Friday Faces: Safety Team

Happy Friday! We have an extra special Friday Faces for you today. The SLOCA Safety Team is a vital part of SLOCA. This year these amazing people have stepped it up as they daily strive to keep our students safe, sanitized, and six-feet apart, and so much more! Today we wanted to introduce you to some of them. Our Safety Team is led by our Community Life Coordinator, Jenny Carey. Enjoy getting to know the team and be sure that the next time you see one of these phenomenal people you give them a big smile (or bright happy eyes from behind your mask, a thumbs up, or an enthusiastic wave from the car drop-off/pick-up line) and express your gratitude for all that they do. We couldn’t do SLOCA Live without them.

The Safety team is here to ensure that not only the physical wellbeing of the child is being looked at as well as the emotional wellbeing. We take the time to get to know our students which allows us to see social queues or behavioral changes that may have otherwise been overlooked. The Safety Team Member will work to promote a physically, emotionally, and socially secure climate for students on campus. He or she is responsible for both the logistics of student supervision during non-classroom time and our lunch program.

Jenny Carey — Community Life Coordinator

Also featured: Jeff Wortman & Keegan Nelson

Why did you choose to join the SLOCA Safety Team?

• Jenny: My son John started at SLOCA 4 years ago in the Pre-school program, we fell in love with SLOCA. I was looking to start a new career and knew that I wanted to be a bigger part of the SLOCA community.
• Jeff: The SLOCA Safety Team provides me with a great opportunity to work in an environment I absolutely love, around great individuals, and make a true impact.
• Nicki: I joined the SLOCA safety team as a way to get more experience in a school setting. I’m a psychology major and child development minor at Cal Poly so I wanted an opportunity to work with kids as a part-time job while working on my degree.
• Keegan: I chose the SLOCA Safety Team because I have always loved working with kids. It is a great place to develop my ability to work with younger kids and to see the joy some of them get to just be able to go to school. Also being able to be here and see some of them develop throughout the year has already been super fun and getting to know them and see their personalities really come out. It was definitely the right choice to join the SLOCA Safety Team and I look forward to the rest of the year.
• Rachel: I’ve always dreamed of being involved in my kids’ school somehow, and getting to know teachers and other parents and kids. I never thought it would involve enforcing social distancing, wearing masks, and spraying every surface with sanitizer, but hey.
• Kary: Living in Paso Robles with no carpool back in 2014, I didn’t want to make 2 trips into SLO on school days, so I was looking for a way to stay busy, supplement tuition, and get to know my daughter’s peers, staff and parents. I’ve chosen to return 7 consecutive years because I love the kids! Surprise bonus has been the experience of working alongside the talented, kind, and very dedicated SLOCA staff. What can I say, it’s one of my happy places!
• Ava: I joined the safety team because I had been going to SLOCA since kindergarten and thought it would be a nice way to start off my first year out of SLOCA assisting during these crazy times. 🙂
• Sophia: I wanted to join the Safety Team because I have been going to SLOCA my whole life and I thought it would be fun to come back in a different way and I love all of the crazy stories that all the kids tell me.
• Virginia: I miss recess.

What is your favorite book?

• Jenny: I honestly have so many favorites, I can’t pick just one; The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Unbinding the Heart by Agapi Stassinopoulos, Balanced and Barefoot by Angela Hanscom, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I am always reading a romance book and Harry Potter books!
• Jeff: All Quiet On The Western Front
• Nicki: My favorite book is the Harry Potter series. I am unhappy with this answer as I know it’s not very unique, but I was (and still am) obsessed with these books and read them over and over again. I had the books on tape (yes a real tape) and played them so many times on my cassette player that the tapes eventually unraveled. I eventually upgraded to YouTube recordings of the audiobooks.
• Keegan: 100% Harry Potter! So mystical and magical, I couldn’t imagine myself not liking it or a childhood without it. The plot, the characters, everything about it is honestly just great and I would always love looking forward to watching the movie right after finishing one of the books. Being able to imagine all the characters and then see them come to life was a great experience and is definitely one of the reasons why Harry Potter is one of my favorite books.
• Rachel: On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Because I believe in a past life I must have been a wandering Gypsy, I love road tripping and camping and wasting my time daydreaming.
• Kary: Jane Eyre. I read it for the first time about 4 years ago. I was completely blown away by Charlotte Bronte’s writing, and her characterization of the protagonist Jane, who was subjected to cruelty, abuse, indifference…yet maintained her self dignity and boundaries by refusing to compromise her morals in order to procure love and quasi-economic security.
• Ava: My favorite book would still have to be Les Misérables. Even though I read it over the summer my freshman year which was challenging but it stuck with me and the lessons in it. ( and the memory of my whole class trying to read all of it in such a short time which now we can joke about).
• Sophia: My favorite book was not the easiest to read but I think right now is Dante’s Inferno, it was challenging to read and it was so interesting to read mythology and how much thought was put into each chapter like the rings of hell. I just thought it was really cool. A thank you to Mr.McCoullugh for making us read this 🙂
• Virginia: The Sherlock Holmes series, because who doesn’t love a good mystery.

