A newsletter for the students, faculty and staff of the Collin County Community College District. Published monthly. For information or submissions, call 972.599.3142. Cougar News welcomes student and faculty submissions. Next deadline: July 10 All submissions are due by 5 p.m. on the due date. Photos cannot be returned. Text should be emailed to mrobinson@ccccd.edu or sent on disk. Please submit copy that is proofed, edited and saved in Word format. Cougar News staff: Lisa Vasquez, director; Mark Robinson, editor; Marcy Cadena-Smith, contributor; Shawn Stewart, special contributor; Cody Lynch, special contributor; Dr. John Glass, special contributor; Amy Lenhart, special contributor; layout and photography by Nick Young.
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Where Are They Now: Tammie Williams
Between students transferring or graduating at a college, people can lose contact with professors, their peers and their alma mater. This has not really been a problem for Tammie Williams.
The 45-year-old Frisco resident earned two Associate of Applied Science degrees in child development educator and child development administrator in 1998.
In 2000, she opened Apple Creek Preschool in Allen and one in Frisco in May 2004.
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| Tammie Williams | She oversees curriculum, teachers, finances, administration and training inside and outside the school. More importantly, she keeps in close contact with child development program director Elaine Boski-Wilkison, and she keeps even closer contact with Collin’s child development students.
Williams – affectionately known as "Miss Tammie" to the children in her preschools – currently employs six Collin graduates and has five current employees in the child development program. For those employees without an early childhood development degree, Williams will pay for books and tuition to earn one at Collin.
“Collin has a great early childhood development program and if they did not, I would not have gone there because I knew that is what I wanted to do,” Williams said. “I have talked to a lot of people in the field and the quality and caliber of Collin’s program is phenomenal. The philosophy that I brought to this school came from the philosophy at Collin. It put me in the position to expect the best in myself. Both my schools are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). I follow the mold and pattern of the lab school (at the Spring Creek and Central Park campuses). That is where my training came from. I believed it and accepted the philosophy they have and incorporated it into my business.”
Williams’ philosophy is reflected in her preschools’ role in preparing children for elementary school. The Apple Creek Preschools are designed for stay-at-home mothers and fathers – or children with a primary caregiver – who want to place their child in a half-day academic and social environment.
Children ranging in ages from 2 to 5 years are primed for public school through challenging and fun curricula and social settings that prepare the child for interaction with fellow students and teachers. Apple Creek Preschool is not a daycare and is more like a public school.
“Our goal is to have the child prepared to enter the public schools when they are ready,” Williams said. “I felt there was a real need for a quality preschool program that was not a daycare.”
Williams opened the Apple Valley Schoolhouse in 1987 as a means to not only caring for her own children, but also providing a warm and caring destination for others who wanted the same environment for their children. Years of remodeling her house and playing the role of janitor, teacher, administrator, accountant, maintenance and mother, she finally opened the Apple Creek Preschool in Allen – inside a stand-alone building.
Divorced and seeking a better education, Williams enrolled at Collin as a “displaced homemaker,” and thus her philosophy behind child development sprang forth like the fountains at Versaille.
“At the time, you had your choice of a play group at a church or a daycare, and there was nothing in between,” Williams said. “My business grew very fast and I ended up building an addition to my home. I had 60 students and three employees before I left my house. When I opened the first Allen school, enrollment jumped to 250 students and 20 employees.”
After she moved to Frisco, Williams was “pressured to build a second school” and did so, but she states that this will be the last. Eventually, she wants to teach elementary age children. No matter what lay ahead for Williams, she always wants to stay connected to the community.
“I love to learn,” Williams said. “I love education, and I want to continue to grow in my field and become part of the community and make connections.”
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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