Prairie Lily Early Learning Centre - Regina

We hope that these profiles help you get to know us a little bit better! We asked our staff a few questions about why they do what they do, and realized all over again what a great group of Educators we have here. We all are very passionate about what we do and are looking forward to getting to know each of our families better throughout the years they are here!

Directors

Cara Steiner - Executive Director

Cara originally wanted to work in Early Learning because she has always loved being around children. She believes that they teach us things every day about what it means to go through life and feel enjoyment each day. They are also genuinely very funny and help her remember to laugh as much as possible. As she has spent more time in this field and in her role as our Director, she has grown to be an advocate for this profession and wants to teach others about what we do, why we do it, and why it is so important! Cara considers it a privilege to be the leader of our talented team of Educators and caring families.

Her favorite thing about Prairie Lily is that this Centre feels like family. She enjoys our families, children and Educators so much, and seeing the long lasting relationships that have developed in our buildings is a very rewarding part of the job. This is a group of people who care for and support each other, while sharing a common purpose and vision for our Centre. There have been ups and downs, like in any family, but they are always dealt with in a way that has allowed her to change and grow as a person and as an Early Childhood Educator.

Cara hopes that the children who have been here at the same time as her grow up knowing that they were LOVED. She wants each child to know that she celebrated their unique personalities and abilities and hopes that they stay that way as long as they possibly can. She hopes that they grow up to be caring human beings, who consider the people around them, while being secure and confident in who they are. She hopes that each child finds their own success in life and remember that they can always come back to Prairie Lily for a visit at anytime!

Melissa Brown - Assistant Director

Even as a young child, Melissa has always been a “motherly” figure to those around her and always wanted to care for the children around her and make them smile. Others often told her how her face would light up when she talked about children, and how she has always been passionate that children need to be heard and loved.

Melissa enjoys how at Prairie Lily the families, staff, and environment are all set up to work together and be successful. We are all here to work for the best interests of each child and we are one big family. Melissa has been with our Sacred Heart Centre since we opened the doors for that location and has been an instrumental part in the growth and development of our Centre and Educators. She is able to translate the same care and passion that she has for our children into caring for our Educators and team.

Melissa hopes that the families in our Centre feel loved and supported. She hopes that every day we find time to laugh, smile, hug, learn, and explore everything about ourselves and the beautiful nature that surrounds us. She hopes that we continue to grow together in the future.

Nutrition Expert

Roberta Kline

Roberta came to join us at our Sacred Heart location shortly after we opened. She had previously cooked in a senior’s home and was looking for a new challenge. She noticed our posting online and took the plunge to cook for children instead! She loves to cook for others, so this has been a match that has been amazing for everyone.  She is an incredibly efficient and hard worker and has spent a lot of her time making sure that her menus are perfect for each group.

Roberta enjoys the children here at Prairie Lily and thinks that they are all really sweet. They love her too! There is always someone who wants to help her, and sometimes there are even tears when she leaves the room. She has a personality that the children are drawn to and can always make them smile. She loves to see them enjoy her food and REALLY loves it when there are no leftovers… that means that they for sure liked it!

She hopes that the children here remember her food, the conversations they get to have together, and the smile she always has for them.

Infant Educators

Andrea mounts

Andrea feels that one of the most important things in the world is a child’s learning and being in an Early Learning Centre environment. Her love for children and how much joy they bring to her life is what helped her make the decision to work in Early Childhood Education. Andrea is a naturally gifted Educator who brings confidence and experience to our team.

Her favorite thing about Prairie Lily is the strong relationships that we have with the children, parents and each other. It feels like a second home to her, and the chances she gets to smile and laugh with the children make her feel so happy each day. Andrea has been working with us for over 5 years and has added so much to the Centre and is a great fit for our Infant Room.

Andrea hopes that the children remember how much she loves each and every one of them, and that she will always be a safe and loving place for them to be. She is so proud of all of them and the achievements and milestones that have achieved at Prairie Lily.

Madison Sutter

Maddie is a newer addition to our team, graduating from the Early Childhood Education Certificate program in 2019. She brings a passion and unique ability to play and have fun to our team. She has always felt a putt towards working in Child Care and wants to help shape children into the best version of themselves that they can possibly be. Maddie grew up with her Mom being a home Child Care provider for 10 years and helped with that program from a young age. She has always enjoyed being a part of this profession.  

Her favorite things about Prairie Lily are how well the Educators and team get along with each other, and how passionate everyone is about their work. She enjoys that we follow the Play and Exploration curriculum as it is a holistic, responsive, and developmentally appropriate program for children. She feels that at Prairie Lily, we focus on the whole child development – social, emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual development.

Maddie hopes that the children remember her for her humor, and that she is always game to play anything with them and that she was never embarrassed by anything that she is doing. Hopefully they will remember her cuddles too!

