Weinstein JCC preschool teacher Sharon Johnson
In every school, there are teachers parents desperately want for their kids, and Sharon Johnson at the Weinstein JCC preschool is among this most highly sought group. Now in her 33rd year at the JCC, Johnson is instructing children of the kids she taught at the beginning of her career. She’s so beloved that preschool director Donna Peters says some families plan their pregnancies hoping to time them just right for their future kids to end up in Johnson’s class for 3-year-olds.
“She’s made a difference in so many people’s lives,” says Peters, who’s been at the JCC as long as Johnson. “It’s not just the children, it’s the parents as well. They feel like they have an anchor in someone.”
Step into Room 6, Johnson’s classroom, and you’ll begin to see why. The walls of the cheery, sunlit room display her students’ self-portraits — Picasso-esque loops and squiggles that provide an early glimpse into how the kids see themselves. The room is comfortable and welcoming, with a row of labeled cubbies at the back and a wall of windows leading to a playground outside. Around the room, there are open play areas ready to explore, each stocked with activities such as building blocks, puzzles and “housekeeping” supplies, including a play kitchen and some dolls.
Johnson didn’t set out to be a preschool teacher. Instead, she came to the program by way of an internship while pursuing her social work degree at Virginia Commonwealth University. Soon after starting, Johnson says, she fell in love with the job. “I enjoyed telling stories and being with children and all of those things, and it just sort of evolved into, ‘Maybe this is my calling.’ ” Recognizing what a gem they had in their midst, when the internship was over, the preschool team offered Johnson a full-time position.
That was the late 1980s, and at the time, the JCC took a more traditional approach to education, with a curriculum-based method that Johnson says she enjoyed because it meant she could plan each day in advance. But soon she began to wonder if there might be a better way. “Part of me felt like, in the teaching, I wasn’t meeting the children where they were,” Johnson explains. “What about the child who is not ready to write their name or recognize letters or is struggling with their colors? How is that fair to them?”
By the late 1990s, the JCC had shifted to include a Reggio Emilia approach. Named for the province in Italy where the philosophy took root, Reggio Emilia is a child-centered educational experience. At the JCC, that means a style of learning in which children are encouraged to pursue their own interests as the jumping-off point for exploration.
“I found that there were less behavior problems because I wasn’t expecting them to sit on the carpet” and listen, Johnson says. “The children were more interested in what I was doing because it’s all just a provocation — it’s something that’s there, and they’re exploring it, and they’re asking the questions to get to the answer, not me giving the information.”
Johnson has taught preschool at the Weinstein JCC for more than 30 years.
Though there’s no formal daily structure, the JCC preschool uses an overarching curriculum called “An Ethical Start,” which was developed by the national Jewish Community Center Association. An Ethical Start teaches Jewish ethics and values with six areas of focus: responsibility, dignity, kindness, community, tradition and respect. Kids also learn about Jewish holidays, including weekly Shabbat.
Johnson, a practicing Baptist, says she takes upholding these values seriously despite the fact that they’re not her own beliefs. “People say to me, ‘You work at the JCC, and you’re far from Jewish,’ but my own religion is important, so a level of respect for all religions is important to me,” she explains. “The values are the same. We want to love each other, we want to honor each other.”
Johnson says sharing these values is the most important part of the job. “Of everything I do, my goal is, I want the children to leave my class and know that they can be safe, to be kind and to be good people. That’s it, nothing else.”
Just letting kids be kids is what Johnson loves most. “How long will they get to be 3 and just build a tower and knock it down? That’s the part that I enjoy,” she says. That reassurance that everything is going to be OK is undoubtedly why families connect so deeply with Johnson. She shepherds kids through their experiences outside the home with love and respect. And, after three decades of teaching, she is as enthusiastic about her job as ever.
“She’s brave in that she takes new steps and tries new things, and she’s very creative and wants to grow and wants to learn,” Peters says. “Whatever she’s doing, she gives her best. Sharon has a deep wisdom and understanding working with parents and children. She’s very wise.”
Now, Johnson finds herself fielding questions from nervous parents about whether she’s considering retirement. “It’s harder to get up and down off of the floor,” she says, laughing, “but not right now. I’m still in a good place. I grew up here, and I’m still growing up, and unless they tell me to get out the door, I’m staying.”
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