Working as a 3-K/Pre-K Family!

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and tell you about my experiences as part of District 20 Pre-K. My name is Anthony Kopelakis and I am a husband and proud father of two girls. For the past six years, I’ve had the pleasure of being a paraprofessional for District 20, spending five of those years at site Z099. Very quickly, it became obvious that we weren’t simply co-workers, we were a family. We don’t think twice to lend a hand or a word of advice if needed and something like that is invaluable when working in the education field.

I find my job fulfilling, working to mold such young minds so they are fully prepared for the rest of their academic journey. We don’t just teach our students, we help them grow as people, despite how young they are and I think that’s something very special. These kind words don’t just come from an appreciative employee but from a parent who believes in the program. My older daughter is currently enrolled in one of our sites and will be graduating in June, ready to conquer Kindergarten in September and I know our program helped her prepare for that.

So out of all the positives around our program, what’s the best part of my job? To me, that’s an easy question to answer. The best part of my job comes on graduation day and no, not because our ten month journey is through and we’re looking ahead at a two month vacation. It’s because that is the day where our effort shines brightest. Our students stand proudly, all with smiling faces as they sing, dance, and speak about all the things they learned. Those confident students are not the same ones that came to us in September and seeing that growth, that complete transformation, is what makes my job worth it.

Anthony Kopelakis- Para Z099