The Early Bird Learning Center (EBLC), created by Helen Winters, has been around for 19 years, and is preparing “Blue Jays of tomorrow” to leave the nest and head off to their next stop, elementary school.
With an already significantly long waiting list, the center receives four to five calls a day from parents inquiring about signing their kids up for the program. The laboratory is full with a limit of 20 children.
“Each day starts out with a lot of little voices and little people trying to talk and explain their day and their evening,” Liberty graduate and paraprofessional Macayla Witt said.
The center serves as a real-life learning experience for the students in the LHS child development program, who work daily with the children.

“The high school students in the Child Development courses come in to work and interact with the children,” teacher Amy Mallams said. “Authentic real-life learning experiences, such as development labs (aka “Buddy Labs”), focus on the evaluation of physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of children. Through such hands-on applications, the high school students develop a broader and deeper understanding of how children respond in everyday situations and are able to practice how to solve problems based upon the developmental needs of children. They also gain knowledge in the areas of caring for children, guidance, early learning, and supervision as applied to the workplace. Buddy Labs also provide for more personalized learning, so for example, if a child needs to work on fine motor skills, they will work on fine motor skills during that time. Students also create, organize and implement development centers where the kids are able to rotate through various play and learning activities. These students in the Child Development classes are leaps and bounds ahead of the kids that are going off to college for education.”
The students in the child development classes are not the only classes that get to work with the children in the center.

“The psychology courses come in and deepen their understanding of theories. The leadership class always includes the children in school pep assemblies, KLHS has that children on air for guest appearances, and last year we even had the Chinese courses come in to teach the children Chinese,” Mallams said.
The district has been struggling to keep the program for a while due to budget cuts according to Child Development teacher, Sarah Adams. LHS students are overjoyed they still have it.
“Without the program we would just read all the information from a book,” senior Anthony Robertson said. “We wouldn’t get to be face-to-face with these kids in Child Growth and Development class.”
Teachers agree the program helps their students understand the class more than they would without it.
“Until you actually are working with the kids you won’t fully understand,” Child Development teacher Sarah Adams said.
The program has inspired many to start teaching.
“I took every single class, up through the highest level class you could take,” Witt said. “I did the Educational Internship Program, Child Care and Guidance and Child Growth and Development. I was working with the center in these classes, and it shaped me to become a teacher. That’s how I knew I wanted to be a teacher, was by working with these kids.”
There are many benefits to having the center in our school. Students, teachers and community members recognize the advantages.
“Something about being with children just brightens your day,” senior Brooklyn Balsdon said. “They’re really funny and they make you forget everything you’re worried and stressed about, which is really great.”
Teachers see a different side of high schoolers when they are around the children.
“Even when you are walking down the hallways, even if they are not in the child development classes, the high school students will stop and let the children pass or will give them each high-fives,” Mallams said. “They take such an ownership for these kids and look out for them.”
The center serves as a huge advantage for our school and our community.
“I have been getting a lot of community support for this,” Mallams said. “We are investing in an early education now because now is when it starts. Now is when school starts for kids, not in Kindergarten, not in first grade.”
Not only are the teachers making a difference in these children’s lives, but the children are making a difference in the teachers’ lives.
“I love my kids,” Witt said. “I love every single kid that has gone through this program, so I feel so happy and excited when I see them. Even if I’ve had a rough morning myself the kids can always turn that around and make you feel wonderful just walking in the door. I just feel so accomplished because I’m making a difference in these kids lives, even if it’s just helping them get a library book out of their backpack or helping them write their names. Each little step makes you feel so happy.”