Sally Farrell
The Central Lincoln County YMCA is pleased to announce Sally Farrell as its new pre-K lead teacher. Farrell will assume this role in a full-time capacity beginning in August, as the new school year approaches.
Farrell has been intricately immersed in the community since 2000 and currently lives in Newcastle with her husband, Tom, a self-employed marine engineer/naval architect, and their three kids, Schuyler, Will, and Natalie. They are members of Water of Life Lutheran Church. All of the kids grew up involved in Y youth sports programs; Tom Farrell coached many sports programs at the Y over the years and continues to coach in the Y’s youth lacrosse program.
Sally Farrell served on the CLC YMCA board from 2006-2012 (and recruited her sister-in-law, Ann Poole, to join the board upon her departure), and also served on the Great Salt Bay Community School Board from 2002-2014. Farrell’s oldest daughter, Schuyler, is now a youth board member and teen leader chairman for the CLC YMCA.
Farrell graduated from Lincoln Academy and then received a degree in elementary education from the University of Maine in Orono. Since 2000, she has been working as a lead preschool and pre-K/kindergarten teacher at Sheepscot Valley Children’s House in Wiscasset.
“My goal as a teacher is to provide a safe environment where children can take risks to grow academically, socially, physically and emotionally to become self-sufficient students who love to learn,” said Farrell. “With a dynamic leader, motivated staff, and gorgeous facility, now is a very exciting time for the CLC YMCA. The students in the class will have access to many resources: the nature walking trails, the FARMS at the Y program and teaching kitchen, Spectrum Generations, tennis. The collaboration possibilities are endless.”
As the pre-K lead teacher, Farrell plans to utilize The Creative Curriculum for Preschool, a comprehensive, research-based curriculum that features exploration and discovery as a way of learning. The foundation helps teachers create a high-quality learning environment and build a thorough understanding of best practices. Daily resources help teachers plan and manage every moment of their day. Through studies, which are hands-on, project-based investigations, The Creative Curriculum for Preschool helps teachers build children’s confidence, creativity, and critical thinking skills, and promote positive outcomes.
Farrell also plans to introduce the Handwriting Without Tears program, incorporating proven teaching strategies that benefit more than three million students each year and are currently used in AOS 93 schools. The guiding principle of the program states: “Children who master handwriting are better, more creative writers. The earlier we teach children to master handwriting, the more likely they are to succeed in school, and write with speed and ease in all subjects. We use fun, engaging, and developmentally appropriate instructional methods to enable children to master handwriting as an automatic and comfortable skill.”
In Lincoln County, there is a great need for full-day child care and pre-K programs, and a pre-kindergarten program at the CLC YMCA will act as both a new and expanded service to the community. The town of Damariscotta was recently awarded funding from the Community Development Block Grant for a private, on-site pre-K program in the amount of $50,000.
The CLC YMCA will be able to offer a pre-K program designated specifically to pre-K-aged children, focused around a pre-K curriculum, and will include reading, writing, math and numbers, science, social skills, and creative arts.
“We are excited to bring a brand-new private pre-K program to our newly renovated Y. The classroom is a brightly lit and colorful space specifically planned and built for a pre-K class as part of the capital project,” said Meagan Hamblett, CEO of the CLC Y. “It will also allow the YMCA’s Child Care Center to have a larger capacity for their infant, toddler, and preschool classrooms, provide better separation of programming to meet the needs of each age group, and offer more space and growth at the Nobleboro child-care site — a win-win for the community.”
The funding will support the staffing costs for a professional pre-K lead instructor and curriculum costs. The pre-K program is for children ages 4-5 who will be entering kindergarten in fall 2019. Both breakfast and lunch will be served daily. Before- and after-school care options are also available, as well as vacation-week camps held at the Y.
Enrollment is now open for the 2018-2019 school year. Pre-K packets are available at the Y’s front desk (525 Main St., Damariscotta), Y Child Care (8 Sand Hill Road, Nobleboro) or online at clcymca.org. For more information, contact Sally Romero at sromero@clcymca.org or call 563-8871.
To meet the YMCA’s mission and adhere to the Community Development Block Grant’s guidelines, the Y is accessible to all families, provided there is available space, and through a state contract and the Y’s Annual Fund, subsidized slots are available, #wearemorethanagym, #weareacause.
For information about any of the Y’s events, go to clcymca.org.
