"She is awesome," said parent Tamara Sill referring to her children's pre-school teacher Sandy Yee. Sill nominated Yee for the prestigious Child Care Awards of Excellence on March 11 and was thrilled to find out that the nomination brought in some top-notch results. The award is through the Ministry of Children and Family Development and can only be won once in a lifetime by an individual. Yee's once in a lifetime came April 28 with a phone call.
"I knew that the board was nominating me because they had to ask for my permission, but I never thought for a minute that I would win it," said an honoured Yee. When Yee received the call that she was one of five winners for B.C. and the winner for her area she said, "I was really shocked and I feel proud to be recognized."
As a twenty-four year veteran as an early childcare educator, Yee has seen a lot of young children come and go. Many still remember their time spent at Little Folks Nursery School.
"Sandy deserved this award," said Sill. "She gives great care to our children. I feel we are so very fortunate to have the child care that we have at our pre-school. It is a great start to our children's education and we wanted Sandy to have the recognition she deserves. Sandy goes above and beyond."
The Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) recognize "the valuable contributions made by early childhood educators and individuals who operate licensed family child care facilities to support early learning and child care in British Columbia. To acknowledge these efforts MCFD is providing Child Care Awards of Excellence to honour those that have provided or encouraged exceptional service to children," states their website. The nomination form is four pages about the nominator's favourite child care educator.
"The form was intense and I want to thank Laurie Leiding for helping me with it," added Sill. "The board is very thrilled to have Sandy and excited for her to get the recognition on a much broader scale than what she has been getting. We couldn't ask for a better pre-school teacher."
The awards ceremony is in Richmond on May 26. "Sandy is so modest I know she won't tell people like she should, so I am," said Sill. "Sandy called me to say, "all your hard work paid off, I won" and I started my little screams of happiness for her."
Pre-school registration starts on May 4 at 7 p.m. for the 2011/2012 school year at Little Folks Nursery School.
"I really appreciate all the hard work the board does," stated Yee. "I couldn't do this with out them or my support staff. My support staff and I work together as a team, so I need to thank Laurie Leiding and Pam Thomas."
Yee is modest about her win and continues on working with her young charges throughout the interview. Arriving parents give her hugs and show that they believe she was the right woman for the right award. "I just do the best I can," said Yee. Yee's best is pretty darn good.