On the same wavelength as the students

      On Saturday, September 27, educators and all employees of preschool institutions received congratulations. When parents send their child to kindergarten, they fully understand what boundless patience teachers must possess to win over a motley band of little fidgets. And not simply occupy the children with games, but teach them to be amazed and delighted by the world around them, to instill a love of learning.

      It is hardly necessary to convince anyone of the importance of the educator’s profession. The Dzerzhinsk preschool education sector can be proud of many outstanding professionals. One of them is kindergarten teacher Vera Nikolayevna Chernysh of Kindergarten No. 109.

      Twenty years — in one kindergarten

      This year Vera Nikolayevna celebrated a kind of anniversary — 20 years of work at Kindergarten No. 109, located on Pirogova Street. By the time she first became acquainted with this preschool institution, the graduate of the Dzerzhinsk Pedagogical College had already worked at the Lesnaya Skazka (“Forest Tale”) Rehabilitation Center and Kindergarten No. 10, taken maternity leave, given birth to a daughter, and changed her place of residence, moving from one end of the city to the other. That, in fact, is why she needed to change jobs.

      “Our family moved to Chapaeva Street, and with a small child it was a long way to the end of Tsiolkovsky Avenue, where Kindergarten No. 10 is located,” explains Vera Nikolayevna. “And there happened to be a vacancy for an educator at Kindergarten No. 109, and Tatyana Pavlovna Korepova, who was the director at the time, enrolled my daughter here (in the junior group) and me (as an educator). So I’ve been working here since the spring of 2005. My total work experience is already 26 years. And I have never once changed the profession I chose!”

      She recalls with great respect experienced colleagues Elena Ivanovna Shilova and Lyudmila Ivanovna Surikova, who took the young educator under their wing, introduced her to the preschool’s work, and, one could say, became her teachers in the profession. It was they who advised Chernysh to establish contacts with the ecological and biological center, which later led to her regular participation in the ecological marathon “Energy of Good,” a competition of teachers’ methodological developments, and the implementation of the “A Talk About Proper Nutrition” program.

      As for professional skill competitions, including two city contests “The Art of Being in the Profession,” Vera Chernysh also takes an active part in them, believing that one must not rest on one’s laurels, but seek something new in the profession, exchange best practices with colleagues, and not only learn from experienced peers but also adopt interesting ideas from young specialists.

      “I try to use innovative methods, make use of modern technical tools, and keep up with new technologies in preschool education,” says our subject. “Most importantly—I love children and I have a huge desire to work with them. At work there is daily self-education in communicating with the little ones, colleagues, and parents. Every day I plan something, implement it, demonstrate, communicate...”

      With family support

      Naturally, preparing an educator for a contest, writing a report for a pedagogical meeting, or a scholarly article for the education workers’ social network page NSPORTAL takes many hours of free time. Fortunately, Vera Nikolayevna’s husband and daughter understand. And although at first they grumbled a bit about their mother’s constant busyness, they later began to help.

      Thus, the daughter, who chose to become an economist, draws well and is fairly computer savvy—she supplies her mother with illustrations and helps her master new computer technologies. The husband makes things, glues, repairs, including work in the kindergarten group’s room. But Vera Nikolayevna also tries not to deprive her loved ones of attention, especially since with years and accumulated experience the beloved work becomes much easier than at the start of her career.

      Until recently all educators at Kindergarten No. 109 worked with typically developing children. Three years ago they decided to open a speech therapy group. That is, while most of the children follow the general education program, the children in this group follow an adaptive program. The educator bears the difficult task of ensuring that by the time a child leaves kindergarten he or she can speak well and correctly pronounce the “tricky” sounds. And whom to entrust with such a responsible direction? Of course, an experienced educator! Chernysh thought it over and agreed—she took on a group of 17 children with speech disorders.

      “For me this is an interesting stage in my work as an educator,” says Vera Nikolayevna. “First of all, there is immediate training (educators underwent retraining), and in studying you learn a lot of new things. Secondly, children in the speech therapy group are a bit different, with their own mindset, so to speak. They require more painstaking work, an individual approach to each, and you must achieve results. A child comes to the group who cannot speak, and by the end of the second year he can pronounce all the sounds, recite poems—that is a great achievement, I believe.”

      “Last year we had the first graduation from that group; the parents thank the educator,” says kindergarten director Tatyana Alexandrovna Fadeeva. “Vera Nikolayevna is a mentor to young colleagues; her example lights them up and inspires them. A rotating educator, Maria Maltseva, works with her, and for a young specialist this is a good school. I’ll add that, besides her main job, Vera Nikolayevna is always ready to help the kindergarten: when needed she can perform the duties of the director, and last year we had a problem with the music director who went on a long sick leave, and Vera Nikolayevna wrote scripts and prepared the children for musical performances.”

      It is not surprising that in the anniversary year for the preschool (the building of Kindergarten No. 109 was constructed in 1965) it was decided to petition for the inclusion of educator Vera Nikolayevna Chernysh’s candidacy on the city’s Board of Honor, and her colleagues unanimously supported her nomination at a general meeting.

      In close contact with the parents of the little ones

      Once the youngest educator in the Kindergarten No. 109 staff, Vera Chernysh gradually became the only one remaining from the former composition as younger people replaced the older colleagues year by year. During her time working with children she has achieved much, as evidenced by victories in various competitions and honorary certificates from the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (2019), as well as from the Russian Ministry of Education (2023).

      Her family learned from her that Vera Nikolayevna’s photo might appear on the Board of Honor. When she was invited to the city administration for the photo session, her daughter accompanied her and made sure her hair was all right before the important shoot. But that the photo had already taken an honored place, Chernysh learned from a colleague and friend—the educator from Kindergarten No. 10—who was the first to be at the renewed Board of Honor.

      “My friend sent a message: ‘Congratulations!’ It was so touching I cried,” admits Vera Nikolayevna. “Then our whole family went to Dzerzhinsky Square; other relatives also visited and congratulated me, saying they were proud of me. And I remembered my first steps in the profession, when there was fear at first, and then more and more confidence. When I began communicating with the parents of the children, I realized I was not alone—there are many of us, and we all want the children to grow up healthy and happy. The desire to raise a person captivated me then and captivates me now.”

      Vera Nikolayevna remains convinced that good results can be achieved only in close contact with parents, and achieving that contact is also an essential part of the educator’s work. Compared with 1999, when she was just starting out, the profession has undergone major changes: an educator must constantly search for herself in order to be on the same wavelength as the children—otherwise they will not be interested.

      “Now in our speech therapy group we work on the scheme: speech therapist — educator — family; we are all interconnected and expect great involvement from the parents. If the child is interested, he will strive to succeed.”

      Nina Shumilova. Photo by Yulia Volkova