Monday, January 19, 2015

Hello everyone. We are so excited to be interning with your little ones this semester. We are all seniors in the Children and Families program, and plan on graduating this May. We are excited to learn and grow with your children, and appreciate you allowing us to be apart of your child’s growth here at the ECEC. Here is a little information about us:   


My name is Jennifer Makowski and I could not be more excited to be interning at the ECEC with your children! Following graduation this May, I want to continue my education in speech and language pathology at Wayne State University.  I currently work with infants and toddlers in a childcare center and have 10 years of experience with children under the age of 5.  Getting to know your children and figure out their interests through play is going to be an adventure this semester and I look forward to helping them grow and learn over the next few months.  Wednesdays are my designated day to be in Ms. Stone and Ms. Jones’ room, from 8 am to 3:30pm.  Outside of the classroom, I enjoy traveling, music including going to concerts and local shows, and playing with my two dogs Zoe and Hank.  My goals for this semester at the ECEC include creating bonds with your children and finding new and interesting ways to inspire their growth both physically and mentally.  I am excited to be a part of such a welcoming teaching team and am looking forward to our collaborations in the classroom.

Hello, my name is Katie Trinkle.  I have been working in the childcare field since September, 2011. I am a lead toddler teacher at Morning Star Child Care in Dexter. This will be my third year working with toddlers and prior to that I worked in an infant room. I enjoy watching the infants and toddlers go through the different milestones and I am excited to learn and grow with them. I will be interning in Ms. Stone and Ms. Jones room Wednesdays from 8am to 3:30pm.  My education includes graduating from Dexter High School in 2007.  I have my Associates in Applied Science from Washtenaw Community College in Child Care and now completeing my bachelors’ in Children and Families. After graduating I plan on getting my certification in therapeutic riding. You may be interested to know that I have lived in Dexter on a horse farm for most of my life.  I have one brother and three sisters. I enjoy my outdoors and spending time with my family.



Hello! My name is Emily Phee and I am interning in your child’s classroom this semester on Mondays and Wednesdays. I am very excited for this opportunity! I look forward to getting to know the children and learning about what they are interested in. My goal this semester is to better understand how a classroom functions and to get better at teaching children based on their own interests. I know we will work together on some exciting projects over the next few months.
I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you a little about myself. I have a strong background in early childhood and a lot of experience in the classroom. I have worked in several toddler and preschool classrooms previously and always enjoy my work. I also have previous experience working at the ECEC as staff and learning through other practicums. I will be working as staff throughout the building during the rest of this semester as well.
I was born and raised in Southeast Michigan. I graduated high school in 2011 as a good student with every intention of majoring in Political Science. After my first year in college, I realized that this was not the right choice for me. I am incredibly thankful that I switched to the Children and Families program because it has taught me so much and brought me so much joy. I have had the pleasure of meeting many professors and peers that really love teaching young children. This has made me look at teaching as not just a job, but a passion.
   Currently, I live in Wyandotte with my family. My son, Owen, is five years old and is my biggest motivator every day. Being his mom has shown me so much about what it takes to teach and care for children. He has put us through every possible situation and has been patient as we tried to figure it out. Together, we love to read books, go on walks, play with friends and explore nature. Having a family, working, and going to school keeps me pretty busy. When I do get a moment of spare time, I love to cook, read, go to new places, and spend time with my family.

Again, we couldn’t be more honored and excited for the opportunity to get to know your children this semester!  Please feel free to chat with us about what is going on in the classroom at drop off and pick up.  

Monday, January 5, 2015

January 2015

Dear Families,

Welcome to a new semester!  We are so excited to see all of the children and look at how much older they all seem!  So far we feel like each child has grown so much over break! 

We are looking forward to another great semester and know this one will fly by as fast as the previous one did!  We have three new interns this term.  Emily will be with us on Mondays and Wednesdays, and Jennifer and Katelyn will be with us on Wednesdays.  They all seem excited to work with the children and get to know what we worked on last term. 

Ms. Jones and I will be taking our planning time on Monday afternoons this term.  This will give us the chance to plan for the children each week and look over our documentation that we collect.  Our classroom will be well staffed on Monday afternoons and we will be able to check in frequently with the classroom.  If you need to get in touch with us during this time you can let the staff members in the classroom know and they will get the message to us.

The weather outside seems to be taking a turn towards winter now.  Please make sure your children are bringing their outside gear and that items are labeled with each child’s name or initials.  We have a lot of boots, mittens, and snow pants to keep track of so this will help us to stay organized.  Wet boots can be placed on the boot rack outside the classroom door or in your child’s cubby.  We will be going outside if there is snow on the ground so snow pants are encouraged.  There may be days that it is too cold to venture outside on the playground but we are encouraging everyone to be prepared just incase. 

Monday, January 19th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day so the classrooms are closed on this day. 
Please know that with the weather this season if you see that the University of Michigan-Dearborn has closed campus that we are closed also.  Notifications should be on the major local news stations.
As always, if you have any questions, or comments please don’t hesitate to let us know!  Have a great week and stay warm.


(313) 593-5424