Toddler Educators

Jacki Shirley-best - SUpervisor

Jacki has been working in Early Childhood Education for 15 years. She has been an excellent home Child Care provider for most of those years before coming to join us at Prairie Lily. She was drawn to this field because she wants to help all children develop a strong foundation while also having fun. Children see the beauty in everything and that is also something that is really special for her to be a part of. Jacki brings so much experience to our team and we are thankful to have her as a supervisor who sees what needs to be done and helps achieve our goals.

Her favorite thing about Prairie Lily is her fellow Educators and how we all support each other. She feels grateful and fortunate to be surrounded by such a great group of men and women. Our team feels grateful and fortunate to have Jacki with us as well!

Jacki hopes that the children remember that they felt loved and safe with her, and that when they were at Prairie Lily their days were filled with fun and smiling!

Jan Nicole Sulit

Nicole has been with Prairie Lily two years now. She has just completed her Level 1 Early Childhood Education through Saskatchewan Polytechnic and originally joined us through a work placement with Regina Trades and Skills Centre. She loves being with children and has been a great fit for us here with our Toddlers. You will often hear Nicole making the children laugh and being silly with them. She has grown into a confident, strong ECE who brings so much to our Toddler Room.

Nicole enjoys being at Prairie Lily as it gives her a chance to work the children we have here. She has appreciated that each day she has a chance to learn new things every day from her co-workers.

She hopes that the children were in her groups remember as they grow up that she planned lots of fun activities and that they enjoyed spending time with her!

Rebecca De Los Santos

Rebecca has been working in Early Childhood Education for the past 6 years. She has completed the ECE program with Regina Trades and Skills Center and finished her Early Childhood Education Level 1 program in the past year. She loves being with children and is very passionate about taking care of them. Rebecca has tender care for each of the children in her group and is very gentle with each one of them. Being able to teach a child something new and to see the “twinkle” in their eye when they understand is a very rewarding feeling for Rebecca, and she loves to help the children feel proud of themselves.

Working in the Toddler Room is very challenging but also very rewarding. She has really enjoyed helping the children discover new adventures and that they are all unique from each other, which is what makes things so special when we are together. Having a well thought out environment where learning and exploring is happening is important for Rebecca.

She enjoys that at Prairie Lily the staff are nice, friendly, and helpful to her, especially as she started with us and was learning what we are all about here. The Centre is organized properly and we respect and support each other in this work.

Rebecca hopes that the children remember that she cared about them when they were here and that she loved them. She hopes that each child that she cared for grows to be independent, kind, confident, and respectful of each other.

Tiarra Eason - One on One Educator

Although Tiarra has just started with us this fall, she has always helped care for children as her mom had a daycare at home and comes to Prairie Lily with years of experience. Tiarra also comes to us with many years experience and education working as a Continuing Care Assistant, so she really brings a comprehensive and unique perspective to working with children with diverse abilities.

She loves working with children and helping them meet all the milestones that come with healthy wellbeing and development. She pursued an education in Early Childhood Education so that she could be even better equipped to work in a quality Child Care setting as she starts her career of working with children.

So far, she has been enjoying getting to know our children and staff at Prairie Lily and has felt welcomed by so many friendly faces! She hopes that any children who cross her path remember her kindness when interacting with them.

Preschool Educators

Chantara Paxman - Supervisor, ONe on ONe Educator

Chantara loves teaching children and allowing them to have a wide variety of new experiences. She believes that their minds are so innocent at this age, so everything that they experience is magical to them. Chantara is very gifted in working with children who have diverse abilities and has a natural gift for leadership. She has been with Prairie Lily for over 6 years and has most recently taken on a Supervisor role here at the Centre. She is an important part of our team here.

Chantara enjoys working at Prairie Lily because she is able to keep up to date with Education and Professional Development. She has helped countless children who needed some extra help preparing for their future and we have no doubt that she has changed the lives of many of the children enrolled here.

Chantara hopes that the children in her groups grow up to be kind, forgiving, and to be open minded and not judge others and that she role modeled that behavior for them daily.

Nathanael Mills - One on ONe Educator

Nate wanted to work in Early Learning because he wants to help teach the next generation of children. He wants to be able to help them grow and develop skills in all areas of their life so that they can succeed as they grow up. We love having Nate here as he provides an important perspective on childcare that is so often missing in our Centres! We love seeing the children interact with a male Educator, as they can learn in a different way with him than they can with our female Educators.

His favorite thing about Prairie Lily is his co-workers, as everyone plays an important part in the success of each child registered in our Centre. We work together and use the positive energy of each other when we need to so that we can make sure that we get our job done right.

Nate hopes that the children that have been in his groups over the years remember that they are all loved no matter what. He also hopes they remember that they can do whatever they want to in life if they set their minds to it.

