Students with children find joys, challenges

Andrew Dorpinghaus / The Bulletin

Morgan Pearson, junior secondary math education major, sits with her daughter, Mariah in the ESU Memorial Union. Pearson and other ESU students that have children can take advantage of programs offered by the CECE in Butcher’s Education Center.

Approximately 25 percent of the children enrolled at the Center for Early Childhood Education in Butcher Education Center have parents who are students at Emporia State.

There are about 60 children at the center. Priority for enrollment at the center is given to students who need day care for their children, followed by faculty and members of the community. For some students who are parents, having children has helped them narrow their field of study.

“It made me realize that I wanted to work with older kids,” said Morgan Pearson, junior secondary math education major. “As you grow up, you change your mind.”

Pearson, 21, has always been an education major. She changed to secondary education after she had her daughter. Her 16-month-old daughter, Mariah, is a student in one of the toddler classes at CECE. This is Mariah’s first year at the center.

For Tessa Santangelo, junior elementary education major, having her son Cyrus 18 months ago helped her to pick her major.

“I really enjoy teaching and the learning experience that children go through,” Santangelo said. “But also, I can have the summers off and I can be with him.”

According to Santangelo, being a parent and a student at the same time can be difficult.

“You have to balance doing school work and spending time with your kid,” Santangelo said. “Sometimes you lose track of one or the other and then before you know it, the day is over.”

Although Misti Hampton, junior secondary education in social science major, has a 12-year-old son, Levi. She struggles with the same issues that mothers of younger children do.

“On top of the responsibilities of my homework, I have to make sure he gets his homework done,” said Hampton. “I’m not just taking care of myself. I’m taking care of a child at the same time.”

All three women agree that expenses add up.

“It’s not as much anymore because she’s older but we probably spend a couple hundred (a month),” Pearson said.

That estimate does not include day care costs.

“The expenses are about the same (as when Levi was little),” Hampton said. “There was a period where it seemed like it went down, but it’s basically the same.”

Santangelo said that she likes to spend a little extra money on Cyrus, but daycare is still the largest expense.

“It’s around $500 a month,” Santangelo said. “It’s pretty expensive here because of the way they teach. It’s more like a school for them as opposed to a daycare where they go and just play all day.”

Mariah and Cyrus are in the same class at the CECE. According to Keely Persinger, director of the CECE, the two toddler classes have 10-14 students each.

Persinger said that there are four teachers and 26 students who work at the center and that they try to teach the children skills they will need for the future.

In the toddler classes, Mariah and Cyrus learn language and cognitive skills. Mariah has even taught her teacher some sign language.

“The CECE usually knows what she’s doing but she’s taught her teacher a few things that she didn’t know,” Pearson said.

There are pre-requisites before parents can apply to enroll their children. Children must be at least 12 months old and able to walk. There is currently a waiting list for the toddler classes.

Pearson does not have a problem getting someone to watch Mariah because she does not work, but daycare can be a problem for some.

“One of the ex-baseball players lives three houses down from us,” Santangelo said. “He watches Cyrus a lot.”

For some students, having a job can also make parenting more difficult. Hampton’s work takes her to the Wal-Mart distribution center in Ottawa until 2 a.m. four nights a week. She gets about four hours of sleep before going to class in the morning.

However, because her son is older, he can go to school for most of the day.

“I feel like since he’s in school now, there’s this little competition,” Hampton said. “He says ‘Mom, I can get all A’s, so can you.’”