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Community honors longtime preschool teacher
BY ABBY SLANKER
Roseanne Peluso, a mainstay in early childhood education in Canfield for the past 25 years, was honored at a picnic at Greasel Park Sept. 11.
Peluso, a former early childhood educator and past administrator at the Canfield United Methodist Church Preschool, was showered with hugs and smiles from her former students.
Peluso taught at the school from September 1985 through June 2010, while also serving as administrator from 1992 through 2008.
“I have estimated that probably over the 25 years I have witnessed the happy development of about 1,300 children. It has been a privilege. While one would think that witnessing the growth of children from 3 years to 6 years would be a gift — and most assuredly it was and is — the greater gift is what the children have taught me.
“We all impact one another in ways we can’t even imagine — and then one day we realize how we have changed and grown — just like little children do,” said Peluso.
Peluso and her husband, Tony, moved to the community in June 1978.
“When it was time for us to look for a preschool for our oldest son, Bryan, we started out at the Canfield Methodist Church Preschool. At the time, the administrator/teacher was Muriel Hampton. With the teaching methods she proposed and practiced, she was a woman before her time in a field that was growing from one of nursery care to early childhood education.
“While I was interested in looking at other schools to ‘make the best decision for our child,’ Mr. Peluso, as he sat on these wee little chairs said, ‘Why do we have to look else where, I like it here.’ And that was the beginning. Subsequently our second child, James, and our third, Kara, also went to the Methodist Preschool,” Peluso said.
Peluso started volunteering at the school when her daughter Kara attended. With a background in home economics, she was invited into the classroom to facilitate cooking experiences with the children.
She was invited to become a staff member when the school expanded from a two-day a week to a three-day a week program.
“I have cherished and loved absolutely every minute of it,” Peluso said.
Maria Marucci and Jennifer Kadilak organized the picnic and had many activities for children and parents alike. Parents were asked to bring pictures or notes from their children to create a page in a scrapbook for Peluso that was assembled at the picnic.
Children could also make a handprint, cut it out, tape it to a green “stem” and put it in a flower pot with a note that said “Thanks for helping us grow,” that was sent home with Peluso.
There was a cake decorated by Sue Runion, IGA bakery manager, that said “Thank you Mrs. Peluso.” A CD was also created that included all Peluso’s favorite songs she played in her classroom for her students.
“As everyone finds their ‘niche’ in life, working with young children has certainly been mine. I feel blessed, truly blessed, by the opportunities I have had to share in the excitement and enthusiasm of children when they discover something by themselves, when they figure things out and make their own connections.”
While treasuring all her experiences and students in the last 25 years, Peluso is looking forward to new adventures in her future.
“I consider the experiences that I have had with the Canfield United Methodist Church Preschool a stepping stone for what the future holds.
“My dear friend, Muriel Hampton is no longer with us. I feel honored to have worked with her and to have carried on in her spirit. Over the years, she connected with a phrase: ‘I came to teach, I stayed to learn.’ These words resonate with me as well — they are what working with young children is all about,” Peluso concluded.