Like many early childhood education teachers Leondra McDay, 34, came to A-B Tech to take a basic education class required for her teaching position; state-licensed centers receive extra points for having credentialed teachers. But when she got into the classroom, McDay realized she wanted to stay. The mother of two had left Winston Salem State as a young adult, unsure of what she wanted to do. Now, for the first time, she felt settled in her path. “Just being in childcare, doing the work, it feels right,” she said. “I decided to go back and do the full (associate’s) program.”
Since then, McDay, who started as an administrator at Christine Avery Learning Center in 2017, has gone from teaching to being the location’s full-time director, a job she loves. It’s a position she says she likely wouldn’t have been offered had she not been on track for an early childhood education degree.
Being at A-B Tech gave her the community and support she needed to immerse herself in her studies, and she was able to get free help with tutoring and childcare through the Buncombe Partnership for Children, a state program designed to aid the current childcare crisis and teacher shortage.
As a pastor’s wife, it hasn’t been easy juggling classes and homework with church meetings, parenting, and her day job. But McDay seemingly has thrived under pressure. She was selected for an academic award this spring by the early education program for maintaining a 3.0 GPA and excelling at her studies. Now, graduating with her associate in applied science, McDay plans to go to West Carolina University to get her bachelor’s degree and her Birth to Kindergarten teaching license.
The key to her success? McDay says she took advantage of A-B Tech’s “minimester” shorter, more intensive classes when she felt she didn’t have time for a full semester. It may have taken a bit longer to finish the program, but like the old folk tale about the turtle and the hare, it goes to show that taking one’s time is often best.