What is your go-to reading spot?

• Jenny: Outside in my backyard; I love being outdoors when the sun is shining 🙂
• Jeff: Any grass lawn on a sunny day.
• Nicki: My go-to reading spot is a cozy little reading nook. I love comfortable nooks tucked away with lots of pillows and blankets. Bonus points if it’s by a window and it’s raining outside.
• Keegan: My go too reading spot would have to be outdoors at either the beach or in the woods. Just the calmness of nature and not having anything else around you but you and your book is always very calming and is a nice way to de-stress after a long week of school. Reading has always been a part of my life and continues to this day, but living in SLO has definitely made for much better reading spots.
• Rachel: As a mom of little ones, we read kids’ books on the couch every morning and night. For myself, I listen to Audiobooks while hiking with my dog or in bed while falling asleep.
• Kary: In the evenings, it’s in my bed under a cozy blanket with the door shut, because I live with people who love loud music. In the daytime, I will head outside as long as it’s quiet in the backyard in a cozy chair under the sun.
• Ava: I would have to say my room or the beach. Both are super chill and far enough away from people that I can really get into my book. 🙂
• Sophia: My room on the floor. I just like being alone and I love sitting on the ground because it is very grounding and calm. I feel like I can really enjoy the book and feel like I am in it.
• Virginia: My bed at 2 am because I love it when it feels like I’m the only one awake in the world.

What is one obscure thing you are talented at?

• Jenny: I can wiggle my nose like a bunny!
• Jeff: Rugby.
• Nicki: I am very good at Bob’s Burgers (tv show) trivia. During quarantine, I entered an online competition and won first place and $100.
• Keegan: I am rather quite good at Kendama but something I am much better at would be hacky-sack. It is an odd thing to be good at but it is definitely a very fun game that I always play with friends. Developing my hand to foot coordination has definitely been hard, but seeing my progression from whiffing at the hacky-sack to doing tricks has been extra special.
• Rachel: Packing, I see it as a game of Tetris.
• Kary: Spelling. For some reason, I can spell difficult words without really thinking about it.
• Ava: One obscure thing I am talented at would be dancing on my toes.
• Sophia: I think I am pretty good at art, and I am very talented at forgetting to text people and burning cookies nearly every time.
• Virginia: Eating an absurd amount of sour candy.

If you could shrink down any animal and carry it around in your pocket, which one would you choose?

• Jenny: I can’t choose between a horse and a cat. If I had this ability I would need both 🙂
• Jeff: Bear.
• Nicki: I would choose a pig. Pigs like to sleep a lot so it would rest comfortably in my pocket most of the day, but they are also smart and emotionally intelligent so it would make a loving pet.
• Keegan: If I could pick any animal to shrink down it would have to be a bear. Just the thought of carrying a small bear around is super cool. If it’s dark and I ever need protection…boom…I have a pocket bear.
• Rachel: My dog, I would trip over her much less that way.
• Kary: Definitely a snow leopard, although I think even in its shrunken form its teeth would be sharp and the experience a little painful!
• Ava: A mini horse that I would name George.
• Sophia: A Yorkie, I love dogs so much! I would say I’d carry my own dog with me but I think she would bark a lot and climb away. She is so sweet though.
• Virginia: Komodo dragon.

Another huge “Thank You!” to our Safety Team for all they do. Share your appreciation for them in the comments below.