When Mandy Singh, educator of Gan Ami Early Childhood Education Center in Mequon, graduated high school, she didn’t know what type of career she wanted. After working in an early childhood center, she realized she liked watching the children reach milestones in their development. This led her to earn her degree in early childhood from Milwaukee Area Technical College and get her administrator credential from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. When asked what she loves about teaching, she said, “I love being able to watch the children as they grow and develop; each milestone they accomplish is fascinating for me to see where they go in the process of learning and growing.”
Singh has been teaching since 1999. She started at Gan Ami in 2016, first in Whitefish Bay, and then quickly found her work home in Mequon. Today she is the Gan Ami Mequon program manager. Although she helps out in classrooms as needed, today she does more administrative work. She is responsible for teacher and student files, onboarding new staff, and creating newsletters to stay in touch with families.
When asked about what is challenging about teaching, Singh said it’s difficult when people don’t “take you seriously as a professional. Some people see you as a glorified babysitter. There is a lot involved in teaching early childhood, you still have to do lesson planning, everything that goes with any school system.” This is a common theme from early childhood educators. Nothing is more precious than our youngest children and we know the importance of the first years of life; it is astounding that people don’t value our early childhood teachers for the treasures they are.
Singh values having a good team working together. She said that, “when you have that team and you can work well with the co-teacher and you have give and take, you have a great day.”
Singh and her 17-year-old daughter Ayanna live in Cudahy. They like being close to the lake and walking trails. They also enjoy Irish Fest where Ayanna performs Irish Dance. Singh enjoys reading and sports. Her favorite Jewish food is matzah ball soup.
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The Coalition for Jewish Learning, a program of Milwaukee Jewish Federation, is celebrating local educators with this regular feature. To suggest someone for coverage, contact Jewish Education Community Planner Tziporah Altman-Shafer, at TziporahA@MilwaukeeJewish.org.
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