Healthy Kids • Y Stories • YMCA Child Care
YMCA 50 Years of Child Care: How the Y became a home for Henrietta
04 January 2019 - by YMCA of Greater Toronto
Henrietta Maghanoy is an Early Childhood Educator who has been with the YMCA since 2010. As an immigrant from the Philippines, she came to Canada in search of work that would help her support her family back home. However what Henrietta ended up finding was much more than that; she found new friends, a support network, and a healthy community to call family. Feeling incredibly grateful for all the doors the Y has opened for her since 2010, Henrietta shares her personal story with us today.
Nearly nine years ago, I walked into the YMCA carrying a folder with my resume seeking a supply job. I still vividly remember how the staff member that showed me to my interview room warmly greeted me with a smile and wished me good luck. In spite of the friendly welcome, I was still very nervous and anxious, but they must have seen something in me past my jitters; I was invited to join the YMCA Child Care team as a supply staff. And after 5 months I was offered a permanent staff position. The staff at my centre motivated me to go back to school and that’s how I finished my ECE. My coworkers encouraged me to become the educator I am today and for that, I am proud to say I am a part of the YMCA organization. A chance that was given to me because somebody believed in me and gave me an opportunity which was so much more than a job: it was also a catalyst for my development and confidence as an educator.
Working with kids is inherently a meaningful job. But it holds another, very unique kind of meaning to me. When I was in my early years, I did not go to school until I turned six years old. Until that point, I used my environment as my school, learning to write and read, but also another kind of learning; a creative kind, playing outdoors using only the materials available in my backyard: boxes, cardboard, a bottle, coconut shells, twigs, leaves, a tin can… anything I could find became something more than it was. Looking back and knowing everything I know now about childhood cognitive development, I know now that I was teaching myself two valuable skills: social development and abstract thinking. When I was introduced to the YMCA Playing to Learn curriculum, my childhood memories flooded back. I had learned through play. I had learned the basic school readiness through play. Now that I am working with children in their early years, I can see so clearly how play has such a significant and positive influence in preparing young children not only for school, but for life. Whenever possible, I try to introduce open ended and recycled materials in their play to help them enhance their resourcefulness, problem solving and representational skills. I still remember a few years back, I met a mother whose son went to the first YMCA I worked at, and she told me about the impact that exercise with the recycled items had on her son: every time he sees a box or piece of cardboard, he will ask his mom, “What do you think Henrietta would do with this?” Having that kind of lasting impact is both rewarding and emotional for me as an educator.
For all the years that I have been working at the YMCA, I worked at three centres, worked under three supervisors, and two directors. I also worked with diverse educators, and connected with diverse families and communities. But one thing is always the same: I feel respected, supported and loved. I remember after my first year working at the YMCA, I received news from the Philippines that my mother had passed away. I was devastated, but the warmth support and love I got from the team makes it really easy for me to cope with sadness. Though I don’t have any biological family here in Canada, I feel like I have a family in the YMCA. From the moment I started working here, I knew that the chance I was given was not just the opportunity to have a permanent job, but an opportunity to help my family. And everything I had done — finishing school, moving far from home — it had always been for them.
Because of this opportunity, I’m so thankful for the YMCA. It feels like it had always been what I was meant to do.
Working at the YMCA, not only did I gain friends, I gained a family. I am not only motivated but inspired by these amazing educators. I have a job that allows me to continue to help my family and a career that allows me to continue to develop professionally and continue to grow. The YMCA gave me an opportunity, hope, friends, family and most especially a chance to become someone. My journey here is not done yet. If there is anything the kids I work with have taught me, it’s that we never stop learning. We never stop meeting incredible people that we can call our friends or our family. I still have a lot of family to connect with and children to care for. And that journey all started because I was given a chance by people who believed in me, motivated me and encouraged me. And they still do.
To learn more about what it’s like to work at the Y, and for more information on how to join our Child Care team please visit our website.
[vimeo 309380474 w=640 h=360]
Nearly nine years ago, I walked into the YMCA carrying a folder with my resume seeking a supply job. I still vividly remember how the staff member that showed me to my interview room warmly greeted me with a smile and wished me good luck. In spite of the friendly welcome, I was still very nervous and anxious, but they must have seen something in me past my jitters; I was invited to join the YMCA Child Care team as a supply staff. And after 5 months I was offered a permanent staff position. The staff at my centre motivated me to go back to school and that’s how I finished my ECE. My coworkers encouraged me to become the educator I am today and for that, I am proud to say I am a part of the YMCA organization. A chance that was given to me because somebody believed in me and gave me an opportunity which was so much more than a job: it was also a catalyst for my development and confidence as an educator.
Working with kids is inherently a meaningful job. But it holds another, very unique kind of meaning to me. When I was in my early years, I did not go to school until I turned six years old. Until that point, I used my environment as my school, learning to write and read, but also another kind of learning; a creative kind, playing outdoors using only the materials available in my backyard: boxes, cardboard, a bottle, coconut shells, twigs, leaves, a tin can… anything I could find became something more than it was. Looking back and knowing everything I know now about childhood cognitive development, I know now that I was teaching myself two valuable skills: social development and abstract thinking. When I was introduced to the YMCA Playing to Learn curriculum, my childhood memories flooded back. I had learned through play. I had learned the basic school readiness through play. Now that I am working with children in their early years, I can see so clearly how play has such a significant and positive influence in preparing young children not only for school, but for life. Whenever possible, I try to introduce open ended and recycled materials in their play to help them enhance their resourcefulness, problem solving and representational skills. I still remember a few years back, I met a mother whose son went to the first YMCA I worked at, and she told me about the impact that exercise with the recycled items had on her son: every time he sees a box or piece of cardboard, he will ask his mom, “What do you think Henrietta would do with this?” Having that kind of lasting impact is both rewarding and emotional for me as an educator.
For all the years that I have been working at the YMCA, I worked at three centres, worked under three supervisors, and two directors. I also worked with diverse educators, and connected with diverse families and communities. But one thing is always the same: I feel respected, supported and loved. I remember after my first year working at the YMCA, I received news from the Philippines that my mother had passed away. I was devastated, but the warmth support and love I got from the team makes it really easy for me to cope with sadness. Though I don’t have any biological family here in Canada, I feel like I have a family in the YMCA. From the moment I started working here, I knew that the chance I was given was not just the opportunity to have a permanent job, but an opportunity to help my family. And everything I had done — finishing school, moving far from home — it had always been for them.
Because of this opportunity, I’m so thankful for the YMCA. It feels like it had always been what I was meant to do.
Working at the YMCA, not only did I gain friends, I gained a family. I am not only motivated but inspired by these amazing educators. I have a job that allows me to continue to help my family and a career that allows me to continue to develop professionally and continue to grow. The YMCA gave me an opportunity, hope, friends, family and most especially a chance to become someone. My journey here is not done yet. If there is anything the kids I work with have taught me, it’s that we never stop learning. We never stop meeting incredible people that we can call our friends or our family. I still have a lot of family to connect with and children to care for. And that journey all started because I was given a chance by people who believed in me, motivated me and encouraged me. And they still do.
To learn more about what it’s like to work at the Y, and for more information on how to join our Child Care team please visit our website.
[vimeo 309380474 w=640 h=360]
