Friday (May 1) was the last day for Judy Vallier and her staff at Angel Fire Resort daycare, the end of over 20 years of doctoring bumped knees, listening to tall tales and rooms full of infants to toddlers to 12-year-olds from all over the Moreno Valley.
“Judy went above and beyond,” says Amy Sime, whose son attended daycare for several years.
“She does a really good job of screening kids for signs that they need extra help. Because of her, my son got off to a really good start.” Sime’s son had speech problems and, because of Vallier’s early detection, he was able to get the help he needed through Eagle Nest’s developmentally delayed program. “I am sure many other kids were helped in the same way by Judy,” said Sime.
“I will miss all the stories the kids tell,” says Vallier. “One boy kept telling us, ‘My mom’s pregnant! My mom’s pregnant!’ This went on for several months. And one day his mom came into the center and we said, ‘Oh congratulations! You’re pregnant?’ And she wasn’t.” Vallier laughs. “I wish I had written their stories down.”
There was always a bulletin-board in the daycare center, which Vallier made into a giant collage of children’s photographs taken during many different field trips.
“They went to the Alpaca Ranch in Mora, the Trout Hatchery... It was a daycare. They don’t have to take the kids on field trips at a daycare, but Judy would,” says Sime. “I didn’t want to put my kids in daycare, but if I had to it was going to be Judy’s program. She was the best second mom I could ask for.”
Vallier has helped raise two generations of Moreno Valley children as well as her own two daughters Robyn, now 40, and Katherine, now 30. “Kimberly Eppler and her brother came to the daycare and now Kim’s kids,” she says.
Watching the community’s children grow up has been a treat for Vallier, “It doesn’t feel like that much time has gone by,” admits Vallier. “But it’s really special to see kids grow up and move, and see what they have done. Some are engineers, etc.”
The closing of the center also means the free summer breakfast and lunch program that Vallier started also goes, “We were feeding about 50 kids,” said Vallier. She partnered with Taos public schools to bring the food up every week.
Though there is sadness behind the center closing, Vallier looks forward to spending time with her grandchildren and giving her family the attention they have lacked in the past. “I would get to the daycare at 5:30 a.m. and leave when it was dark. A lot of times my job came before my family and they have always been understanding.”
Judy’s dedicated staff would come from as far away as Guadalupita and Mora, towing each other’s cars over the pass when there were bad road conditions.
“I will miss my amazing staff, we are a great team,” said Vallier. The staff will be disbanded now for the winter and will continue looking for work around the area, possibly re-applying at the resort in the winter time. Parents in the community are looking to fill the void left by the closure. Several in the community have talked about starting their own daycare, and the resort has a lot of qualified staff according to Director of Human Resources, Christy Germscheid.
“If someone does start a program we have a several superstars!” Germscheid wrote in an email correspondence with the Chronicle. “We hope to find them other opportunity within the resort but given the option of working with the children, they would choose that over anything else any day of the week.”
Sources: http://sangrechronicle.com/news/article_e6808c90-f43c-11e4-965a-0727c743e1bc.html
“Judy went above and beyond,” says Amy Sime, whose son attended daycare for several years.
“She does a really good job of screening kids for signs that they need extra help. Because of her, my son got off to a really good start.” Sime’s son had speech problems and, because of Vallier’s early detection, he was able to get the help he needed through Eagle Nest’s developmentally delayed program. “I am sure many other kids were helped in the same way by Judy,” said Sime.
“I will miss all the stories the kids tell,” says Vallier. “One boy kept telling us, ‘My mom’s pregnant! My mom’s pregnant!’ This went on for several months. And one day his mom came into the center and we said, ‘Oh congratulations! You’re pregnant?’ And she wasn’t.” Vallier laughs. “I wish I had written their stories down.”
There was always a bulletin-board in the daycare center, which Vallier made into a giant collage of children’s photographs taken during many different field trips.
“They went to the Alpaca Ranch in Mora, the Trout Hatchery... It was a daycare. They don’t have to take the kids on field trips at a daycare, but Judy would,” says Sime. “I didn’t want to put my kids in daycare, but if I had to it was going to be Judy’s program. She was the best second mom I could ask for.”
Vallier has helped raise two generations of Moreno Valley children as well as her own two daughters Robyn, now 40, and Katherine, now 30. “Kimberly Eppler and her brother came to the daycare and now Kim’s kids,” she says.
Watching the community’s children grow up has been a treat for Vallier, “It doesn’t feel like that much time has gone by,” admits Vallier. “But it’s really special to see kids grow up and move, and see what they have done. Some are engineers, etc.”
The closing of the center also means the free summer breakfast and lunch program that Vallier started also goes, “We were feeding about 50 kids,” said Vallier. She partnered with Taos public schools to bring the food up every week.
Though there is sadness behind the center closing, Vallier looks forward to spending time with her grandchildren and giving her family the attention they have lacked in the past. “I would get to the daycare at 5:30 a.m. and leave when it was dark. A lot of times my job came before my family and they have always been understanding.”
Judy’s dedicated staff would come from as far away as Guadalupita and Mora, towing each other’s cars over the pass when there were bad road conditions.
“I will miss my amazing staff, we are a great team,” said Vallier. The staff will be disbanded now for the winter and will continue looking for work around the area, possibly re-applying at the resort in the winter time. Parents in the community are looking to fill the void left by the closure. Several in the community have talked about starting their own daycare, and the resort has a lot of qualified staff according to Director of Human Resources, Christy Germscheid.
“If someone does start a program we have a several superstars!” Germscheid wrote in an email correspondence with the Chronicle. “We hope to find them other opportunity within the resort but given the option of working with the children, they would choose that over anything else any day of the week.”
Sources: http://sangrechronicle.com/news/article_e6808c90-f43c-11e4-965a-0727c743e1bc.html
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