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32 years of children and paint

Anmore pre-school teacher retires after years creating fun and enjoyable experiences for kids
Preschool teacher
Glenda Treffry-Goatley paints with Amélie, 4, and Emelia, 5, at Friendly Forest Preschool. The veteran early childhood educator will be retiring after 32 years with the parent-run pre-school.

There are times in a working person's life where it's challenging to account for all the days spent at the office, factory or job site.

But for veteran early childhood educator Glenda Treffry-Goatley it's easy to measure the passage of time.

She just has to look at the splatter wall for children's painting projects at Friendly Forest Preschool. It used to be a blank canvass, remembers Treffry-Goatley, now it's as thick with colourful paint splotches as a Jackson Pollock painting.

But after 32 years working with youngsters at the parent-run preschool, Treffry-Goatley is about to say goodbye.

"It's going to be a loss," admits Treffry-Goatley, who has been with the centre since 1986.

Over the years improvements have been made to the portable, which was also replaced, a covered playground was built with a sandy play area, a garden and playground equipment were added and there are cozy places for reading, crafts and snacks.

However, the biggest change Treffry-Goatley has noticed is how many more mothers work, which means grandparents are dropping off and picking up the children.
The children haven't changed, though.

"They love playing outdoors, she said. "We are here rain or shine."

Sometimes the group takes a walk in the forest to visit a nearby stream or the children commune with nature by placing colourful rocks they've painted around a tree, like a necklace.

"I use to imagine I had an orphanage of children," Treffry-Goatley recalls of her childhood dreams, "It has always been my drive to be with children and provide them with the most enriching environment."

On the day The Tri-City News visited, the children had made brownies with spinach from their own garden. They also love to role play, and so the pre-school is sometimes set up like a vet's office or a hospital.

"They live in the moment, they're open to different ideas," Treffry-Goatley said.

What she enjoys the most about her charges is their belief that everything is possible.

"They often discuss marrying each other," she noted.

As she counts down the days to June 20, her last day, Treffry-Goatley says she will remember many of her former charges, including the one she used to care for who now drives her own child to Friendly Forest — all the way from Surrey.

"It has been my commitment and passion," she sums up.

And if she needs a little boost of child optimism, Treffry-Goatley will return to fill in when other educators are away, maybe checking to see if a little more paint has spilled onto the painting wall.