Miss Laura

Pre-K and Preschool Facilitator

Hi, I’m Laura West (Miss Laura in the classroom).

I’m excited to return to the role of classroom facilitator. This will mark my fourth year as part of our awesome Co-Op family (first as a parent, then as the facilitator).

I graduated from Walla Walla University with a Master’s Degree in Teaching with secondary certifications. Following a year teaching at an international school in Thailand, I returned to WA to marry and start a family while working as a substitute teacher. Since the start of my parenting journey, I have primarily stayed home my own kids, with occasional district substitute work. My children are Elaina (10), Christopher(8), and Robin (6). With the advent of motherhood, my teaching style has shifted to play-based learning and integrating music and movement into the classroom experience.

I found co-op when searching for a budget-friendly preschool for my son. Friends recommended NW and I loved it. My son absolutely thrived in the classroom and I realized that “cheap” didn’t mean low-quality. I’ve been honored to step into the facilitator role these past two years.

At co-op we believe that you as a parent, are your child’s first and most influential teacher. We seek to support you in that role while sharing the joy of watching your little ones learn and grow.

I look forward to sharing this year with you!

Miss Vanessa

Toddler and Family Day Facilitator

Hi, my name is Miss Vanessa.  I am a CO-OP parent and the family day facilitator.  I can’t wait to celebrate the year with all of you!  I first discovered CO-OP when my oldest son started at the age of two.  Since then I’ve learned how every year at CO-OP is truly a new and exciting opportunity to meet different families and create lasting experiences and memories.  This year my youngest daughter will be in the Pre-K class with Miss Laura and has been talking about the year with almost as much anticipation as going to Harry Potter World!

My journey to our CO-OP family started when I was little, growing up with a pretty amazing mom, who always encouraged play, continuously surprised me with fun activities, like after school tea parties, and let me spend hours outdoors  with a bucket full of worms in my mud kitchen.  Later during college I taught at numerous early learning centers, then graduated with my Elementary Education degree specializing in reading, writing, and science. After completing school, I worked as a mentor facilitator for a middle school youth program.  Then I stayed home with my 3 kiddos and began homeschooling (which has in all honesty been pretty difficult, but also such a unique chance to connect with my kids more often and have them teach me a thing or two).  While at home, I was continuously drawn to community groups, like mom’s clubs, neighborhood dinners, Campfire, Boy Scouts, and even my own community school group that focused on garden and culinary education, which is probably why I gravitated back towards CO-OP this last year. 

From my experience CO-OP families come together to create a rich learning community for our kids to grow and learn as their own unique selves, and during this time we also come to support and inspire one another as parents. I can’t wait to build our year together full of exploration, imagination, play, creativity, connectedness, and some sensory messes too! And, I’m looking forward to learning all of your children’s interests and meeting everyone.  It is really all of us that make CO-OP what it is.