Alayna Pratt - One on ONe Educator

Alayna got into Early Learning as she grew up surrounded by family and around her nieces and nephews. She would help her siblings by providing childcare for them and with anything else they might need a hand with! Alayna has recently completed her Early Childhood Education Level 1 through Saskatchewan Polytechnic, and it has been so fun to see her growth as an ECE as she took her classes. Alayna has grown as an Educator by leaps and bounds since starting to work at Prairie Lily, we are so proud of her!

Alayna has a lot of “favorite” parts when it comes to working at Prairie Lily, but if she had to pick only one thing it would be that she gets to not only teach things to the children but that she gets to watch them learning new things each day.

Alayna hopes that she and our other Educators work together to teach the confidence that children need so that they can play, learn, and develop friendships while they are here. She also hopes to help the children reach each developmental milestone that they need to for success later on in their lives. She hopes that the children remember all the love and care that they have received here, from her and our team.

Numa Multani

Numa loves working with children and knows that for her, nothing is more rewarding than watching a child learning, developing, and growing right in front of her. Numa has been with our Centre for 3 years and is a super fun Educator to have in our Centre. She knows how to command the attention of a room and has helped many of our children here learn about routines and boundaries in a very healthy way.

At Prairie Lily, Numa enjoys that all the Educators work together as a team to provide love, care, and attention to all the children in our Centre. Numa moved to Canada from India in 2017 and feels that working here makes her feel like she is at home. For her the absolute best part about our Centre is the children, who are so innocent at heart.

Numa hopes that all the children in our Centre will learn what it means to be a good human being and to care for the people around them while they grow and develop.

Rizjel Pereya

Rizjel is another new to us Educator this fall, joining our team of Educators in our Preschool classroom. She is a recent Early Childhood Education level 3 graduate from Saskatchewan Polytechnic, and comes to us with two years of Child Care experience.

Jel has always been in awe of how children’s brains work. Growing up, she was told that children play because they are children. Being with children has showed her that they are all little geniuses and that they are all very capable learners and doers. Play is so much more to them than “mindless play”. She wanted to ultimately work in Child Care because she wants to work and learn alongside children.

Books are very important to Rizjel, and as an Early Childhood Educator, she looks forward to sharing her love of books with all of the children. She hopes that they learn to love books and learn from them as well as she works with them.

So far, her favorite things about Prairie Lily are the atmosphere! The staff! The children! Our philosophy! Play and Exploration is important for her as an Early Childhood Educator, so being in a Centre with a similar philosophy is an amazing thing. The staff are supportive for her as well as management.

She hopes that any children that she gets the chance to work with remember that she is on their team. They have someone “rooting” for them, no matter how old they get.

Part Time & Support Staff

mina Patel

Damilola Ibirinde

Damilola, or Lola as she has asked to be called, has been with our Centre for almost a year. She comes to Prairie Lily with over 3 years of experience working in Child Care and brings new perspectives and ideas to our Centre. We appreciate her calm demeanor, her sense of humor, and her gentle ways with the children at our Sacred Heart location. She wanted to work in Child Care as her love for children is strong. She grew up in a big family with lots of nieces and nephews around and has always been everyone’s favorite auntie!

What she enjoys best about working at Prairie Lily is the daily interactions that she has with the children. She feels at ease around them, and also learns a lot from them. We can say from seeing Lola in the classrooms, that her connections with the children are real and meaningful, and we love seeing that from our Early Childhood Educators. Although Lola is newer to Canada, she has been able to gain an in depth understanding of how family life is here in Canada from her interactions with the children. She loves the diversity in our Centre and that she does not feel left out of what is happening here.

She hopes that the children remember her playful nature when she was with them!

Jayelle Schock

Maternity Leave

Jammie Trinidad

Jammie believes that Early Childhood is one of the most important foundations of a person. She wants to be a part of that foundation and somehow make an impact on the children’s early lives while they are in our Centre. She hopes that the things they learn here are things that they will carry with them as they grow up. Jammie is a creative, energetic Educator who has transformed our Centre into a rich, beautiful learning environment. She is a naturally gifted leader who takes the time to teach others about what she does and is a positive role model to all who come across her path. We are so fortunate to have Jammie as a supervisor in our Centre!

For Jammie, Prairie Lily is more than just a workplace, it is a second home for her. The staff here treat everyone with respect… respect for their differences, respect for their beliefs, and most importantly, respect for each other’s work. As Jammie feels that our Centre is a second home for her, she also hopes that the children enrolled here feel that way too. She hopes that the children she works with here remember and digest the positive things that they have learned each day and to do them at home as well.

Jammie’s favorite quote to live by is: “If Opportunity does not knock, build your door”.