive activities and it is important to let them explore their own interests.
“The children are able to choose what they want to do, but there is some guidance in it,” she said. “They are learning all the time while they play and it helps them to be creative thinkers,”
Whether it is playing with blocks or sand, she said they are learning various things tied to the interactive experience. Early childhood education has evolved over time, but she doesn’t believe it has always changed for the better.
“It has evolved in ways that may not necessarily be the best practices for children,” she said. “I think we are so worried these days about testing … that in some cases early childhood programming has become more structured and test orientated. In my opinion that is not a good thing.”
She said children need time to “just be children” to spur their imaginations. There are other area programs besides the ones at the SJCC that do continue to focus on play-based learning and not on rigidly structured programs, she said.
“I worry a little bit about the pressure we are putting on young children these days,” said Carpenter.
Another aspect to programming she focused on was bringing more faith education. Increasing the Jewish programming, she said, helped welcome children to the faith.
The center is open to people of all faiths and she said it was important to welcome others faiths and teach tolerance at an early age.
“What I am probably most proud of is that we were not only able to increase the knowledge of the Jewish children, but we were able to present to the rest of the community some positives about the Jewish religion,” she said, “and to teach the children that there are many different kinds of people in the world and we are accepting of all of them.”
Even in retirement she will still be at the center, whether it is to workout or visit with children and former colleagues. Over the years, she said many strong bonds were created with families.
“I made friends with people there that I am still good friends with,” she said. “That’s one wonderful thing about the JCC is that it is opportunities for not only the children to get to know each other, but the families to form relationships.”