Friday Faces – Safety Team

Another week, another set of Friday Faces introductions! Today, we get to share with you our spectacular Safety Team members! This team consists of extraordinary men and women, with remarkable backgrounds, who encourage a safe and purposeful play environment for our students. The also view the playground as an essential place for student opportunity and growth. We are truly thankful for this earnest and hardworking crew!

Scroll on down and get to know who works with your children in the playground…

1. Where is your favorite place in the world and why?

• Chrissy: Kona, Hawaii because the stresses of life fall away there.
• Pam:Favorite place in the world is California beaches.
• Gina: Lying my head on my husbands chest, it feels like home.
• Victoria: Favorite place is Vienna, Austria. I love the pedestrian streets with the street entertainment, the beautiful architecture, cafes.
• Erin: My favorite place is with my family. I am happy anywhere we are together.
• Nancy: Lake Tahoe besides the beauty it is the annual family trip where we relax, unplug and truly connect as a family.
• Kary: This is really hard to answer, but when I think of a place that makes me feel peaceful and living out my true vocation, it has to be curled up with my daughter anywhere reading to her. Its something I’ve done since she was an infant and something we both enjoy. Now…our favorite place to do that at is one of the best kept secrets in Paso Robles: the outdoor swing in the gardens of the Paso Robles Inn.
• Shelli: Vancouver, British Columbia.  It is beautiful and I have family there.
• Austin: SLO County–it is where my friends and family are located and it has an amazing and beautiful landscape for outdoor adventures!
• Michelle: My favorite place in the world is the Eastern Sierra in California. I grew up camping, hiking, fishing and backpacking there every summer. It continues to be my happy place, and l never tire of it’s breathtaking beauty, diversity of terrain and recreational opportunities.
• Cody: Chico, CA. It gets too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer, but give me a good dog and there’s no place I’d rather be. You can drive three miles and see one of the largest parks in the US, historical landmarks, stop for lunch at a great restaurant, drive through blooming orchards and hike around beautiful landscapes. It’s perfect.

2. If you could be an animal, what would you be?

• Chrissy: My cat-(but not just any cat) because they are spoiled
• Pam: Favorite animal is only animals in stories who have human like attributes-for instance Aslan or Wilber.
• Gina: The Yorkshire Terrier is my spirit animal for sure.
• Victoria: I would be a thoroughbred race horse.
• Erin: A bird. I would like to be able to fly.
• Nancy: A giraffe. Sleek, long legs, a spectacular coat & purple tongue.
• Kary: An exotic bird in the South Pacific so I could enjoy beauty and perpetual ocean view.
• Shelli: A dolphin because I love the ocean and swimming
• Austin: Elephant: they are intelligent and peaceful, but they can be surprisingly fast, loud, and fierce.
• Michelle: If l could be an animal, l would be a golden eagle. I love all raptors, but l especially love the huge and majestic golden eagle.
• Cody: I’d be a moose because they’re massive, strong and make noises in the forest at night that scare campers into believing there are monsters outside their tents.

3. What are you passionate about?

• Chrissy: Jesus, family, friends
• Pam: I am most passionate about updating our home right now.
• Gina: I’m passionate about causes that stir my heart (i.e. protecting young ones from predators).
• Victoria: God’s Creation
• Erin: My family.
• Nancy: Integrity. Human kindness and learning how to be a bridge towards racial conciliation. Human trafficking, fair trade and sexual abuse. Family, food, fiestas and fully living intentionally. (Not in that order.)
• Kary: Many things…but mainly raising a decent and kind person in hopes of making the world a better place. There’s always a learning curve involved with parenting. I try to stay open minded and humble. Motherhood is so underrated in our society and I’d like to change that mindset someday.
• Shelli: I am passionate education and helping people become literate.
• Austin: Making meaningful relationships, showing that I care, fitness, the outdoors
• Michelle: I’m passionate about my family and friends, 4-H, cooking and canning, hiking and backpacking, reading, great music, exercising, and drag queens!
• Cody: I’m very passionate about coaching sports. Supporting kids through the lows of a loss and the highs of a win, while seeing their growth as people and players throughout a season is incredibly gratifying.

4. What is your favorite movie?

• Chrissy: North & South
• Pam: Favorite movie is West Side Story
• Gina: Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• Victoria: My favorite movies are Saving Mr. Banks and Miss Potter
• Erin: A Room With a View
• Nancy: Serendipity
• Kary: Cinema Paradiso by Giuseppe Tornatore. Its sheer perfection in so many ways. Set in post WWII Sicily, its about family, faith, love, art, friendship, passion, growing up, love, loss, remembrance…did I mention love?
• Shelli: While You Were Sleeping
• Austin: Any Spider-man movie!
• Michelle: Off the top of my head, l instantly thought of Moonstruck, with Cher, Nicholas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Vincent Gardenia, Danny Aiello and John Mahoney. What a cast!! I love it.
• Cody: My favorite movie at the moment is Tusk by Kevin Smith. It’s brilliant and weird and Michael Parks is incredible.

5. What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

• Chrissy: I am not a very crazy person so probably just swimming with new born dolphins.
• Pam: Craziest thing I have ever done is give birth.
• Gina: One of the craziest things I’ve done is teach a barre (ballet) class with my baby girl on my hip.
• Victoria: One of the craziest things I did was going to Uzbekistan.
• Erin: Participated in a tree top ropes adventure while traveling. I do not like heights. It was scary and fun.
• Nancy: Unintentionally, hold up a liquor store! (Do I need to give details etc??)
• Kary: It might not seem crazy now, but back in college I was working on my senior thesis which was ‘Autobiographical Vietnam’. I wanted to interview Vietnam Veterans as part of my research. A friend of mine met a Veteran who was living covertly on Madonna Mountain, and this gentleman agreed to meet me in downtown SLO to talk about his experience. I ended up walking and talking to this man for several hours well beyond midnight along the empty streets in town. He never disclosed his name but I was grateful for the opportunity to talk and hear about his experiences and how his life was altered by them.
• Shelli: Moving to Cuernavaca, Mexico to attend a language institute not knowing anyone.
• Austin: I hiked to the top of a 17,060 ft. peak in Peru!
• Michelle: The craziest thing l’ve ever done was to quit my career to stay home with Lily. It felt like jumping off a cliff, but it’s been 100% worth it!
• Cody: The craziest thing I’ve ever done is perform improv comedy in front of Robin Williams.

Wow! These guys are brave and courageous! We’re so glad they’re on that playground!!

Stay tuned next week for our Tiny Wonders team!