Parenting Partnership Deer Park Program Allows Young Parents To Tackle Two Tough Jobs: Getting An Education And Raising Children
When Heather Penaluna found out she was pregnant at 16, she and her boyfriend had the same reaction. “We thought, `Oh my gosh,’ ” she said, drawing out each word like she dreaded the next. “Neither of us was really ready at the time.”
Already behind in school credits, she didn’t think she’d be able to graduate. But then a concerned teacher called to tell her about a child-care center in the works. That call changed her life.
Last year, Deer Park School District opened Swaddlers, Waddlers and Toddlers child care center, specifically for teen parents working toward their diploma at Deer Park High School or Deer Park Alternative High School.
The center offers students more than just free child care while they finish school, though. New moms and dads also get the training they need to succeed as parents, plus practical skills to help them through life.
“I thought it was great. I was so happy they pushed to start one of these,” said Penaluna, now 18, married and a high school graduate.
“If it wasn’t for the day care, I would have been at home, on contract, working on one class at a time.”
Hers is a sentiment that reverberates within the walls of the light blue portable building sitting next to Arcadia Elementary School. Inside, staff members and student workers rock and cuddle the center’s four babies. They keep a watchful eye on the one toddler as she pushes a plastic shopping cart into an alligator seesaw.
Each morning, young parents drop their kids off before heading to their first-period parenting class. They all realize how fortunate they are to have such a resource - the center provides an option, where before there was none.
“I was gonna drop out, but I didn’t because of the program,” said Aimee Moore, 17, as she watched her six-week-old daughter, Celeste, swinging happily.
To take advantage of the service, students have to enroll in a parenting course at the high school. The one-period class teaches them about nutrition, child care and development, as well as such practical skills as managing finances, creating resumes and filling out job applications.
The class is taught by Lita Tabish, who also teaches home ec and health courses at Deer Park High. She helped develop Swaddlers, Waddlers and Toddlers after seeing a real need for it in the school.
“We’d been talking about (the center) for about 10 years,” Tabish said. “There were several students who just couldn’t graduate without day care.”
She supervised the program last year, but the $10,000 state grant used to start the center ran out. So this year, the YMCA took over running the center.
Now the program is funded by entirely by the state Department of Social and Health Services through Work First grants. The YMCA is responsible for hiring staff and monitoring the center, while the school district supplies the building and overhead costs.
Teen parents have nothing but praise for the staff.
“They try to do stuff for the kids and the day care,” Moore said. “It’s not just a job for them.”
Indeed, it is not. Staff members are also community members and so they have a vested interest in the students, who are also their neighbors and friends.
“It’s a crucial program,” said YMCA day care director Susan McCearley. “We’re teaching parents how to be parents. We’re ensuring their future.”
In addition to caring for the babies, she also helps teens plot out their post-high school steps, fill out grant applications and find information about college.
McCearley and the other staff member, Kim Simundson, urge parents to call them any time of the day, with any question. For the new parents - many of whom come from broken homes - the women are an invaluable resource.
“I feel like I can ask them anything,” said Lacresta Wilkerson, 17, whose daughter Tyla is 14 months old. “Like once I was worried she wouldn’t get teeth.”
Simundson assured her that kids’ teeth arrive at different rates and - sure enough - Tyla’s smile is now filling in nicely.
Building strong relationships with the teens takes time but is an essential part of the center’s success. The reservations older parents have with child-care centers - Is the staff trustworthy? Is the center clean? - are intensified for teens.
“They have real separation issues,” McCearley said. “They feel threatened - like someone is trying to take charge” of their child. Penaluna said she cried every time she had to leave her son at the center. So, staff members make a strong effort to work with parents, learn what they want for their child and let them know they’re being listened to, McCearley said.
The small community built around babies and parental education provides a strong support system. Once teens start with the program, staff members say they see real changes in them.
Students notorious for ditching school suddenly appear in class every day. They are diligent about calling to report when they won’t be coming to the center and are quick to dedicate their free time to it, McCearley said. Most parents spend time not only with their own baby, but also helping out with the others.
“They’re so supportive of each other,” McCearley said. “Every teen in this program has such a good spirit - it just needs a little nurturing to bring it out.
“I am so proud of these parents.”
Of the five who started with the program last year, two graduated and three continued this year.
Besides babies, moms and dads, the center also benefits a dozen other students who are part of Community Resource Training (CRT). Those students earn credits as they learn child care skills working at the center. CRT student Lisa Reiter hopes to run a center of her own one day. A veteran babysitter, Reiter said she hasn’t learned that much she didn’t already know, but is happy for the experience.
Deer Park moms such as Wilkerson are happy for the opportunity.
“If you want to go to school and get an education,” she said, “these guys will help you out.”
Kristen Kromer can be reached at 459-5593, or by e-mail at kristenk@spokesman.com.