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Did you or someone you know attend Great Bay Kids Company, or work here? This is our 40th year serving the community and we would like to include as many of our Alumni as possible in our birthday celebration. Our official birthday celebration is scheduled for September and there will be more news about our plans as we get closer.
Our Alumni are a part of what Great Bay Kids Company has become, and we want to celebrate all the people who have made it so special. Since 1967 we have served generations of families and we think it’s time to share memories, have some fun, and celebrate 40 years of enriching children’s lives!
We’d like to add you to our database so we can keep your informed of the festivities and all the good things going on at Great Bay Kids Company please click here to send us your information.
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Megan Monroe attended Great Bay Kids Company from the time she was 13 months old until she was 6 years old, some of her prime development years. She loved going to Great Bay everyday because there was so much to do. Megan remembers loving her teachers and believes that the many great teachers who love the children, are what made and makes Great Bay Kids Company a great place to be.
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Megan gained a lot of social skills and learned how to express herself and her feelings toward others in an appropriate manner.
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“These are really important life skills to possess,” insists Megan. “I also believe I had an upper hand academically because of Great Bay Kids Company.”
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Reading and comprehending things at an earlier stage than others in her elementary school classes, Megan credits that to the preparation she received while attending Great Bay, “I am a very social and outgoing person. I love people and love learning about them. I am a good public speaker and I feel as though if I were not this way, I could never achieve my goal of becoming a teacher.”
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Great Bay Kids Company continues to offer a variety of activities today, and some remain etched in Megan’s mind, “I can vividly remember having dress up days where we could wear our PJs or costumes. I also remember making books and having the teachers laminate the covers. I believe my mother still has some of those!”
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When asked about anyone in particular who influenced her while at Great Bay Kids Company, Megan insists, “Definitely my mother, Wendy - who has worked at GBKC for twenty years - has obviously had a huge influence on me. She is great with people and a wonderful leader and role model. She has this incredible love for children and she can somehow always relate to them in most any situation. Watching her with children makes me want to be a better teacher. Also my kindergarten teacher, Larissa, was an amazing teacher and I feel she prepared me very well for the first grade.”
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 Today, you’ll find Megan in the halls of University of Southern Maine where she is a sophomore studying in the TEAMS program (Teachers for Elementary and Middle Schools), while also majoring in Psychology. At the end of the four and a half year program, Megan will earn her Bachelors Degree in Psychology, her teaching certificate and 36 credit hours towards a Masters
Degree in Educational Pedagogy. She plans to stay on for an extra semester to finish for her Masters.
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When on vacation from Southern Maine University, you may find Megan at Great Bay Kids Company preparing for her future role as a teacher. She has been working at GBKC since she 16, having worked in the Action Club at both Lincoln Street and Main Street Schools. Last summer and during breaks, she has worked at the Newmarket Center.
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Megan says, “I have loved all my positions at GBKC and hope to keep working there until I graduate college.”
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After college, Megan plans to find a position at one of the Seacoast’s many elementary schools.
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When asked to sum up Great Bay Kids Company with one word, Megan gets right to the point, “FUN!”
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Drew Szeliga remembers having a very nice time while attending Great Bay Kids Company from 1987 to 1990. The social interactions and the relationships formed throughout his time at Great Bay are what he remembers the most.
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“Reflecting on my experience at Great Bay Kids Company, I’ve realized that many of the relationships that I developed at the center, continued throughout high school,” says Drew.
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He believes that he gained great social skills as well as good beginning academic skills that have helped him throughout his schooling.
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Drew, who is about to earn his Master’s in Education from UNH, says, “One thing that sticks out in my mind are the caring people at Great Bay and the relationships I had with them. I’ve tried to incorporate the notion of care into my own personal philosophy of education. The people at Great Bay Kids Company influenced me greatly and their care for all the children in the program was very clear and has better prepared me for my job in education. I feel as though, if a teacher can provide an atmosphere of care, then all students will benefit.”
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In fact, if Drew had to sum up Great Bay Kids Company in one word, it would be care.
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His favorite things about Great Bay Kids Company were the friends and the friendships that were part of each day at the center, while his favorite activity was playing on the swings.
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A 2006 graduate of UNH, Drew earned a degree in Mathematics Education and will complete his Masters this Spring. He is currently involved in an internship teaching 8th Grade Mathematics in North Hampton, which is part of his program requirements. His responsibilities are the same as any teacher at the school, though he currently has a mentor who provides guidance and assists in teaching classes. Mathematics is something Drew has always enjoyed because of the problem solving aspect. Teaching allows him to have a career that is based around social interaction and making a difference in people’s lives. Drew plans are to obtain a job as a middle school mathematics teacher, and eventually go back to school for a PhD in education to teach at the university level.
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