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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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1s Teachers

Nina Freeborn

MW 1s 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 four 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 1s classroom.

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 Emma Butler

MW 1s and TTh 1s 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 Ladybugs Mon/Wed 1s classroom and the Caterpillars Tues/Thurs 1s classroom.

Meredith Mukeja

TTh 1s Teacher

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   Meredith grew up in Connecticut and went to the University of Connecticut for her undergraduate degree and Southern Connecticut State University for her masters degree. Meredith has a BS in Family Studies and a Masters in Elementary Education. She has taught in public schools for eight years and at the time she had her first daughter, Meredith was working in early intervention.

   Meredith and her husband moved to North Carolina about four years ago and live in New Hill. They have three children -- a daughter and boy/girl twins. The twins attended preschool at GFCC.

   In her spare time, Meredith loves spending time with her family, crafting and running.

   Meredith was looking forward to joining GFCC's staff last year, but because of the pandemic, her tenure at GFCC will begin in the 2021-2022 school year.  She will be a co-teacher in the Tuesday/Thursday Caterpillar Tots classroom.