During the summer of 2025, the preschool children at Skyline College’s Child Development Lab Center welcomed our new college president, Dr. Nate Carter! In July, Dr. Carter held a meet-and-greet in Building 19 to get to know everyone and learn more about what we all do at Skyline College. The educators at the center decided to share with the children about the new school president, what that meant, his photo, and asked the question “how can we make him feel welcomed?”. Together, they created a plan to make a poster or a “drawing” as the children to say welcome!
Alongside the poster, they decided to give a Skyline College Child Development Lab Center class yearbook as a welcome gift. To prepare for the meet and greet, the children practiced phrases like “Welcome to Skyline”, “Welcome to the Skyline Family,” and “Welcome to our school”. Dr. Carter was incredibly warm and connected well with the preschool students, and they felt very comfortable meeting and talking to him! They felt extra excited when he offered them cookies as well!
One of the most important values of the center is community, connection, kindness, and gratitude. Educators are always looking for opportunities to not only teach children and have them practice ways to be kind and show gratitude, but also to connect with others, build community, and understand what that means, especially within our Skyline College community. They were very excited to go together, connect, and meet our new president! Welcome, Dr. Carter!
If you are interested in enrolling your child at the Child Development Lab Center, please contact Christine Herndon at herndonc@smccd.edu.
If you are interested in working at the center, please check out the Early Childhood Apprenticeship Program (ECAP) or contact Michelle Amaral at amaralm@smccd.edu.
Written by: Michelle Nava
Photos by: Leticia Ortiz
