- By Times’ Junior Journalist Alina Jiang
On a recent sunny Friday afternoon, I went to Penguins Howick/Penguins Shamrock to interview Katie Miller, who’s the current centre manager!
While I interviewed her, she talked about her journey to Penguins, her favourite parts about her jobs and some pleasant experiences she’s earned in the process.
So let’s start with a little bit of the regular rules and jobs in Penguins then get straight to the interview!
Penguins is a daycare that works on taking care of your kids and teaching them brand new knowledge while also making sure they have fun and are happy.
It has many different rooms and many different staff with each room that each do different roles – I totally recommend Penguins for a good healthy childhood.
Penguins Howick has been open since 2006, and inside there are six rooms in total, each consisting of a different/same age group (Kokako, Fantail, Kea, Tui, Kiwi and Kakapo) and within its doors there are many staff members who help the everyday life in the centre go as planned!
Each staff member has a different role: some make sure the centre is safe, some focus on keeping data on the children (admin).
There are many to be mentioned, but one of the main two are the teachers.
Teachers are the ones who look after the children and take care of them.
They know helping the children means also helping their families and that every teacher needs to put their heart and soul into the job which guarantees children’s happiness which leads to a safe and happy future!
The second main one is the people who work behind the scenes.
These people are usually not seen and not thought of when you think of ‘who helps the Penguins centre run?’ but they actually are!
They help do the washing, make food, and do lots of things that help everything go smoothly – they’re like an undercover superhero!
Katie joined Penguins Howick in 2006 when she was looking for a job. Impressed by the Penguins daycare’s luxurious and spacious building, she joined and later got promoted.
From an unqualified teacher to a team leader (of three different rooms) to operations manager then to centre manager.
Her biggest success over the years is the progression she’s made and seeing the Penguins centre with its flourishing reputation and the relationship they have to the community.
Katie enjoys seeing the kids she’d taught at the start going to university, college or them even being inspired and becoming a teacher themselves, which is one of her highlights from teaching at Penguins.
She hopes for the future that the centre can leave less of a carbon footprint and make more of a sustainable environment for the children to learn in.
Covid was one of the big challenges Penguins and Katie had to face. With the kids unable to attend daycare, and the staff making sure the building was safe, they ended up getting through it with online meetings and mat times (the same experience as learning in Penguins) and now are trying to make the kids feel as safe and secure as possible.
The Penguins Howick/Penguin Shamrock message to Times’ readers is “Naku re rourou nau te rourou ka ora ai te iwi – with your basket and my basket the people will live”.
- Alina Jiang is in year 7 at Bucklands Beach Intermediate School
