The 2019-2020 School Year Staff

1-Year old Teachers

Goals for our one year old classes include:

                     -SOCIAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT

                     -LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT & VOCABULARY

                     -GROSS MOTOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT

                     -MUSIC & MOVEMENT

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1's Teachers

  Nina Freeborn, MW 1's Teacher

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  Nina grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  She attended East Carolina University in Greenville, NC during her undergraduate years and received a BFA in Theatre Education.  While in Graduate School, Nina attended the University of North Carolina in Greensboro and received her Masters in Theatre Education. 

  Nina taught theatre at Hunter GT Magnet School for 11 years before staying at home with her children.  For the past three years, she has volunteered at both Briarcliff Elementary and GFCC.  Nina remembers fondly the best summer job she ever had was hosting Karaoke on the Boardwalk of Virginia Beach with her dad.

  Nina is married, and she and her husband live in Cary with their two children - a son and a daughter.  Nina's family joined the GFCC family in 2016.  Her son has been a Super Star, and her daughter has been a Yellow Puppy and also a Super Star.

  In her spare time, you might find Nina having one of these fun experiences:

• Dancing in her kitchen with family and friends!

• Going out to eat at all of the amazing restaurants that Cary and Raleigh have to offer!

• Listening to live music with her husband - especially Bluegrass!

• Getting lost in a really, really good book!

• Hunting for and collecting vintage treasures - especially Pyrex!

  Nina is a co-teacher in the Ladybugs Monday/Wednesday 1's classroom.

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  Lauren Lentivech, MW 1's Teacher

  Lauren grew up in both the north and the south regions of the United States. She jokingly refers to herself as a "mutt" as they moved from region to region due to her dad's job. Lauren grew up in Baltimore, Maryland; Winchester, Virginia; Asheville, North Carolina; and Rochester, New York.  She attended Appalachian State University for her first two years of college, but Lauren got homesick for New York  and returned there to finish her college career and to graduate from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York. She received her Bachelor degree in Communications and a Minor in English Writing.

  Lauren thought she was going to be a Kindergarten teacher, but her career path changed over time as she fell in love with some of the internships she was doing through the Communications department in college. Lauren was a Corporate Recruiter / Meeting Planner and Executive Assistant before deciding to stay at home with her children. Being both a "working mom" and a "stay-at-home" mom have molded her teaching style.  At GFCC, Lauren has been volunteering... and subbing... and hugging since 2018.

  Lauren and her husband, John  -  originally from New York and loves his HOCKEY  -  live in Cary and have two sons. The older son started attending GFCC in January 2016 and is currently a student at Briarcliff Elementary. Their younger son will be a Building Blocks kid this year at GFCC.  Lauren and John are also the proud parents of a four-legged little girl dog named Posey Ray, whom they all spoil rotten.

  In her spare time, Lauren enjoys volunteering, reading, cooking big Italian dinners for her guys and cheering on the BUFFALO BILLS and SABRES.

    Lauren is a co-teacher in the Ladybugs Monday/Wednesday 1's classroom.

  Emma Butler, TTh 1's Teacher

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  Emma was born in Dallas, Texas, but she has lived in Cary, NC since she was one. She is currently working on a degree in Education by taking online classes through Arizona State University.

   In 2015 Emma completed an internship with first graders and preschoolers at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic School in Cary. Currently, she is a supervisor at Starbucks when she is not teaching at GFCC. Emma and Jon live in Cary's downtown area with their three-year old daughter and two kittens. Their daughter is currently in the Purple Puppies class at GFCC.

   In her spare time, Emma enjoys learning new recipes and trying to cook new things. She loves to travel to concerts and especially loves to visit Asheville. Exploring new restaurants and coffee shops in downtown Cary, Raleigh, and Durham has become a favorite activity for their family. Emma also enjoys spending lots of time and having dance parties with her many family members that live near them.

   Emma is a co-teacher in the Caterpillars Tuesday/Thursday 1's classroom.

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  Amanada Harris, TTh 1's Teacher

   Amanda  grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida. After high school, she opened a house cleaning business and owned it for ten years.  In 2016, Amanda's husband received a job offer in North Carolina, so they moved to Cary, North Carolina.

   Once moving to Cary, Amanda became a stay-at-home mom for her two daughters.  She realized she had a little more spare time than she did in Florida, so she decided to start running and has run six half marathons in a year.  She also became a team mom for her older daughter's softball team.  Her younger daughter joined a soccer team soon after, and Amanda became the assistant coach for her soccer team.

   Amanda's youngest daughter attended GFCC for two years, and in her second year, Amanda started subbing in some of the classrooms.  She thinks at this point, she has subbed in every class and just loves the GFCC family.

   In Amanda's spare time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and really just doing any outdoor activities.  Her favorite indoor hobbies include crafting, making fairy gardens and cooking.

   Amanda is a co-teacher in the new Caterpillars Tuesday/Thursday 1's classroom.